Surface pro 3 Brightness control missing

Yeah, I did wonder about that, whether it was reducing the power draw -- thanks for giving me a way to tell.  

But I don't often run my Surface all that long on battery power -- thanks to this problem, I've gotten in the habit of using my other laptop when I need a long time unplugged.  So this does at least allow me to use the surface in a dim room without blinding myself, which was the main thing I just couldn't cope with in this mess.

When I have more time and energy, I may turn back to working on the real problem, but I just can't waste any more time on this at the moment. So for now, I'll settle for this solution to the most pressing symptom (for me) and leave dealing with the underlying problem for another day.

btw, I've resisted trying "Recovery while keeping personal files" because it appears I would then have to individually reinstall every single program and app I've put on this thing over the past few years.  Again, I just don't really have the time to do that right now.  

Am I correct that Recovery does require reinstalling everything, one program at a time?

Or is there some way to either keep my apps, or create some kind of re-install bundle so that the process is less onerous? (I figure that's doubtful but it doesn't hurt to ask!)

btw, I've resisted trying "Recovery while keeping personal files" because it appears I would then have to individually reinstall every single program and app I've put on this thing over the past few years.  Again, I just don't really have the time to do that right now.  

Am I correct that Recovery does require reinstalling everything, one program at a time?

Or is there some way to either keep my apps, or create some kind of re-install bundle so that the process is less onerous? (I figure that's doubtful but it doesn't hurt to ask!)

Hi,

Yes the recovery keeping files does keep all files in documents, pictures etc; but ALL programs need to be re-installed afterwards (other than ones installed from the Windows Store ... but who ever uses that for anything?) . I don't know of any way to save and reinstall a bunch of apps together - or not one that is easier than just re-installing anyway.

I realise this is a real pain. I hate to sounds smug, but the solution I posted on 19th December really has still worked, I install all Windows updates and it's still working perfectly with power settings and screen brightness intact etc. Of course it may just be a coincidence, and it could fail tomorrow, but I did the same thing to two Surface Pro 3s with exactly the same problem and they were both immediately fixed.

Yes, I did resent re-installing all my programs, but really it was only a couple of hours work on each one; nothing compared to the time I'd previously spent trying to fix Microsoft's mess.

Touch-wood that I haven't now jinxed myself with this post.

My Surfacepro3 is

When I applied the windows patch, I could not work at full power.

Works very slowly.

I wanted to go back before applying the patch.

However, Surfacepro3 crashed during the restoration process.

Installing the reinstalled software is extremely difficult.

I may not use surfacepro3 anymore.

My Surfacepro3 has the same performance as an older netbook.

I carefully rolled back and turned off auto-updates.  It solved the problem for 48hrs, but the update still slipped through at some-point.  My story:

In December (before a 4 week trip abroad),  I performed a full clean install to revert my Surface Pro 3 to a version before the bug appeared.    I a technical person with easy access to all my installers,  so it only took me about 2 hours to create the USB image, and 5 hours to install and restore all my software.

The functionality with the power button and slider was restored upon the clean install.    And, I thought that I shut off automatic updates to avoid having windows re-apply the Roll-up Patch which would break the features.

However, the patch (somehow) got pushed within 48 hours  (about a day before my trip).    And, all the problems re-Surfaced  (Pun intended). 

I was a help-desk and PC technician for years, so I'm usually pretty good at this stuff.   I usually read at least 3-4 articles about how to perform something (like stopping automatic updates), to ensure that I see the same instructions twice and ensure I have coverage of all the approaches. 

Egotism aside,  windows is designed to protect and update itself.   I consider myself a desktop  Vetran/Master on the scale of  (Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Veteran, Master).    I can make mistakes, but I couldn't even find where I'd error going back in retrospective.  

Based on this,  I have the opinion that most average folks will not be able to successfully revert and permanently suppress updates to work-around the issues.    I'm also not willing to invest another 4-6 hours to try another reset, because I can't find my error (and the same problem will reoccur).    I'm tempted to just upgrade,  but I also lack the information to know which models this issue applies to  (Surface Pro 3, 4, 5,   book, etc).

As a result, I simply got a keyboard, added office, and installed a Bluetooth mouse (using mobility features) on my (renewed) iPad Pro 11".  I prefer Windows, but the iPad has an 11hr battery life and can be recharged 4 times off a big Anker power-bank with no access to an AC Outlet.   It's not perfect, but I can perform 80%+ of the things I need to do.   The only think I really miss from Win10 is tabbed browsing where I can also open tabs to windows, and floating windows. 

I still really like my Surface Pro 3, and it's perfectly fine outside these issues.   However, it's not aging well compared to devices powered by a USB-C that can be supplemented with an external charger.   I think I'm just going to permanently dock it, and connect it to a TV as a dedicated Home Theater PC (HTPC) unit...   and treat it like a Win10 ROKU Ultra. 

If I dock it,  I'll periodically check every 3-6 months to see if Microsoft ever solves their bugs.   If they do, I may bring it back into rotation as a traveling device.  :-(