Can I connect Surface RT and PC with USB cable?

Anonymous
2012-11-30T00:08:13+00:00

I have a Toshiba Thrive running Android. I can connect it to my PC with a USB cable and access files on my Thrive on the PC. The PC treats the Thrive as a hard drive. Can I connect my Surface in the same way? I have tried and the PC does not appear to see the Surface.

This is a pain, one of the reasons I bought the Surface was to be able to do this type of hard connection and not have to use "iTunes" or the Cloud.

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Anonymous
2013-03-05T02:57:40+00:00

Greetings SaeedR_706,

That is a good question, however I would suggest rather then using the USB cable, to transfer files over your WiFi network to a shared folder on your Windows 7 Laptop.

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Anonymous
2012-12-05T00:46:39+00:00

Hello Rrccw,

No, you cannot connect the Surface to the PC via USB. However, you can setup Shared folderson your PC. Once you have that, have the Surface connect to the same network via WiFi and then go into Network from the Desktop app, select your PC and then see the Shared Folders. From there, the Surface should have Read/Write access if you gave the permissions on the PC.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-10T22:50:31+00:00

    My issue is trying to sync my Outlook file from my desktop to my Surface.  I just can't seem to find a way to make it work.  I cannot put my Outlook file in the Cloud, since it is constantly changing.  My brother in law tried doing that and created quite a mess.  I can't understand why Microsoft hasn't created a cable to connect the two devices to allow this transfer.

    Frustrated to the point that I gave up trying to use the Surface.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-06T03:20:21+00:00

    Thanks for the reply, I just hope that someone in Microsoft wants to do something about it instead of forgetting/ignoring previous mistakes and the customers who have suffered in there support for the Company.

    The fact you can't do what you're asking is by design as it would be a terrible security vulnerability, thus Microsoft will never "do something" about this.

    Sorry, you have to learn how to share a folder.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-03-12T18:51:56+00:00

    The Pro runs real, full Windows, so if that adapter has drivers for modern Windows, it would work with the Pro...although personally I'm iffy on installing third party drivers for stuff from unknown companies if I can help it.

    It's worth noting that actually Windows RT has some pretty surprisingly good device compatibility.  When I set up a Surface (with RT) with zero intervention it grabbed printer, scanner, and keyboard and mouse drivers for my specific hardware from Windows Update, and of course works great with an external monitor too.  All stuff that no other tablet can do.  I'm REALLY happy with Windows as a tablet OS.

    I agree with everything you just said. :)

    The Surface, RT or Pro, is an amazing piece of equipment.

    -E

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