Can not use a Windows 10 regular ISO on Surface Laptop 3

Question

Hello,

I recently bought a surface laptop 3. I tried to boot it on a regular Windows 10 iso to see if it was working properly in case I need to reinstall Windows. The computer boots on the USB drive. However, the keyboard and the mouse are not working. I’m a bit worried. Does my unit have a problem. Thanks in advance.

Olivier

Answer 1

Hi OlivierD'Anjou, 

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. 

In reinstalling Windows on our Surface devices, we do not recommend using a regular Windows ISO. We recommend using the specific image for your Surface available on our website. Kindly follow these steps below in re-installing Windows on the device.

This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset and it will wipe out everything on  the device so you might need to back up your files first. You will need also a 16GB to 32GB 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

Answer 2

Hello,

I recently bought a surface laptop 3. I tried to boot it on a regular Windows 10 iso to see if it was working properly in case I need to reinstall Windows. The computer boots on the USB drive. However, the keyboard and the mouse are not working. I’m a bit worried. Does my unit have a problem. Thanks in advance.

Olivier

Hello,

Thank you for your answer. I will try to boot it from a recovery drive to ensure that the keyboard and mouse do work. Is it normal that they were not working when I booted on the iso? I would have another question for you: since it is not recommended to reinstall Windows with a regular iso, is it ok to update Windows through the Windows 10 upgrade assistant. When I received my laptop this week, it was on version 1909 and it didn’t see the 20h2 version after updating the drivers and everything. I knew version 1909 is going to expire soon so I forced the update using the Windows 10 upgrade assistant. Will it have an impact on the recovery infos stored on the PC to recet it? What is the difference between upgrading Windows through Windows Update vs via Windows 10 Upgrade assistant? Thanks for everything?

Regards,

Olivier

Answer 3

Hi OlivierD'Anjou, 

Thank you for the response and I apologize for the delay. 

In updating the device, it is best also to just do the updates through Windows Updates. The difference between Windows Update and the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant is that using the Windows 10 Update Assistant, it won't include the specific drivers for the Surface. 

Try running the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit on the device to poke the updates and see if the device will now be prompted for the 20H2 version update.

Answer 4

Hello,

I recently bought a surface laptop 3. I tried to boot it on a regular Windows 10 iso to see if it was working properly in case I need to reinstall Windows. The computer boots on the USB drive. However, the keyboard and the mouse are not working. I’m a bit worried. Does my unit have a problem. Thanks in advance.

Olivier

Hello,

The laptop was on 20h2 because I forced it as I said. I had some issues this week with some programs so I reimaged the laptop using the 2004 Surface Laptop Recovery image. My laptop came with 1909. It updated a bunch of drivers and installed 20h2 by itself. At the end, it seems like I did all of that for nothing because it behaves just like before. I guess these were not issues from the device but for the programs themselves. I would also like to mention that the Surface recovery image was accessible for blind persons. I was able to turn Narrator on by pressing ctrl+windows+enter and procede with the reset. That's pretty cool.