Share via

Surface Pro - Reset to Factory Settings

Anonymous
2021-04-14T14:13:44+00:00

Hi,

Since I no longer use my surface Pro for my business, I want to reset the device and start from scratch.

I'm not nervous about doing this and understand it might take a while for the system to update the latest patches, but I can live with that.

I am twitchy about the following, though:

1.  Can I be sure my device 'remembers' it's a licensed product, so I don't have to buy a new licence, and

2.  When I first setup the Surface Pro, I ended up with a stupid name, but this time I want something a little more appropriate.  At what point do I 'name' the device (It's been a while since I've started from scratch!) so I want to get it right?

I'm sure there's more, but that'll do for now.

No spammers trying to sell me anything, please.

***Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Licensing & activation***

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

  1. LightJack 05 2,575 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-15T20:59:19+00:00

    Hi,

    I'm not an expert on that.

    I'd recommend you open a new question for that, since this is not exactly the initial question.

    However, the user folder under C:\Users is usually the first part of your Email, yes.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. LightJack 05 2,575 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-14T16:15:46+00:00

    Hi,

    At first, before resetting make a complete backup of your personal files on the machine. Resetting it will also delete any user data.

    (just making sure.)

    1.

    Windows remembers your devices hardware-configuration so it will (as long as you install the same Version of windows [home/pro]) automatically reactivate your device.

    Also, recent Surface devices have their key stored in thier UEFI. This means it will activate automatically after the reinstall and you don't have to worry about it.

    Windows won't be a problem.

    If you've installed any payed software outside of the Microsoft Store, you need your account linked to that software or the key to activate it.

    Software bought in the Microsoft Store is linked to your MS account.

    2.

    Username:

    When you set up your device, it will ask for a Username. (Only if you use a local account, not an MS account)

    Device name:

    After you set up your device, it will automatically generate a random device name. You can change this one by going to:

    Settings>System>Info>Rename this PC

    You'll need to restart for it to take effect.

    I'd recommend resetting the surface using a recovery image, since this will remove every last virus you may got on the device. A well coded virus may survive a reset via settings.

    To reset surface using a recovery image, use this link: 

    Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface (microsoft.com)

    NOTE: If you have device encryption enabled (default) disable it to use this method.

    If you don't, windows won't let you access the drive.

    Regards,

    LightJack

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

5 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-04-15T15:13:58+00:00

    Well, this has all gone a bit wrong!

    For whatever reason (and this wasn't the case before I reset the device) my Surface Pro has decided to install both versions of Office I have a licence for, i.e. Office 2016 and Office 365.

    For some reason, I also appear to have 16 different language versions of Office 365 installed - except en-uk (which is where I am).  I managed to uninstall the en-us version, but all the others are languages (ar-sa, da-dk, de-de, es-es, fi-fi, fr-fr, it-it, nb-no, nl-nl, pl-pl, pt-pt, sv-se, th-th, zh-ch, zh-tw) all give a 30180-4 error?

    I have managed to delete Office 2016 using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant application, though.

    Do you have any idea why this might be, please?

    Thank you.

    0 comments
  2. LightJack 05 2,575 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-14T18:15:42+00:00

    Hi,

    yeah, that includes Bitlocker.

    However, if you manually configured Bitlocker, it will probably just ask you for the password.

    You can check if device encryption is enabled by going to:

    Settings>Update & Security>Device encryption

    This is standard on Surface devices and is basically Bitlocker encryption with TPM.

    Regards,

    LightJack

    *Edit:

    If you don't remember the password to a bitlocker encrypted partition, or it's asking you for one you didn't set, you can delete the partition via an Installation Media. (More info on that should you need it.)

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-14T16:45:54+00:00

    Hello,

    That is so helpful, thank you LightJack!

    I haven't got a Recovery Drive, but am in the process of doing that now.  Good call!

    The only other software I'll be using is one or two Office apps, for which I have a subscription, and CNC software.

    I'm not bothered about any files on the machine because all my stuff is stored on a NAS.

    Just one thing:  Does "device encryption enabled" include BitLocker?  I'm not sure it's enabled, but I'll check...

    Thanks again,

    Peter

    0 comments