Surface RT - Reset, Refresh, how and why.

The only way to kick off a RESET without signing into Windows is to interrupt windows startup a couple times to get Windows Automatic Repair to start:

1. Turn off the device by holding power for 6-10 seconds
2. Tap the power button to turn it back on.
3. Once the surface logo appears, wait for circling dots to appear and then hold power for 6-10 seconds to turn device off again.
4. Repeat steps 2&3 until the surface logo appears with words underneath saying “Preparing Automatic Repair”
5. Recovery mode will start.
6. At the Bitlocker screen, tap “skip this drive”
7. Tap advanced options
8. Tap Troubleshoot
9. Tap Reset…
10. .. tap Just remove my files.
11. Reset process will take approx. 20-30 minutes – all data will be removed from the device.

After the Reset process completes, the OOBE/start up wizard should start and the customer can complete setup of their Surface device.

Greetings Michael.

To reset your Surface without logging in, please try the following:

1. Attach your Touch Cover / Type Cover
2. Power on your Surface
3. Press and hold the Left Shift key at the Login screen
4. Press the Power icon
5. Press Restart

Your surface should boot to a light blue screen with some options on it.

1. Click on Troubleshoot
2. Click on Reset your PC
3. Follow the prompts.

Let me know if this does not work for you.

I figured it out it is in PC Settings>General and scroll down and there are a few reset options there.

Hi CVBaker and weebledelphonse,

Thank you for replying back. If a force shutdown does not work, please download a recovery image on our site to make a USB recovery drive and use this drive to do a refresh. Please note that this USB drive has to be in FAT32 format and at lease 8GB. You will also need to find your serial number and

register your Surface if you have not already done so.

Kind regards,

Clare

Hello oseyBrayne,

Sorry for the troubles with your Surface.  The Community member LCRT has pointed you in the right direction.

Basically in order to resolve the issue you're having, You will need to go tothis link and download the recovery image.

To download the recovery image, you’ll need a USB drive formatted to FAT32. For Surface RT and Surface 2, your USB should be at least 8 GB in size. For Surface Pro models, your USB should be at least 16 GB.

The next steps can also be found on the link above. 

Please give this a try and definitely keep us posted.

Hi paulscott-bates,

Thank you for the reply. It seems like you are using Windows RT 8.1.

Please see our support article Refresh or reset Surface RT or Surface 2 for the step by step instructions.

We hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Clare

Hi Robert,

Thank you for reaching out to us on the community forum. We are sorry to hear that you are not able to restore from the USB drive. Please review the steps in these two articles Create a USB recovery drive and Refresh or reset Surface RT or Surface 2. If you have followed the steps and it still does not work, please reach out to our assisted supportfor further assistance.

Kind regards,

Clare

Hi Dusty,

Thank you very much for reaching out to the Surface Community. I'm very sorry to hear that you are unable to perform a refresh. I understand that you need the device for school, and I will try my best to get this issue resolved as soon as possible.

To confirm that I understand what you have tried correctly, you have tried the steps below, PC settings disappears and shows the "Unable to Recovery..." error message appears?:

Step 1: Plug in your Surface so that you don’t run out of power during the refresh.

Step 2: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings.)

Step 3: Tap or click Change PC settings.

Step 4: Tap or click Update and recovery, and then tap or click Recovery.

Step 5: Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, tap or click Get started.

Step 6: Tap or click Next, ensure that your Surface is plugged in, and tap or click Refresh.

Step 7: Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the refresh process completes.

(This can take several minutes.)

If these are the steps that you have tried and it won't let you refresh the device, I would suggest performing a refresh using USB recovery media. Here's how:

Step 1: Shutdown Surface and plug it in so that you don’t run out of power during the refresh.

Step 2: Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port.

Step 3: Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button.

Step 4: When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.

Step 5: When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.

Step 6: Tap or click Troubleshoot, tap or click Refresh your PC, and then tap or click the target operating system you wish to refresh.

