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I can't get to the log-in screen on my Surface Pro 3.

Anonymous
2025-01-05T19:36:04+00:00

I have a Surface Pro 3. For some reason, it will boot up to the background screen with the date and time. When I click, I don't get the log-in screen. I also it does nothing when I hit Ctrl Alt Delete.

Surface | Surface Pro | Performance and maintenance

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-06T03:33:40+00:00

    Hello, Cheryl Zitlow.

    Welcome to Microsoft Community!

    If you don't get any response when you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete on the background screen after startup, you can try a forced reboot, which is designed to reset the hardware cache:

    1. Press and hold the volume-up button and the power button at the same time until the screen turns off (about 15 seconds), then release both.
      The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds.
    2. After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds.
    3. Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on. You should see the Surface logo.

    After rebooting, please observe if you can access the login screen.

    If you are able to access the system, please manually obtain the driver and firmware installer for your Surface Pro 3 to troubleshoot potential driver issues and maintain device performance:

    Download Surface Pro 3 from Official Microsoft Download Center

    Please reboot your device after the download is complete to apply the driver update.

    If you are still unable to access the system and in the event that such operating conditions are restricted, the last option would be to reset the device via a USB recovery drive to regain access to the device's usage conditions.

    For your possible needs, I will share the steps here:

    Since we don't have access to the current device, we need to use another computer to access the following site to get a dedicated image file for the Surface to create the recovery drive:

    Surface Recovery Image Download - Microsoft Support

    Get it by logging into your account and entering your device's serial number:

    After completing the creation of the recovery drive, continue to refer to the guidelines in the following link to complete the recovery operation:

    How do I use the BIOS/UEFI on Surface Pro 3 and earlier devices - Microsoft Support

    Adjust the boot order to make USB the preferred choice:

    These are some of the information I can share with you at this time.

    I hope you stay safe.

    Best Regards.

    Leo.L - Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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