In my situation, they’re HP, who stopped supporting my laptop conveniently after about two years, just as I am beginning to hear that this particular model is not very reliable (Pavilion). He says the legal contract is not between you (the owner of the system) and Microsoft, but between you and the manufacturer, when you buy one of these PCs. His message is actually, no, you cannot transfer the license from one motherboard to another, as it is activated only by/for the firmware installed at the factory. I’ve spoken with a Microsoft support man directly about transferring ‘OEM’ (prestinalled by PC manufacturer) Windows for this very problem. Instead, this will be embedded in the BIOS. One of the improvements Microsoft is making to Activation 3.0 for newly built machines that come preloaded with Windows 8, you wonâ€™t have a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker attached to the machine anymore. This has several advantages, both for Microsoft and OEMs as it is no longer that easy to 'steal' product keys this way, and for users who do not have to worry about fading text or damaged labels on their laptops. What this means is that the installer will automatically recognize the product key and use it during installation and activation of the Windows 8 operating system. Device manufacturers are embedding the product key in the BIOS of the motherboard. The question that should come up at this point is how you are going to reinstall the operating system without the product key. If you have purchased a laptop running Windows 8 recently you may have noticed that it may not contain a small label on the back side or battery compartment listing the operating system's product key.

Windows 8 serial number in bios