Surface Pro 3 Windows 10 Upgrade Clean Install and Recovery Partition

Anonymous
2015-07-17T19:54:51+00:00

I read that you can take your Surface to a MS store to have them install Windows 10 on it. Has anyone read the details, I can't seem to find out if this is going to be a new, clean install or an upgrade. And, will it update the recovery partition similar to what we have for Win8? I would guess I can use the iso files and do a clean install myself, but, I'm doubt I'd be able to update the recovery partition from the iso.

Surface | Surface Pro | 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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2016-03-28T17:43:58+00:00

For Surface Pro 3, it is possible to perform a clean install of Windows 10 through the use of a downloaded recovery image. This will put your device into the same state as it would be in when purchased new with Windows 10 installed.

Until the free Windows 10 upgrade offer ends on July 29th, 2016 you can use the Windows 10 recovery image on a Surface Pro 3 that has never had Windows 10 installed and it will activate using the product key that came with the device. After July 29th, 2016 the Windows 10 recovery image will only activate on devices that came with Windows 10 or had previously installed and activated Windows 10.

To use the recovery image:

  1. Go to the Download a recovery image for your Surface page and select your product.
  2. You should see the original Windows 8 image that shipped with your Surface, as well the new Windows 10 Version 1511 image.
  3. Click Download and follow the rest of the steps to create the Windows 10 recovery drive and use it to reset Surface.
  4. For more detailed information, see our Restore or reset Surface article.

 

Hope this helps,

Greg

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

59 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-04T22:13:49+00:00

    Michael, I am fairly positive that I have seen it documented in more than one place that you need to do the upgrade to windows 10 before you do a 'clean' install in order for activation to work. If you let Windows upgrade to 10 from 8.1 it will work fine. There's no need to make comments about the company as a whole because it didn't work the way you wanted it to.

    You probably didn't read the entire thread. I was part of the TP and did have the update to Win10 installed. I also had some issues I couldn't fix which is why I wanted a clean install.

    I'm annoyed not because of having to spend $200 for the update, I bought it for my desktop already so I can clean install to a new SSD. I'm annoyed because I contacted MS tech support via chat no less then three times about how to do a clean install on the SP3. And, as MS is a service company, they should be providing and held responsible for the level of service. MS provided the procedure and links to the files to install. This shouldn't reflect on the company? It wasn't a matter of the process not working, according the person that I spoke with for the phone activation, it doesn't work. So either the first group of technicians were wrong or the last, there is definitely a disconnect.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-04T15:02:25+00:00

    I had that exact same error on my Surface 3 after doing an upgrade then clean install.  That was on the 31st July.  It corrected itself over the weekend and activated, I have no idea why, I didn't do anything, I thought it must just have been the activation servers playing up, I guess they have had a few activations going on over the last few days.

    Anyway, my Surface 3 is running a completely clean activated copy of Windows 10 that I created using the MediaCreationToolx64.exe.  I'm going to do my surface Pro 3 now I know it works OK :)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-04T15:00:02+00:00

    Michael, I am fairly positive that I have seen it documented in more than one place that you need to do the upgrade to windows 10 before you do a 'clean' install in order for activation to work. If you let Windows upgrade to 10 from 8.1 it will work fine. There's no need to make comments about the company as a whole because it didn't work the way you wanted it to.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-04T14:56:55+00:00

    Re-installing the 8.1 image and then the win10 upgrade went very well. It feels like a clean install. I haven't had any issues so far.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments