Unable to contact MS and unable to download recovery image

Question

Hi there getting frustrated with MS.  Thought Apple was the only company making it hard for technicians to repair stuff.  I am working on a clients Surface Pro 4 with a UEFI boot issue and im attempting to recover it via USB.  

The webpage has been stating that the serial number is invalid. When I attempt to use the chat agent at surface.com/assist it gives me error when registering the device.  "We’re sorry. We are unable to process your request online at this time. Please contact Microsoft Support for assistance. (T35WJF5cVEu9Looy.51)"   

I just want the recovery image so I can complete this surface and move on.  Really frustrated at the fact that I have to hope to hit a forum for any kind of support here from a multi-million dollar company.

Ive attempted to call MS 15 times and it always loops back to the same record POS message that sends you to the broken webpage. 

Model: Surface Pro 4

Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxx35

Answer 1

Hi SurfaceSupportSucks, 

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. 

Please make sure that the serial number you entered on the Surface Recovery Image page and in registering the device is correct. Surface Pro 4's serial number is consist of 12 digit number and should end with 53. Please see this page for tips to Find serial number on Surface devices. 

In recovering the device, you may follow these steps below in doing a USB Recovery once you have the correct serial number: 

U SB Recovery:

         This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset. You will need also a 16GB/32GB of flash drive that must be formatted into FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. If you like to try, you can follow the steps provided below:

How to Download, Create and Use a USB recovery drive

To download the Recovery Image:

• You'll need a PC running Windows 7 or later or Surface Device.

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 that 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

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Try a different browser. Try an In Private/Incognito browser window.

Answer 3

Thanks for the suggestion but im not a basic home user and this has been recreated across two technicians.  If you would like to recreate the issue please go to the URL for recovery image and insert Surface pro 4 and the serial number provided.  

  I should have included that ive tried this from mobile browser on Android and on multiple workstations running IE 11.1198.18362.0, Edge 87.0.664.47, Chrome Version 87.0.4280.66 (Official Build) (64-bit).

Fact is I need an alternate download location OR someone from MS to tell me why the webpage is not liking this serial number. I cannot use the support assistant as I cannot register the device due to serial number issues and I cannot download the recovery USB due to serial number issues also.

Answer 4

My serial number has been located off the back of the device under the stand.  I see you blacked out the number above and I mistyped it.  My devices last two digits are 53.

When I put this number in on Microsoft Support | Download a recovery image for Microsoft Surface with Edge and hit continue it does nothing and I get Cross origin read blocking errors in developer tools.  This happens in Edge.

With Internet exploder I get console errors but nothing in the UI to suggest errors "Error occurred during http request {"data":"invalid serial number","status":404,"config":{"method":"GET","transformRequest":[null],"transformResponse":[null],"url":"app/devicesclient/api/SurfaceRecoveryImage/043150161153/PublisherDetails","params":{},"headers":{"Accept":"application/json, text/plain, */*","Caller-Name":"Angular","MS-CV":"+j6fg++Pi0CaiwPz.19"},"startTime":1606327299898},"statusText":"Not Found"}"

Atleast on Google Chrome they are providing errors about what is occurring.  There is a red message that states the serial number is not valid.  

This whole process is well documented BUT I AM HAVING SERIAL NUMBER ISSUES AND THE WEBPAGE IS NOT HELPING.

I need an answer as to why this clients serial number is not being validated when its clearly accurate and on the back of the device.

I need a number to talk to a REAL agent or I need someone to call me. I have a one off issue that is not my fault and I need an explanation.

Answer 5

I can't "see" YOUR serial number. (I do not work for MS< I'm an unpaid volunteer). I have a SP4 serial number and I just tried it and it works. If you want an alternative, use the generic installer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 to create a bootable install USB and then get and run the latest driver MSI from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49498 and run it..  SurfacePro4_Win10_18362_20.034.43185.0.msi