Can't Boot from Bootable USB thumb drive Surface Pro 3 Win 8.1

Question

I would like to run a disk/SSD maintenance program called SpinRite on my SP3 (from GRC.com).  It will not run from native Windows.  It needs to run from a DOS bootable drive.  I created a bootable drive and copied DOS basic programs onto it, but I can't get the SP3 to recognize it on startup.

The method I used for creating the thumbdrive is documented here under "**How do I make a bootable USB thumb drive??"**https://www.grc.com/sr/faq.htm.  When I ran the HP tool, it took about 10 minutes and completed without error notices.  I don't have another PC to try the drive on.

In Win 8.1 on the SP3 I tried the Change Advanced Startup Options command, selected boot from the USB drive.  This caused a restart.  However, the SP3 came up as normal Windows login.

I edited the UEFI settings: Boot order to USB-->SSD, and Secure boot = Disabled.  Still no luck on restart.

When I hold the decrease volume button down and hit the power button, then release the down volume button as soon as I see the Surface splash screen, I still get a normal startup.  The USB drive read light flashes 4 times, but then I don't see any more read activity during startup.

I would appreciate any help someone can suggest.  I will try to test the USB drive on another PC tomorrow.  Do we think that the version of DOS on the bootable USB matters?  I used the one in the manufacturer's article above.

Thanks,

Dave

Answer 1

Strongly recommend you do NOT run spinrite on the Surface SSD. Why do you need

to run this?

You need a FAT32/GPT formatted USB drive. The Rufus tool can create this.

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Answer 2

Thanks, Barb,

I am reluctant to do much "preventative maintenance" on modern computers, as the effort often causes more problems than it avoids.  My motivation for trying to get SpinRite to run on my SP3 is that I own a copy of it and have rid myself of my legacy computers.  I just want to be sure that I can run it if I have to in the future.  (The author Steve Gibson, whom I trust, states that it runs fine on SSD drives.)

So this is more of a struggle to get ANY bootable USB set up for my Surface Pro 3, learn how to boot from it (hold volume down button while standing on one leg and facing north...), and be able to invoke SpinRite if I need it sometime.

I initially used a highly recommended and simple USB drive formatting tool called HP USB Disk Storage Format, which gives the option of loading DOS files onto the created drive.  That approach didn't work, but I don't know why (USB thumb drive issue, SP3 setup issue, SP3 initiation issue, DOS files, etc.).

Then I tried using my SP3's Win 8.1 option of creating a recovery drive.  That booted and I could even get a DOS command prompt via its menu, but I could not execute SpinRite.  When I entered "SpinRite.exe" from the directory that contained it on the USB, I received an error message of "The subsystem needed to support the image type is not present."  That's where I am now.

If you have any suggestions that would help me establish the USB bootable and SpinRite capability, I would appreciate it.  I'm learning...

By the way, do you have specific reasons that SpinRite should not be run against the SSD?

Thanks!

Dave

Answer 3

Did you try creating a bootable USB stick with the Rufus tool? FAT32 GPT is required.

Answer 4

Hi Barb,

I have not tried Rufus but will do so and let you know what happens.

Thanks,

Dave

Answer 5

Hi Barb,

I downloaded and ran Rufus to create a USB thumb drive.  I left all selections as default (to include FreeDOS).  It ran for about 10 minutes and stopped with no errors.  Lots of flashing of the USB write light.

Now I cant get my Surface Pro 3 to boot from that drive.

I edited the UEFI settings: Boot order to USB-->SSD, and Secure boot = Disabled. 

I have tried starting the SP3 by holding down the volume button, pressing power, then releasing the volume button as soon as I see the Surface splash page.  When I do this, the SP3 boots to a BitLocker page that prompts me to enter my recovery key.  I enter the 48 digit key and BitLocker accepts it and offers a button to "accept these changes and restart."  Then it says "unlocking"...  Then I get a restart that goes back to the BitLocker page.  If I select "skip this drive" on that page it loops back to restart and BitLocker.  When these restarts occur, the USB drive flashes a few time initially and then no more.  I don't think I have a BitLocker key issue, but I am tired of typing its 48 digits in.  Maybe I should just disable BitLocker?

If I remove the USB drive and don't hold down the volume button during start up, the SP3 presents my normal Windows login screen and all is normal.

I tried using SP3's Update & Recovery | Recovery | Advanced Startup | Restart Now | Use a Device | USB drive.  The USB drive flashes a few times initially and then I get my normal Windows login screen.

When I look at the D: USB drive, there is a Autorun.inf file that contains:

; Created by Rufus 2.11.995 

; http://rufus.akeo.ie

[autorun]

icon  = autorun.ico

label = SPINRITE

I would really appreciate it if you would help me get to the point of having a bootable drive and able to boot from it.  Whatever I am doing now isn't working.

Thanks!

Dave