Repeated BSOD after firmware update - Surface pro 3, Windows 10

Anonymous

Hey everyone

There was a firmware update for the SP3 I just did and my device now seems completely bricked. When I boot it, I instantaneously get a BSOD with one of those two messages : kernel security check failure or driver unloaded without cancelling pending operations.

The BSOD tells me I have to use a win10 device to boot it from, but when I tell the BIOS to boot with my USB win10 key, it doesn't and keeps telling that the OS can't boot and to use a win10 disc (no CD reader on the SP3). Nothing I've tried works so far.

I've had my sp3 for just over a year and I really liked it before windows 10, and I really hope I can get it fixed.

Thanks for your help,

Émile

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

MODERATOR EDIT (10/5/2015): Steps listed here previously are now updated to the following. If you receive a blue screen error after installing the 9/29/2015 Surface Firmware Update please start at step 1 to address.

Step 1 – System Restore Point

1. Boot Surface using USB recovery media. If you do not have recovery media you can download from here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage. Once you have recovery media proceed to next steps. Note: The USB drive must be formatted to FAT32 (not NTFS) in order to work correctly.

2. Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button. When the Surface logo appears release the volume-down button.

3. When prompted select the language and keyboard layout you want.

4. Select Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, followed by selecting System Restore then select the target operating system.

5. In System Restore, click Next.

6. Click on a system restore point that was prior to applying the System Firmware update. Please use a restore point 9/28 or earlier.

7. Click Next.

8. Click Finish.

9. Click Yes when asked if you want to continue.

10. After moving to an earlier restore point you should boot into Windows.

If you were able to restore to an earlier restore point you should now be able to use your Surface again, no additional steps are needed. If you were not able restore to an earlier restore point or you did not have a restore point then continue to step 2 below.

Step 2 – Safe Mode

1. Boot Surface using USB recovery media by pressing and holding the volume-down button while you press and release the power button. When the Surface logo appears release the volume-down button.

2. When prompted select the language and keyboard layout you want.

3. Select Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, followed by selecting Command Prompt.

4. Type the following command in the command prompt and then press enter:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

5. Type the following command in the command prompt and then press enter.

exit

6. Press Turn off your PC.

7. Press the power button on Surface to turn it on.

8. Press F8 when the Windows Boot Manager screen comes up to go to Startup Settings.

9. Press “4” to enable Safe Mode.

10. Surface may do disk checking as well as perform a scan and repair. Surface will then restart. If Surface does not do this and instead boots into Safe Mode, go to step 13.

11. Press F8 when the Windows Boot Manager screen comes up to go to Startup Settings.

12. Press “4” to enable Safe Mode.

13. Surface will start in Safe Mode. Sign into Surface. Press the Windows Start Menu, press Power and select Restart.

14. Press Enter when the Windows Boot Manager screen comes up to boot into Windows 10.

15. Surface will start normally. Sign into Surface. Right-click the Windows Start Menu and click Command Prompt (Admin).

16. Click Yes to allow this app to make changes.

17. Type the following command in the command prompt and then press enter.

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no

18. Press the Windows Start Menu, press Power and select Restart.

If you are now able to boot into Windows you should now be able to use your Surface again, no additional steps are needed. If you were not able to boot into Windows then continue to step 3 below.

Step 3 – Reset Surface to factory settings

1. Follow the steps in the article below to boot Surface using USB recovery media and reset Surface back to factory settings: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/usbrecovery

Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Josh

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187 additional answers

Anonymous

There are a couple of threads... you were going to try to get to safe mode. And do a system restore if possible.

Below is copied from the other thread.

Can you create a bootable Win10 USB by downloading an ISO from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install

and using Rufus https://rufus.akeo.ie/ to format a 16GB USB stick FAT32 GPT ? If the Rufus site is down, try http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/getmirror/rufus,2.html

Then get the ISO onto the USB stick and

Step 1:	Make sure your Surface is turned off and plugged in.
Step 2:	Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on your 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:	See http://winaero.com/blog/start-windows-10-in-safe-mode/ and start in Safe mode and then do a restart?

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Anonymous

2015-10-01T11:40:35+00:00

Kevin, ignore my earlier reply this morning that I sent before reading this. Are you still under warranty and are you near a physical retail Microsoft Store?
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Anonymous

2015-10-01T11:48:48+00:00

Barb,

I was in contact with Surface Support and they are sending me a replacement Surface to my office. It appears I have a hardware issue that prevents my Surface from booting from USB.

Thankfully my device still had a month left on the hardware warranty. I find it a bit disturbing that Microsoft released a firmware update capable of bricking a computer. There should be no circumstance where I should be unable to boot from a removable device.

I appreciate your help. Thank you.
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Anonymous

2015-10-01T12:07:51+00:00

Hello,

Hoping someone can provide an assist here as I've invested several thousand dollars in Microsoft Surface products. Between my wife and I, we have 3 of them (first generation SP and two SP3s; all three upgraded to Windows 10) and the Surface Pro 3s are experiencing the same problems.

On the evening of September 29th, my wife's surface pro 3 installed System Firmware Update – 9/29/2015. Upon rebooting, the tablet kept crashing with an error message indicating something similar to "driver unloaded without cancelling pending operations". A cycle of reboot followed by this message followed by automatic reboot occurred. There appeared to be no way to get out of that cycle so we used a USB flash drive to try to Reset/Recovery/Troubleshoot the problem. Bottom line is that the only thing that worked was a full reset to factory defaults followed by a complete reinstallation of all Windows Updates (over 144 of them); a process that took nearly 3 hours to complete. This seemed to resolve the problem and my wife's SP3 is now working again, however the System Firmware Update – 9/29/2015 update is waiting to be installed.

On my SP3, the evening of September 30th, Windows Update automatically installed System Firmware Update – 9/29/2015. Unfortunately I could not stop it and I was dreading the reboot, considering what happened to my wife's SP3 the previous evening. Sure enough my SP3 behaved exactly as my wife's upon restart. The tablet kept crashing with an error message indicating something similar to "driver unloaded without cancelling pending operations". A cycle of reboot and display this message followed by automatic reboot occurred. Again, the only way to resolve this appeared to be a reset to factory defaults. So, I initiated a reset to factory default. Once complete, the first thing the tablet did was display Windows Update, which contained 144 updates, including the System Firmware Update – 9/29/2015 and I was unable to exclude that update.
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