Step 7: On the Refresh your PC screen, tap or click Next, and then tap or click Refresh.

Step 8: Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the refresh process completes.

(This can take several minutes.)

You can obtain the recovery media for the Surface RT from this site.

Please let me know refreshing from USB helped.

{All of the steps can be found on Refresh or reset Surface RT or Surface 2}

Hi Tony Stark 22,

Thank you for your contribution to the Surface Community and choosing a Surface RT for your device!

To install a recovery image for the Surface RT, please visit this site "Download a recovery image for your Surface." And to proceed with the process, please see this page ("Refresh or reset Surface RT or Surface 2").

Please let me know if this helped.

Hi there, 

Thank you for replying back. It is good to know you can start your Surface without problems. 

However, in order to restore your recover partition back on your device, you will have to do a reset. 

Please see the following: 

How to reset Surface using your USB recovery drive

**Important****A reset returns Surface to its factory settings.

**Notes ****All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. For info on backing up your files, see Back up photos, documents, and more.

Step 1:                  Make sure that Surface is turned off and plugged in.

Step 2:                  Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on Surface.

Step 3:                  Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button on your Surface.

Step 4:                  When the Surface logo appears, release the volume button.

Step 5:                  When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.

Step 6:                  Tap or click Troubleshoot, and then tap or click Reset your PC.

Step 7:                  If prompted for a recovery key, tap or click Skip this drive at the bottom of the screen.

Step 8:                  Tap or click the target operating system you wish to reset. This refers to the current operating system installed on Surface.

Step 9:                  Tap or click Yes, repartition the drives. On the next page, tap or click Next.

Step 10:                Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive.

The option to clean the drive is more secure, but takes much longer. For example, if you are recycling your Surface, you should choose to clean the drive. If you are keeping your Surface, you just need to remove your files.

Step 11: Tap or click Reset.

Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the reset process continues (this can take several minutes).

Hope the steps that I provide are useful to you. 

Please reply back and let us know. 

Best Regards,

Clare

Hello again Paul Unknown,

Apologies for the confusion. After some further investigation on my part, you cannot make a recovery drive on an SD card through the SD card slot. You can do it if you use a USB SD card reader. Whether this will work or not as a recovery drive, we cannot verify, as this is not a supported recovery scenario for our policies.

Thanks for your question here in the Community Forum!

Best Wishes,

Zack_T

Hi ZenMasta,

Thank you for reaching out to us! Sorry to know that you are facing issues with your Surface RT. I can imagine the inconvenience you have experienced and we will do our best to guide you in the right direction!

In this case we recommend you try performing a Refresh.

If after performing the Refresh your Surface is still not working properly, we can only suggest you visit our Self Service Center here or contact support here.

We truly apologize again for the inconvenience and we hope the previous steps help.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask! We are always here to help!

Best Regards,

Hello Aleksi Kinnunen 

Sorry to hear you are running into issues while refreshing your Surface RT.

I can certainly understand the frustration when faced with this.  It sounds like files on the recovery partition have become corrupted or been moved.

The good news is that there are recovery images available for download for Surface RT Here.

Keep in mind that these images are of Windows 8.0 RT, and you will have to apply all updates, install the 8.1 update, then the following updates.

After creating the Recovery USB, you can find directions on using it Here.

Let us know how it goes for you.

Best regards

Hello!

Thank you really much for your answer!

And, can you tell me please. Is there a way to do what I asked? Are there images which I can simply put in my Surface RT so that it will have a Factory Default RT 8.1 including a RT 8.1 Recovery partition?

Greetings,

Tom

Greetings Tom,

If I am understanding you correctly, you want to ensure that if you do a Refresh or Reset, that it installs a factory version of Windows RT 8.1.

As you noted in a later post that you removed the recovery image, the partition was removed and was not upgraded.

