If you buy a new PC with Windows 8 already installed, your OEM Windows license is permanently bound to that computer. The only way you can transfer the license to another person is to sell or give away the computer itself, with its copy of Windows. The following terms apply:
The transfer must include the software, proof of purchase, and, if provided with the computer, an authentic Windows label such as the certificate of authenticity label including the product key. You may not keep any copies of the software or any earlier version. Before any permitted transfer, the other party must agree that this agreement applies to the transfer and use of the software.
If you purchase the software separately, in a package or as a download, the rules are much more liberal. Note that the text for the following rules is identical for retail upgrades and for System Builder software that you install on a PC you build yourself, or in a virtual machine, or on a separate partition. Emphasis in the following sections is in the original:
You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you. … You may not transfer the software to share licenses between computers.
In other words, you can remove the Windows 8 upgrade from an original PC and then install it on another PC, assuming the new PC has a license that qualifies it for an upgrade. Likewise, you can completely remove the PUL System Builder software from a self-built PC, a VM, or a partition and then install it in a new physical or virtual PC.
There is no limit on the number of times you may do this type of transfer, providing you follow the rules I describe later in this section. That means hobbyists who like to tinker with PCs can relax. If you buy a System Builder copy, you can move (not share) that license from an old PC to a new one.
You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. To make that transfer, you must transfer the original media, the certificate of authenticity, the product key and the proof of purchase directly to that other person, without retaining any copies of the software.
In either case, one ironclad rule applies:
Anytime you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer.
Note that these transfer rights apply only to Windows itself. The various ancillary packages Microsoft sells with Windows are tied to the machine for which they are purchased. Specifically:
You may transfer Get Genuine Windows software, Pro Pack or Media Center Pack software only together with the licensed computer.
