Surface Pro 3 will not boot from USB

[Wilamette]

I stumbled upon this thread with the same problem as everyone else with no solution. After searching and trying different methods, I have found one that works for me. To be clear, I had the Windows 10 Technical Preview running on a Surface Pro 3. Below are the steps that I took and the resources I followed:

Note: Please read through all of this before trying anything! I am not responsible for any mishaps!!!!

1. Create a bootable UEFI USB drive - followed steps from Create bootable USB for UEFI | Windows 8 content from Windows IT Pro . I will repeat them here.
a. run diskpart.exe in elevated mode
b. list disk
c. select disk <#>
d. clean
e. create partition primary <size=8192>
(the article didn't specify size, but I received an error before manually setting the size when formatting (using a 64GB USB))
f. select partition 1
g. active
h. format quick fs=fat32
i. assign
j. exit

2. Mount the iso and copy the files to the USB drive
3. Turn off the Surface
4. Hold volume down and tap the power button
5. Boots to USB
6. Profit!

Turns out I found a thread with all of this in one spot after typing this! No big deal. Option 2 is nearly identical to what I found and listed before.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

 

[hassannasar]

I've got the same problem
I installed Windows 10 and then going from the usb flash
But one of the usb works on other devices


The only way to come through the installation of DOS Boot Windows 10 or 8

Installation and operation of the USB stick from DOS file

D:/setup.exe

will start install windows


Unfortunately, the English translation of Google


I am Egyptian

 

[TandemUser]

Do you have a SD card installed? No boot from USB..

Heads up for anyone trying to restore from USB after installing Windows 10 Tech Preview. I had issues as well trying to restore from my Windows 8.1 USB recovery image for my SP3. I would do the hard reset and then get a Boot Manager/Configuration (BCD) error.

An hour with Tech Support, and they told me basically to send it in for a repair/exchange.

I was going on a trip in a couple of days, so I wanted to give it one more shot. I removed my SD card and hard reset. I was then able to boot into restore mode without issue and could restore from my USB image.

Since I do refreshes a lot, I tried one with my SD card again, and I got the BCD error again. My SD card is fine.

Just give this a shot if you haven't already before you start pulling your hair out. Again, MS support did not mention this, and there is nothing in ANY of the documentation to state that the SD card should be removed to do a restore.

I did contact MS support again with my ticket number, to let them know what I did to solve my problem, and that they should update their documentation to at least have people try this...

 

[Benp12]

I can confirm what TandemUser has reported. I came here to let people know the same thing as I saw these posts before he posted his response and came back to let everyone know. I had the same issue with booting off the usb after installing the technical preview. Turns out all I had to do was remove the sd card for it to work - nothing to do with the technical preview.

 

[Metalman]

I had the same problem trying to boot from 8.0 and 8.1 on aUSB install on my Pro 1 with the SD card installed.
After removing my SD card I was able to do a clean installof 8.1.

 

[emccaskey]

I have a Surface Pro 3 and it would not boot to any USB device so I could upgrade to Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview. The fix for me was to name the USB drive "BOOTME".

Found the fix here:

(option two) http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/53297-usb-drive-boot-surface.html

 

[GoodBoy1978]

I had a similar problem, just booting from usb period on a Surface Pro 3, was trying to boot a winpe with ghost so I could make an image of the tablet (only ever had windows 8.1 installed on it). After reading all the posts, and seeing that it worked for Wilamette, I think I figured out the problem.

Usb thumbdrive formatted with ntfs, will not boot on surface pro 3, whether secure boot is enabled or not. Just doesn't boot, period.

Usb thumbdrive formatted with fat32, boots on Surface Pro 3, Secure boot can be on or off either way.


To prepare the thumbdrive, run a command prompt as Adminstrator, run diskpart:
a. > diskpart
b. DISKPART> list disk
c. DISKPART > select disk 2 (or whichever disk is the external drive or the USB drive)
d. DISKPART > clean
e. DISKPART > create partition primary
f. DISKPART > select partition 1
g. DISKPART > active
h. DISKPART > format fs=fat32 quick
i. DISKPART > assign
j. DISKPART > exit

Once you format it this way, copy your boot image, unzip a bootable ISO file to it, and it should work using the press and hold the volume down button, press and release the power button, then release the volume down button once the Surface logo appears.