The page that you noted in your original post: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-rt-startup-error-0xc000000d#download , will give you a Surface RT 8.0 image.

To get the recovery partition to be RT 8.1, you'd need to use that image to reset to Windows RT 8.0, install all Windows Updates, then install the Windows RT 8.1 upgrade. Once finished, the recovery partition will be Windows RT 8.1. From there, you can create a Recovery USB if necessary, that has Windows RT 8.1 on it.

Hi Ed 2003,

Thank you for replying!

I'm sorry to hear the recovery USD drive did not work. Since you've tried all the steps provided and they did not resolve the issue, you may need to replace your Surface.

In order to do this you can visit our Self Service Center here or contact support here.

Best Regards

When you update the surface rt to windows rt 8.1, it also updates the recovery partition to 8.1.

Hello  Mike,

Sorry to hear about your experience on Surface RT. Can you further explain when and how did this happen? Were you trying to upgrade your Surface RT running Windows RT to Windows RT 8.1?  I see that the issue still persist after turning off and reboot. I suggest the troubleshooting on this link.

If that does not help solving the problem, please contact our Support team.

Keep us posted on this.

Cheers,

Greetings,

Thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that about your experience updating your Surface RT to Windows RT 8.1. As I understand, you have accoutered a blue screen with the error code  0xc000000f.  I also see that you have tried creating a recovery, but that also didn't help. I'm happy to assist with that. First off, I'd like you to take a look at this article.

If the issue persists, please contact our Support Team and let them know.

We're here to help. If you have further questions, feel free.

Cheers,

Greetings patstar5,

Sorry to hear about your experience with your Surface RT. I'd suggest downloading a Recovery Image from here.

Greetings tharok2

Thank you for the replied, if the steps provided by Steven_B still didn't work out for you, I recommend you contact the Surface Technical support for assistance.

please visit the following link here at

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/

Thank you

Best regard

Hello angelicabonuan,

We recommend that you reach out to Surface Technical Support.

Let us know what happens after your chat with Support.

Hello \_\_Silent\_Night\_\_,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience trying to reset to Windows RT 8.0 on your Surface RT.

Try getting a fresh recovery image here.  Let us know if you are able to proceed.

Best regards

Hello Rycook21

Yes, that would be doing a reset instead.

If you are still unable to proceed, contact Support.

Best regards

Greetings, Paulpu(2)

I found some additional information for you to take a look at, please visit "Reset Surface RT back to factory result without logging into the system" Please let me know how it goes.

Thank you for posting and happy new year.

Greetings EarlyA,

The images will work on any Surface RT. For example, if you wanted to install United States, you could, or Japan if you wanted.

Greetings EarlyA,

Sorry to hear about your experience. We have released a Windows RT 8.0 recovery online. You can find it here.

Greetings,

If the steps provided do not work, please contact Surface Technical Support.

Here is the link to the Surface RT - North America image (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40810) if you have a different region make sure you search for that.

You can try the options here as well http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-GB/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/windows-stops-responding

You could also try options here http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/refresh-or-reset-surface

You might be able to just hold shift on your keyboard to see if it will start in troubleshoot mode... also it seems like every 3 to 5 times you have a bad start it should bring up the troubleshoot menu.

Open the Charms bar and click Settings> Change PC settings> Update and recovery> Recovery> Remove everything and reinstall Windows.

I went through the RT 8.1 upgrade again and refresh/restore does seem to be working correctly now.

I remember removing the old version of Windows using the cleanup app the last time I upgraded to RT 8.1 to free up some space. Does removing the "old" Windows RT 8 folder cause the media error to appear? Surely the recovery partition is all you need for refresh/restore rather than having a copy of the previous OS stored on the Surface.

Greetings Pigpen21,

If you are still looking, you can find the localized recovery downloads on the Surface Support page here.

Greetings TomerFried,

Sorry to hear about your experience. If you have a USB keyboard or a Touch/Type cover connected, your can reset your Surface using Method 2 here.

