Can't Use Touchpad and keyboard while installing windows 10 on Surface Laptop 3

Question

My keyboard and Touchpad work in Bios/Uefi and also normally. But Can't use them while being on a installation Screen. I checked my installation Usb on another pc and it works fine there. I'm suspecting it can be because of Surface Laptop 3 is encrypted with bitlocker But still I'm not sure about it. What can be issue and how can I fix it?

Answer 1

Hi nikajibgashvili,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community.

In installing fresh Windows on your Surface, did you use the Surface Recovery Image available in Surface Recovery Image Download (microsoft.com)? or are you using a Windows 10 ISO file?

For Surface devices, we recommend using the Surface Recovery Image available for 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. 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

Answer 2

Thank you for your answer, I was installing Windows 10 from Usb. My computer got infected with severe virus and many suggested me to install windows 10 fresh from Flash or external drive and that this was safest way to ensure that I got rid of the virus.

Answer 3

Hi nikajibgashvili,

Yes, the best way to get rid of a virus infection of the device is to do a fresh installation of Windows on the device. Please use the Surface Recovery Image in reinstalling Windows on the Surface available in Surface Recovery Image Download (microsoft.com). Follow the steps given in my previous response.

Answer 4

Sorry I'm late, did not get notification earlier, and thanks for you answer.

I'm trying to install surface recovery image now but one problem occurred. After indicating my surface serial number, it does not let me download recovery image and show that " An error occurred please try again".

How can I fix that?

Answer 5

Recovery Image downloads appear to be giving errors to everyone.