Surface turns on and shows "Couldn't find a bootable operating system."

Question

Surface turns on and shows "Couldn't find a bootable operating system." Can I restore it and save everything on the device?

Answer 1

Hello Dan Halcrow,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft Community. We're sorry to learn that your device no longer start up. We'll do our best to help.

Does this issue happen after an update? Or while using the device? If your device would not boot to Windows, I'm afraid that it would be difficult to back up your data.

Please Force a shut down and restart your Surface once again. If issue still persists, then we may need to perform a USB recovery image. This option reimages the entire device, including the partition on the hard drive. It is the most complete form of reset.  You must have at least 16GB/32GB of USB Flash drive and it must be formatted to FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image.

Note: This removes all the files and apps on your device.

To download the Recovery Image:

1. Visit the page at http://www.surface.com/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account (this is the email address we asked you for at the start of the call)
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:

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
2. At the top of the window tap on Extract and then Extract all. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Perform USB recovery image:

1. Turn the Surface off by pressing the power button
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. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
7. Select Troubleshoot
8. Select Recover from a drive. If prompted for a recovery key, select Skip this drive at the bottom of the screen.
9. If prompted, select Repartition the drives.

See Surface turns on and shows "Couldn't find a bootable operating system" (microsoft.com) for more details.

Hope this helps. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there’s anything else that needs to be addressed. 

Regards,

StevenK

Answer 2

Hello Dan Halcrow,

We have noticed that you haven’t replied to our last response. We would like to know if you still need assistance with your concern. If yes, kindly reply back so we can further assist you.

Hope to hear from you.

Answer 3

Hi StevenK,

I unfortunately have the same issue.

I tried the protocol you suggested and I am not able to reboot using the recovery image. I use a Surface Pro and downloaded the "Surface Pro (5th Gen) - 256GB i5 8GB M1796 - Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2" recovery image.

But when i used the USB drive, it is not able to find it over the USB.

What can be done? I have been trying for over 15 hours and as you can imagine, it is a huge cost to my working life.

I would really appreciate your prompt response.

Thank you,

Jusmeet

Answer 4

To follow up, the prompt i get is this: Windows cannot find a system image on this computer.

I tried downloading this version: "Surface Pro (5th Gen) - 256GB i5 8GB M1796 - Windows 10 Pro Version 1909" but it gives me the same prompt on rebooting from the USB disk!

Thank you for your help,

J

Hi StevenK,

I unfortunately have the same issue.

I tried the protocol you suggested and I am not able to reboot using the recovery image. I use a Surface Pro and downloaded the "Surface Pro (5th Gen) - 256GB i5 8GB M1796 - Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2" recovery image.

But when i used the USB drive, it is not able to find it over the USB.

What can be done? I have been trying for over 15 hours and as you can imagine, it is a huge cost to my working life.

I would really appreciate your prompt response.

Thank you,

Jusmeet

To

Answer 5

If we're unable to get the surface to boot how are we supposed to download this recovery image?