Regarding your account, I'd suggest creating another thread hereto see if the Support team can assist in recovering your account.

Greetings Patrick,

If you're still experiencing the issue, ensure that your USB is formatted as FAT32, and you have followed the steps hereto make the recovery drive.

If you still cannot boot from the USB drive (Volume down + Power), please contact Surface Technical Support.

You can try to copy/paste the image from the USB pendrive onto another to have a backup of it.  Microsoft had before made available image files for people in the past and that seemed to work.

If your tablet still has the recovery partition, it will be empty and leave it alone!!!  REMEMBER, I said to leave the partitions alone.  Reason being is that if Windows 8.2 ever is made or Windows 9, that new installation will create a new image file and it needs somewhere to create it.  I think you can see the picture of that now.  No partition, no recovery image.

If you go to "This PC" and look at Drive C:, before you moved the image off of the tablet, you had about 48% free space.  After you moved the image file off of the tablet, you should have a lot more free space available on Drive C:.  The system should have readjusted the partition sizes to give you more space.

All in all, you have moved the image off the tablet, you should now have more free space for Drive C: and if you need more storage, just plug in a micro-SD card.  You have a potential unlimited storage by that method.  On my RT, I have all of my files on a micro-SD card (documents, pictures, music, and videos) and have no files on the tablet itself.  No problem.  The Xbox video, music, and pictures apps will read from the micro-SD card.  You have to wait a few minutes after the app first loads and then you will see it populate with your files.

In the future and if you get a new tablet, leave the image file alone and leave it on the tablet.  Again, you can always add more storage with micro-SD cards.  With a handful of those things, you could store the entire Library of Congress and eat up no space on the tablet itself.

Never, ever tinker with the file structure of the RT class tablets.  You could end up with an expensive lump of aluminum and glass that could be dead as a rock.  That is also not covered by the warranty!

Thanks for your answers, I finally pointed out was going wrong and why 8.1 update did not registered my recovery partition.

I installed the 8.1 preview when it was release. Before updating to 8.1, I did a factory reset using the pen drive I had created with windows 8 RT.

as I was installing windows 8, I probably did not select the re-partitioning option at the time, which means the recovery partition kept the 8.1 preview image and not the 8.1 image.

I reset the surface using the iso downloaded on line and updated to 8.1, it created this time a 8.1 recovery partition and I was able to reset the tablet to factory default with 8.1.

I suggest you file a service request with Surface support:

https://myservice.surface.com/

Greetings Gwiz49,

When you upgraded to Windows RT 8.1, the recovery partition was also upgraded.

Will Microsoft release a recovery image for people who did not create an 8.0 recovery image who bricked their RT devices attempting to upgrade to Windows 8.1 RT?

Microsoft has released a Recovery image to install the original RT 8.0 operating system and instructions. This can be found at

**http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40810** Please download and read the PDF install instructions that are available first.

Please also Read this from Surface Support:

http://answers.microsoft.com/thread/88ff170b-cfe7-4309-bee8-cdbacced7833 which links to additional trouble shooting at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-rt-startup-error-0xc000000d?lc=1033 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barb

Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

My Blog - http://digitalmediaphile.com/

Barb's Connected World Blog Reader Windows 8 App -  

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/barbs-connected-world-blog/02f35769-52bf-461c-b1d5-06e54a58d298

Windows and Surface Community Reader Windows 8 App

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/windows-and-surface-community/0abb150e-d287-47d4-837e-9fa51f485ad7

Please mark as answered if this answers your question

Greetings Josh_F,

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having problems with the upgrade.  To resolve your issue please follow the steps on the Surface support site here.

Thank you.

Yes it does.

Well, if you did create the USB Recovery Drive, then you are going to have to contact Microsoft Technical Support if the tablet is not booting up at all.

