Posting this for anyone who is buying an older Surface Pro 3 tablet and having problems upgrading Windows 10 to the Creators Update.
After several hours of research, I've discovered a solution.
The Solution is NOT....
to just keep trying to upgrade through the Windows 10 Upgrade assistant.
to run the windows upgrade troubleshooter and then try to upgrade.
to disable the cryptographic service and other commandline solutions.
to run the windows media creation tool and install the upgrade that way.
to download the Windows 10 creators update iso file and install that way.
You know the problem if you've done any work already is the Realtek USB 3.0 Card Reader. Windows says that Windows 10 upgrade is not compatible with this device/software. But of course, disabling it or removing it isn't an option.
Windows came out with a firmware update for the surface pro 3 that fixes this problem, but it only installs on a surface pro 3 with the Anniversary Update installed already. Unfortunately, if you're like me and upgrading from windows 8, you only have the
the original Windows 10 or the november update one.
Thanks for reading, here's the solution:
First you need to install the Windows 10 Anniversary update (1607) from an iso: **CM Edit - removed link to 3rd party site illegally hosting Microsoft OS Download and reported to legal. Only Microsoft can legally host ISO's for their products**
Then do the firmware update that fixes the Realtek USB 3.0 Card Reader Driver problem. Here's a link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826
Install the SurfacePro3_Win10_14393_1702002_0.msi one. You may not need the others, but I would recommend installing some of the other firmware updates.
Once you've installed both of these (in that order mind you), then you can use the media creation tool or the Windows 10 upgrade assistant to upgrade to the Windows 10 Creators Update 1703.
Just had to post since it took me so long to figure this out and anyone who just bought an older Surface Pro 3 with windows 8 or 10 on it is going to run into this.