Surface Pro 4 Stuck in Loop After Factory Reset

Question

Hello,

I set my Surface Pro 4 up to factory reset the other day and picked the option to wipe everything on the hard drive. I made sure it was plugged in and came back to it several hours later to find it turned off. I assumed it had finished and turned it. It booted through the surface logo and the circling progress dots, then it jumped to another darker screen saying, "Preparing" with the progress dots, and then an error message pops up saying that the windows installation process was interrupted and needs to be restarted. The only option to click is restart and when I click that the same cycle starts again. 

What I've tried so far with no luck:

1. I tried multiple soft and hard (2-button) resets.

2.  I tried using a recovery USB from my other laptop (also win 10). 

3. I downloaded the Surface recovery image for my model from the support website, put it on a different FAT32 formatted USB, and tried to boot to that with volume down and the power key.
4. I changed boot options in the UEFI and tried to manually boot to the Surface recovery USB.
5. I took off the security keys in UEFI and restarted to try to boot to USB. Then put them back on and tried.
6. I tried booting with the type-cover attached and detached.
7. I tried booting with the surface plugged in and unplugged.

I can get access to the UEFI and the command prompt, but I haven't tried anything at the command prompt yet. What should I do next?

Answer 1

Try the Surface Data Eraser documentation at
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/microsoft-surface-data-eraser   the
download itself is at
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46703  
--if this completes successfully, try the downloadable recovery image again and
see if you can reimage.

Answer 2

Hi whaler1HT,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community.

Here's how you can reimage the device successfully.

- HOW TO DOWNLOAD, CREATE AND USE A USB RECOVERY DRIVE -

You'll need a PC running Windows 7 or later or a Surface Device and a USB flashdrive (16GB or 32 GB).

1. Visit the page to Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for

Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for your Surface device. 4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page 5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

Format USB Drive:

• Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface

USB recovery drive.

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive and continue with the reimaging process.

If this helps, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there's anything else that needs to be addressed.

Kind Regards,

Crest

Answer 3

Hey, Crest.

As  I mentioned in my original post, I already tried this method and it didn't work. I followed the exact steps you've outlined after reading another moderator's same response to what sounded like the same problem (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/microsoft-stuck-in-reboot-after-factory-settings/66d4d1b2-b4b7-4149-9e7b-8caf2d82e8f5). 

If you read my original post, you can see the steps I've already tried. I'm wondering if there is anything else I can try by myself to fix the problem.

Thanks~!

Answer 4

Sorry for the delayed response, whaler1HT.

Reimaging the Surface device using a USB recovery drive is basically the last troubleshooting steps that can be performed and if it fails, the only resolution  I can recommend is to send the device for service to have it replaced.

Just feel free to contact our Microsoft Surface Support for replacement options>>https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4051701/global-customer-service-phone-numbers.

Kind Regards,

Crest

Answer 5

That worked like a charm! The directions were straight forward, and the process was fast and easy. Thanks a lot for the quick, helpful response, Barb!