Personally, I tell people to never touch that image file and just leave it on the SSD card even though it eats up over 50% of the space for a 32GB model.  Now you can see why.

When you created the USB Recovery pendrive, it should have removed the image file from the SSD card.

You need to insert the USB Recovery pendrive in the USB port and then press the Volume UP and the power buttons at the same time.

I think from what you are writing is that you are just exploring the options of it.  Go to the Desktop and open the file manager and look at the drive list (Local Disk C:).  If you have the 32GB model with no data on it, over 50% of space should be used up.  That would be the installed system plus the recovery system.  If you only have about one fifth space used, that means the recovery system is gone off of the tablet.  If it is missing from the tablet, then that USB pendrive that has the Recovery system will be needed each time you need to do a REFRESH or RESET (recovery).  DO NOT LOSE THAT PENDRIVE!  If you do or if the pendrive encounters a problem and will not function; Microsoft Technical Support is your only hope.  You cannot attach an external DVD drive and install from a Windows 8 disk for a RT.  There is no image file available as a replacement.

Do watch out about moving the image file off of the tablet.  Others here on the forum have done that in the past and when it came time to do a recovery, the tablet would sometimes not recognize the USB pendrive for some reason.  That is totally up to you, of course, and is supposed to work.

Myself, what I did was just insert a micro-SD card and moved all of my data onto it.  Everything.  The tablet is clear and only has the image file and the normal blank space.

A lot of these tablets to include what you experienced is that the SSD cards corrupt for some weird reason.  Totally unknown why but probably from the factory when the image was burned onto them during manufacturing.  That only happened on a small percentage of them, so it is not that wide spread.

It is good you got it working again.  You generally lose data when you are forced to do a RESET like that but if all your data was on a micro-SD card (or even a USB pendrive), you would not have lost anything.

Try that before moving the image file off of the tablet for a while.  If you see you have a stable, reliable system, then you should have no problem in doing that.

Greetings Usasma,

You may be able to contact Surface Technical Support and request an Advanced Exchange.

Hello RichardNoble.

Sorry to hear you are having issues doing a refresh or reset.

Did you create a USB recovery drive? If you did not:

Depending on what is most convenient for you, you can:

1. Open a service request yourself, using our Online Service Center.
2. Contact our Technical Support team here.

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Contact Microsoft Technical Support for that.

It is buried in the forum now but I had personally warned people to "NOT" move the recovery off the tablets but they did anyway.

Now you can see why.

Microsoft Technical Support will go through some troubleshooting with you and may also have an image file for you do download as well.

Hello TrentFoster,

Sorry to hear your Surface is not booting properly.

As James Vinyard suggested, you can have the device replaced, I have found a few extra steps you may try. If this does not help please go ahead and have your Surface replaced.

Depending on what is most convenient for you, you can:

1. Open a service request yourself, using our Online Service Center.
2. Contact our Technical Support team here.

Let us know if this helps.

Best regards.

Greetings Lozenp,

Sorry to hear about your Surface. Please try the following:

1. Plug in the Recovery USB key.
2. Shut the Surface RT off.
3. Press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Tap the Power button to turn the Surface on.
5. When the screen turns on and gives SURFACE in white lettering with the black background, release the Volume Down button.
6. Your Surface should load into Advanced Startup with a blue background.
7. Touch Troubleshoot.
8. Touch Refresh.
9. Follow the prompts.

Please let me know if this option works for you.

Greetings Brian,

That is a great question! You will need the USB plugged in to run Refresh or Reset. If you do a Reset on your Surface RT, you may be prompted to reinstall the recovery partition on the Surface.

Greetings Akuffo,

Sorry to hear about your Surface. Please contact Surface Technical Support for an exchange.

Hi, Steven.

On another computer, actually.

I managed to contact a service rep by telephone.  I have scheduled another appointment with him tomorrow.

Thanks.

