BitLocker Issue after Updates Surface Book 2

Anonymous
2018-08-06T12:04:27+00:00

A few months back I purchased the new Surface Book 2 for a bit over 3,000 EUR. I had high hopes that as Microsoft knows this hardware inside out (just like Apple does with their MacBooks) I would not anymore have to go through the usual driver issues and what not but instead have a nice, reliable machine at hand that would make my everyday work life easier, not harder. 

1. Sleep of Death

Before my holiday I then started using my old Dell notebook again, as there was no way, I could put this 3,000 EUR Surface Book 2 to hibernate (or sleep! - both did actually not work) without having to do press the power button thereafter for 20 sec or so and hardresetting the thing to wake up. It seemed to be the (what seems to be quite common actually!) sleep of death issue. In light of the many users seeming to have the same issues I was hoping Microsoft would get on to a firmware update during my vacation and all would be solved upon my return. In fact, after my return this morning there were about 20 or so updates that got installed after I powered the SB2 up, amongst them a firmware update.

2. Laptop Bricked after Update - for good!

After installing and restarting I then had this issue: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfbook2-surfupdate/surface-book-2-bricked-after-latest-firmware/06fb11b2-4eb2-4141-9cd1-1e02d54afd78 - A blue screen with a prompt to enter the BitLocker key. Well, I looked it up and seemed to have recovered the key in my MS account (luckily! as other users seemed not to be so lucky as can be read in the link above). The (almost funny by now) thing is, that my keyboard does not work. My touchpad works just fine, I can "change keyboard layout" or "skip this drive" (obviously of little use, as this drive is my system drive with my Windows installation on it). But when I click into the blank field to enter the key, my keyboard does not respond at all and I cannot enter a key.

3. Excel Pixelated Issue with Surface Dock

Did I already mention how much I like the idea to have my two 1080p monitors hooked up to my laptop via Surface Dock with just one magnetic cable? Well, Excel becomes almost unreadable and in general the (text) image quality is poor compared to my old Dell, which has a HDMI and a Mini Display port so that I can hook up the two displays directly. This is sad...

Microsoft, seriously? I had such high hopes that (after investing 3,000 EUR) I would finally get a machine that would give me the same reliability as my Mac Book Pro. You cannot ask these prices, offer a super fancy top of the nodge notebook and then have issues like this. I mean, my laptop is bricked! I am having nothing but issues with the thing, can't even close the lid (to slee or hibernate) without recovering all my files as the bloody thing goes into a sleep of death. WTF is wrong with this thing ... I thought the old days of bootable CDs (or USB sticks nowaday) were kind of over by now... especially after paying this price!

Any ideas how to get around this w/o investing half a day to re-install Windows and all my programs?

Had I not started to like the new Windows 10 and have many programs that need Win, I think I'd already be back to a Mac Book. 

Thanks for your help in advance.

Moved from: Windows 10  / Windows update, recovery, & backup

Surface | Surface Book | Install and update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2018-08-22T15:41:28+00:00

The Surface BitLocker Protector Check tool is now available to verify that the BitLocker settings are properly configured on your Surface Book 2 13” NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 and to help ensure that future updates go smoothly on your device.

For more information, please view our Known issues and additional information about Surface Book 2 article.

Updated 11/2/2018

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-09T06:17:11+00:00

    Unbelievable!  The same thing just happened to me with my one day old surface book 2!  I have only installed Office 2016.

    Wow.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-07T20:26:31+00:00

    Thanks Barb,

    To wrap this up. Yesterday, in tablet mode the SB2 became unstable, I restarted and needed to enter the BitLocker Key to get into Windows, twice. I went to Windows Update and found an update waiting, KB4340917, it installed, and when I look at update history it has now installed twice. Since that time the SB2 appears to be working well.

    I have left BitLocker On. I can retrieve the key from my Microsoft Account my phone.

    I believe the problem driving the need to use the key was the result of the deployment of the firmware and quality updates, not a BitLocker problem, so not much a user can do reduce the risk of losing use of the machine...

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-07T18:11:05+00:00

    I just got off the phone with Microsoft as I was about to drive 3 hours to the nearest Microsoft Store, and it was so simple!! THIS WORKS!

    My issue: Once installing the latest firmware update, I was taken to the BitLocker code screen in an endless reboot loop. The problem is I have a personal machine with a personal Microsoft account, so I never set up (or had heard of) Bitlocker and had no code. This forum made me worried I would have to reset my machine or do things I had no idea how to do.

    My resolution:  The call center sent me to https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey. I typed in the code and BOOM, the code worked and my computer is back to normal!

    Please try this if you are having issues!

    Indeed. If you have a recovery key, then it is very simple indeed. I did not have a recovery key.

    When & if you set up Bitlocker, Bitlocker will ask where to save the recovery key, giving several options, including to your account, a file folder & printing it. If you to not set up Bitlocker, you will not get this option. I did not set up Bitlocker. In addition, I had configured my Windows 10 with a local account for additional privacy & security.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-08-07T18:04:30+00:00

    I just got off the phone with Microsoft as I was about to drive 3 hours to the nearest Microsoft Store, and it was so simple!! THIS WORKS!

    My issue: Once installing the latest firmware update, I was taken to the BitLocker code screen in an endless reboot loop. The problem is I have a personal machine with a personal Microsoft account, so I never set up (or had heard of) Bitlocker and had no code. This forum made me worried I would have to reset my machine or do things I had no idea how to do.

    My resolution:  The call center sent me to https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey. I typed in the code and BOOM, the code worked and my computer is back to normal!

    Please try this if you are having issues!

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