They just want to make sure you aren’t installing the same license on multiple PCs at a time.

Microsoft’s representatives will allow it. If you buy a “retail” “full version” license–this is generally only something you do if you’re building your own PC, installing Windows on a Mac, or using a virtual machine–you can move always move it to a new PC.Īfter you move your license several times, Windows may give you an activation error and ask you to call Microsoft to activate your computer. However, that’s the only exception to this rule.Īlways Allowed: Moving a “Full Version” or “Retail” License to a New PC Large organizations can acquire special “volume licenses” that allow them to activate multiple computers with the same license key. You can do that by wiping the PC’s hard drive or even uninstalling the key from your Windows system. So, while you may be able to move a license to another PC, you’re supposed to remove it from the first PC before you do that. No matter what type of license you have, you can only have it installed on one PC at a time. RELATED: How To Uninstall Your Windows Product Key Before You Sell Your PC A License Can Only Be Installed on One PC at a Time In other words: if you already have a valid license lying around and don’t want to buy a new one, you’ll want to transfer it.

You’ve installed Windows in a virtual machine and you want to move it to a different virtual machine on another computer.

You’ve installed Windows in Boot Camp on a Mac and you want to move your Windows installation to another Mac.

Your computer died and you want to use its license to upgrade another computer running an older version of Windows.

Windows activation considers a PC with a new motherboard to be an entirely new PC.

Your computer’s motherboard failed and you needed to replace it.

You’re building a new computer from scratch and want to use your existing Windows license rather than paying $120 for a new one.

Moving microsoft office to new computer