JB

The core system will be the same but there are minor differences.  You will still need to get the U.S. version in the long run.  You will have to contact Microsoft Support to get that image file.

Now, you can see that it was best to just leave the machine alone and not get rid of your recovery drive to get more space.  It can be a nightmare when you need it back.

Hello Alex Hill,

Did you create a USB recovery before you saw the error stating that "the files are not available"?

If you did not create a back up or recovery beforehand, here are your options.

1. create a back up/ recovery from a separate PRO device if you have a friend that owns one or,
2. Call the surface support line through http://surface.com/support and state your case to set up an exchange to have the device repaired at the Service Centre.

You can also browse to http://service.surface.com to sign in to set up an exchange with your registered device using your Microsoft account that is associated with you device.

hi Steven thank you for getting back to me,

It has a touch my son has sorted it now he reset it but he wouldn't tell me how he done it or how he gathered the information to do it but it has worked.

I would like to thank you again for your quick response and I hope that I can call again for your help  in the future, just have to learn what this thing can and can't do as so used to windows 7 on my normal laptop but would like to learn more about the surface 64gb any ideas greatfully received thank you again Tish xxx

Greetings Pilot04,

Sorry to hear you lost your recovery partition. You will need to contact Surface Technical Support in the event that you need to do a Recovery, Reset, or Refresh.

Hello sundermani,

You could try this:

1. Plug the Surface into the Power Supply. Turn off the device by holding power for 6-10 seconds
2. Tap the power button to turn it back on.
3. Once the surface logo appears, wait for circling dots to appear and then hold power for 6-10 seconds to turn device off again.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until the surface logo appears with words underneath saying “Preparing Automatic Repair”
5. Recovery mode will start.
6. At the Bitlocker screen, tap “skip this drive”
7. Tap advanced options
8. Tap Troubleshoot
9. Tap Reset, select comp

Reset will take 25 to 60 minutes (or longer, let it finish), when it's done the Surface should go to the initial setup screen. I hope it works for you!

Greetings Jason,

Since you cannot exchange your device, you can put it in for repair. You can do this yourself here: http://myservice.surface.com or by contacting our Technical support team here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/.

go to:

1. pc settings
2. general
3. "remove everything and reinstall Windows". select the more thorough formatting option if you fancy a low level format before it reinstalls.

Hello mlumarsh,

All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. Any apps that came with your Surface will be reinstalled, but all other apps will be removed. 

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.) 2. Tap or click General. 3. Scroll down and under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, tap or click Get started. 4. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Note  You'll be prompted to choose whether you want to erase data quickly or thoroughly. If you choose to erase data thoroughly, this will take longer.

Hello Дмитрий Завадский,

You could try this:

1. Turn off the device by holding power button down for 6-10 seconds
2. Tap the power button to turn it back on.
3. Once the surface logo appears, wait for circling dots to appear and then hold power button down for 6-10 seconds to turn device off again.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until the surface logo appears with words underneath saying “Preparing Automatic Repair”
5. Recovery mode will start.
6. At the Bitlocker screen, tap “skip this drive”
7. Tap advanced options
8. Tap Troubleshoot
9. Tap Reset, choose either of the two options.

Reset will take 25 minutes to 60 minutes, when it's done the Surface should go to the login screen.

I hope this works for you!

You can copy the recovery partition to a usb drive. I'm not sure how it would work from there as I haven't read  much on that matter, but check the online help pages, they talk about lots of stuff:

http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-GB/support/browse/surface-with-windows-rt?catid=1655&cat=Warranty-Service-and-Recovery

Greetings Seamus,

Sorry to hear about your Surface encountering errors. Please try the following:

1. Turn your Surface Off
2. Turn the Surface On
3. Press and hold the Power button when bootup reaches the black screen with Surface in white text, with bubbles under the text.

