Microsoft Surface Pro 2017 Tablet will not boot Windows 10.

ASKER

Thanks, Nobus,

Surface Diagnostic Toolkit for Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro sounds like it will be useful.

But my problem now is that I cannot boot into Windows, normal mode.

Would I be able to run the Diagnostic Toolkit from Safe Mode?

Regards,
Leigh

Try booting in Safe Mode. Restart and press F8 repeatedly. Then try the steps above. You may need to try a Repair Install from the Microsoft Media Creation Link

ASKER

Hi John,

Pressing F8 repeatedly doesn't work on Surface Pro tablets (maybe all Win 10 PCs).

I can get into Safe Mode (with Networking) and can see my desktop is OK.

What are "the steps above", that you refer to?

What exactly is a Repair Install? (I have the latest Windows 10 iso).

Thanks,

Leigh

If you can get into Safe Mode with networking then go the Media Creation Link (please Google for it as I just have me phone just now) . Use the second choice and Run (not Save) and Keep Everything

ASKER

Hi John & Nobus,

Sadly my Surface Pro Tablet has died!
Can't get anything to appear on the screen, even when on charge.
It's booked in for warranty repair/replacement.

Regards,
Leigh

When I have seen the message you got, we have to reinstall Windows fresh. Something else may have happened here.

nobus

you don't have warranty left? that(s the way to solve this imo
you can try it yourself : https://nl.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+5+Teardown/92362

or use a shop that repairs them

ASKER

My tablet has been resurrected.

It turned out that the Surface Dock was not charging it, so although I thought the Tablet was dead, it was just a flat battery.

But the boot problem remains, but is a little different to what was described above.

Now when I attempt to boot from the SSD, I get this error message;

Recovery
Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors.

File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD

Error code: 0xc000000f

Troubleshooting / Startup repair did not work.

Regards,
Leigh

ASKER

I can boot Safe Mode with Networking.

I can see that there is a EFI System volume.

ASKER

It's weird, I cannot boot from Windows 10 Installation media.

I think that this article covers the case

nobus

did you check the bootpriority is set to the correct drive
for booting other media, you may need to set the bios to disable safe boot

ASKER

Hi nobus,

The boot priority is OK, as I can boot some USB recovery media.

I have set the bios to disable safe boot.

There are some mentions that you should use a specialized Surface recovery image...and also using a small USB drive (16-32 GB) is working better than big ones (>=128GB)

ASKER

Hi John,

Thanks for your suggestions.

The Microsoft site is offering me 2 Surface recovery images:

Surface Pro - 256GB i7 8GB M1796 - Windows 10 Version 1703
Surface Pro - 256GB i7 8GB M1796 - Windows 10 Version 1709

How can I determine which Windows 10 Version I have installed? 1703 OR 1709?

ASKER

Just for the record, the download links don't work in Chrome, but work in Edge.

Just get the latest...at the very end it will probably upgrade your OS...but to be 100% safe get a complete image of your Surface before everything

ASKER

Here's an excerpt on how to create the Surface Recovery Drive:

Create the recovery drive

Important
Creating a recovery drive will erase everything that’s stored on your USB drive. Make sure to move anything you want to keep to another storage device before using your USB to create a recovery drive.
1. Connect your USB drive to your Surface (use a USB 3.0 drive if you can). The USB drive should be at least 16 GB. If you have a Surface RT or Surface 2, 8 GB will work.
2. In the search box on the taskbar, type recovery, and then select Create a recovery drive. You might be asked to enter an admin password or confirm your choice.

This is Catch 22.
I can't boot Windows on my Surface - so I can't create the Recovery Drive by following those instructions.

I tried creating a recovery drive from my Windows 10 Desktop PC, but there's no option to use the downloaded .zip file.

Make a bootable USB Key from the Media Creation Link and install Windows 10 Fresh. Then update all drivers.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

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ASKER

Thanks, John Tsioumpris:

I created the Recovery USB from the Desktop PC and extracted the contents of the Recovery Image to it overwriting the existing files.

I tested the Recovery USB by booting the Desktop PC from it.

Right now the Surface Table will not boot from any recovery media, including some that booted OK earlier today.

I think the Tablet is a sick baby and needs to go to Computer Hospital...

Regards,
Leigh