If your thumbdrive is very large you may need to size down the partition as Wilamette showed.
e. DISKPART > create partition primary <size=8192>

 

[dan49er]

format your usb to fat32, not ntfs and the now your usb should boot.

 

[KYHI]

lot of steps to format a usb stick..

I right click usb, format, fat32

And without adding the setup files - the usb is not bootable anyway...

The boot files copied from the setup ISO make the USB Bootable..

 

[buda56]

Surface Pro Boot from USB

lot of steps to format a usb stick..

I right click usb, format, fat32

And without adding the setup files - the usb is not bootable anyway...

The boot files copied from the setup ISO make the USB Bootable..

See this post, I have tried this and successfully booted to the USB setup using Rufus, FAT32, and GPT partitioning, not MBR.

https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-surface/2515/how-to-dual-boot-windows-10-on-surface-pro-3

Regards..
Peter

 

[Wizzrobe]

Had the same issue as OP. Checked my USB Drive's file system on Main PC using Mini Tool Partition Wizard.
Some how the file system on the USB had gone from FAT32 to NTFS after moving the restore files over.
I converted it back to FAT32 using Mini Tool and then it worked just fine !!

 

[stdio]

5/28/2015

Hi all, i have had the same issue you have been having getting the Surface 3 to USB boot. I have finally solved it.

First I was starting with a fresh system that we are getting ready for our users. We put a custom windows 8 image on them using MDT.

I first had to boot up the surface with the stock image and run Windows update to install a firmware patch from 5/19/15.

Then when i rebooted i was able to enter the bios by holding the Volume Up button.
There are now some other options avail in the bios that were not there before, mainly the boot options were changed.
I selected usb->ssd and saved.
The system rebooted from the USB stick in the side of the surface (finally!)

I have test so far with a boot drive i made with rufus (the instructions are in this thread somewhere), mainly if was formatted with fat32 and not NTFS, and no MBR record.

Hope this helps some of you.

 

[fds]

I've successfully reset my Surface 3 back from Windows 10 to 8.1 using the recovery USB I made before install 10.
At the beginning, I met the same problem that seems not able to boot from USB. However, it DID boot from USB, just the UI looks the SAME as Windows 10. The target system to reset was only Windows 10 for me, but it is FAKE. It restore 8.1 image from USB with this option, just as How to Reload Windows 8.1 on Your Surface Pro Tablet said "You’ll want to select the one that you want to wipe… even if it says Windows 10 or something else. It doesn’t matter, because it’ll reload from the USB drive you created.".

 

[Peter Meinl]

In my case the problem was having disabled “Boot from side USB” in UEFI advanced security settings. After enabling this my SP3 boots fine from USB.

 

[CallistoJag]

Booting Surface 3 from USB (might work for Pro)

Ok to boot from USB on a Surface 3 you need to switch your surface on holding down volume up button. When in EFI bios, disable secure boot. Save and restart. Once win10/8 has loaded up sign in and open up start>settings>update&security>recovery>advancedrecovery(restart now) Select boot from USB when it restarts. Important last note, write down your bitlocker code before starting either of the above, as you will need to enter this code the first time you boot windows after turning off secure boot. Enjoy

 

[xiard]

See this post, I have tried this and successfully booted to the USB setup using Rufus, FAT32, and GPT partitioning, not MBR.

https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-surface/2515/how-to-dual-boot-windows-10-on-surface-pro-3

Regards..
Peter

I want to emphasize this post, and add a little. My Surface 3 was not bootable. It had the Tech Preview on it, and was reporting a blue screen error on reboot. Since I could not boot into Windows, none of the suggestions on this thread that were related to taking actions within Windows were useful.

The most important point is that the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool will not work. It formats the USB drive as NTFS. Here are the steps I had to take:

• Create the bootable USB drive using Rufus rather than the USB/DVD Download tool.
• Hard shut down the Surface by holding down the power button for about 15 seconds.
• Press the power button and volume DOWN button simultaneously, and then release them after the Surface logo appeared.

At that point I finally booted from the USB stick and was able to delete my primary partition, recreate it, and install Windows 10 from scratch.

Obviously this will completely wipe out your existing Windows installation. If you need to try to recover your existing files or Windows installation, don't do this.