4. Do this until the screen shows Preparing Automatic Repair

5. You may get a screen about Bit locker, use the Skip option
6. You should see a Diagnosing your PC screen.
7. Automatic Repair will come back up now.
8. Click on Advanced
9. Click on Troubleshoot

From here you can try Refresh or Reset option. If neither of them work, please contact Surface Technical support for assistance. http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/.

Are you able to log into the Surface with the POP email? If yes than what you will need to do is create a new user in PC settings and then set is as an administrator and then delete the old one.

If you are unable to log into the POP email, you will need to reset the Surface back to default. To do this:

1. At the lock screen, hold down shift and tap the restart option in the bottom right corner.
2. It will load up a blue screen, select advanced options and then 'reset my PC'.
3. Select 'Fully clean the drive' and skip the step about the recovery key.
4. Wait for the Surface to reset and then it will be again like when it came out of the box.

Hope this helps!

Hello JustinBowers,

If you can login to the Surface, a Reset can be run this way:

1. Swipe in slightly from the right edge of the screen to bring up the Charms, tap Settings, and then at the bottom right tap Change PC settings.

      2. Tap or click General.

      3. Scroll down, under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, tap or click Get started.

      4. Follow the instructions on the screen. You'll be given a choice between erase data quickly

          or thoroughly, thoroughly takes a little longer.

Greetings NopparatPattananithiboon,

Since you did not get an option in the Troubleshoot menu, please get in touch with Surface Technical Support: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/

Because the steps are at the very bottom of that thread, this is what you will want to try first since you are unable to log on to your device:

1. From the Login Screen either Hold Shift on your Touch/Type Cover and, while holding the button, tap the Power Symbol and select Restart or, if you do not have a Cover, press the Accessibility symbol at the bottom left of the Login Screen and select On-Screen Keyboard. On the keyboard tap Shift so the key is highlighted, tap the Power Symbol and select Restart.
2. The Surface will boot into a blue screen with four options.
3. Select Troubleshoot
4. Select Reset my PC
5. Select Completely reinstall Windows

If at any point you see a screen asking you to enter an Activation Key you will want to select Skip this drive.

I hope this helps!

When it tells you to "Press Advanced Options to try other options..." if you are given the option to select an Advanced Optionsbutton you will want to do so. This should take you to a screen that lists four options, one of which will be Troubleshoot which you will want to select. In the new list of options choose Reset my PC followed by Completely reinstall Windows.

This will, if it works, reset your Surface back to factory defaults and should resolve your issue. If the Reset fails to complete, you will want to set up a Service Order yourself through myservice.surface.com or via a Surface Support Agent through surface.com/support or, if you purchased your Surface from a Pop-Up/Brick-and-Mortar Microsoft Store, take it in for an exchange. Whichever is most convenient for you.

I hope this helps.

This is the answer - guess I can't answer my own post . . .

This link might help - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692045%28v=surface.10%29.aspx

Also, MS Surface support kept offering to replace the tablet saying some showed the problem and some didn't.  When pushed as to whether there was a hardware glitch or two hardware revisions out, they claimed no - just some tablets show the problem.  They would not say that a replacement would not have the problem.

Then, while trying the above site sequence, a set of MS patches ran, and low and behod - it now works.  Obviously they solved it.

Thanks!

I've solved this issue:

1. Shift + reboot
2. Restore to factory settings

Here is the official documentation for refreshing or resetting your Surface - 

http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/support/surface-with-windows-RT/warranty-service-and-recovery/how-do-i-refresh-or-reset-surface

Hi Justin,

I just wanted to follow up and see if you are still experiencing this issue. If so I'd recommend you contact our technical support here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/support/contact-us/.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks!

Yes, you can.

• Along the right side, go to the Charms.  Select "Settings" then "Change PC Settings".
• Along the left, under "PC settings", select "General".
• Along the right, scroll down to the bottom and you'll have a couple of options.  You could just "Refresh your PC without affect your files" or "Remove everything and reinstall Windows".

Hope this helps.