Surface Book 3 - The newest update has completely bricked my Surface Book 3. Is there any hope for me?

Question

Hello, I am desperate for help. Microsoft "support" has told has no known solution. Thank you

Issue:

Since the latest Windows update, my computer will not turn on.

When attempting to power on, I receive the following error:

"Boot Error: Couldn't find a bootable operating system. Check the Boot Configuration to try to fix this"

Support told me to download a "Surface Recovery Image Download" from the website and extract the contents onto a 32gb Thumbdrive. I followed the instruction to boot up the computer with the thumdrive and select the "recovery option"

The computer begins to restart/recover process and immediately stops and goes to a blue screen that says the following:

"Reset this PC. There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made." the only option to select is cancel.

Here is where microsoft support says that they know no other solutions and they can only tell me that I no longer have a working computer. I must buy a new computer.

Looking for any help that they might have missed. The computer was working flawlessly before the update.

Details:

Update was the Morning of February 3rd, 2022. I was using my computer normally without a single issue. At about 10am I was prompted to begin the newest Windows update.

I have previously completed every update at the time I am prompted, so I believe I was up to date with all updates.

Device:

Surface Book 3 - 15 in. 512GB i7 32GB with GeForce

Thank you anyone that can help in advance.

My entire business workflow has been devastated. And because of the shortage in supply chain, I can not seem to find a comparable computer available for sale to replace mine

Answer 1

Thank you for reporting this issue.  We are actively investigating. For additional help, contact Microsoft Support

Answer 2

I appreciate the confirmation. The SSD icon should look like this:

This icon indicates that there's a hard drive problem on your device and would need a repair/replacement.

Answer 3

hello again,

is the Surface data eraser still an option that microsoft allows?

The link in your comment takes me to a page. There seem to be two problems:

1.) The very first step is "After the creation tool is installed.."

What is a creation tool and how do I install it? Is that the USB with the Image recover on it? Does installed mean plugged into the none working computer?

2. the next step is:

1. Run the DataEraserSetup.msi installation file that you downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center.

But this link in the step takes me to a page that tells me to shop for surface devices and then a red download button that is unlabeled and has no instructions. Is this the right download? Do I download it and put is on a separate, empty thumbdrive?

The instruction on the first page that you linked give instructions by showing images of the download process but they look nothing like the page that the link took me to.

Not sure how to proceed. Appears maybe the links are wrong or the instructions are outdated?

Do you know if there is a new link or information to how to do this process?

Thank you so much in advance

Answer 4

Thank you for the reply and help.

Please see responses to each point below:

• Boot configuration device order is:

USB Storage

PXE Network

Windows Boot Manager

Internal Storage

• Icon in UEFI mode, that is located in the top right corner, is currently:

Three logos in this order left to right

1. Volume sign logo
3. Power on/off logo

other times I have booted up in UEFI mode I have seen the icon look like a CPU chip of some sorts.

I have never seen it look like a SSD icon, although I am also not sure exactly what that would look like.

• I am going to proceed with the Data Eraser in the link you provided.

This is something I have not heard about or tried yet.

I am will begin this now and check back when complete. Thank you very much

Answer 5

Thank you for posting your inquiry here in Microsoft Community, SamP87.

I'm sorry to hear about the booting issue on the device. I can definitely feel how important the device for your business.

May I confirm if you have checked the boot configuration of the device? When the boot error shows, select OK to dismiss the dialog and then select Boot configuration from the menu on the left. Ensure that you have a valid boot device selected. By default, all the options including Windows Boot Manager, Internal Storage, USB Storage, and PXE Network should be selected. 

Try to also check if the device can still boot to the UEFI settings and verify if there's an SSD icon on the top-left corner of the screen. Turn off the device > press the volume up then the power button for 15 seconds. > On the UEFI, check the top-left corner if there's an SSD icon.

If there's no SSD icon, try to perform Microsoft Surface Data Eraser (Surface).

Otherwise, the device would need a replacement/repair.