Windows Vista not booting after installing New AsRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard

Im building a new computer gaming rig and I came onto a dilemma. After building the rig and installing everything and booting my PC up windows will not boot. When attempting to boot, I get a quick blue screen and then it goes to the windows recovery tool. I attempted to do a repair and a system restore, and neither worked. I have two hard drives installed and both have Windows Vista installed. Now Im prepared to re install windows but I have been able to get around this in the past. So the question is do I have to reinstall windows after installing a new motherboard?

If I do end up having to reinstall windows, Im thinking about upgrading to Windows 8, just because its cheaper. Another question I have is, if I choose to go with Windows 8, could I use the upgrade disc even though Im not able to boot windows now or would I need the Windows 8 System Builder version?

If you are using the same hard drive from your old motherboard, then yes its going to cause problems if you didnt do a clean install.

Edit: Yes you can use the upgrade version of windows 8 for a clean install if you know how to change the registry.

If you are using the same hard drive from your old motherboard, then yes its going to cause problems if you didnt do a clean install.

Edit: Yes you can use the upgrade version of windows 8 for a clean install if you know how to change the registry.

FireEmblem_Man

P.S. Awesome avatar.

[QUOTE="FireEmblem_Man"]

If you are using the same hard drive from your old motherboard, then yes its going to cause problems if you didnt do a clean install.

Edit: Yes you can use the upgrade version of windows 8 for a clean install if you know how to change the registry.

Marfoo

P.S. Awesome avatar.

Thank you sir, Regular Show is awesome.

I mean that if he's erasing his hard drive since he is building a new PC. It's possible to use the upgrade version instead of using the system builders, by changing a certain value in the registry. But yes, its more safe to do an upgrade without having to do any registry changes.

If you are using the same hard drive from your old motherboard, then yes its going to cause problems if you didnt do a clean install.

Edit: Yes you can use the upgrade version of windows 8 for a clean install if you know how to change the registry.

FireEmblem_Man

It CAN cause problems. I recently swapped-out my AsRock AM3 board for a Gigabyte LGA 1155 board. Everything is running smoothly without a clean install.