Surface pro 8 won't go past Cloud dowload or local files screen

Question

I'm trying to reset the used Surface Pro 8 my parents gifted me recently. The login screen is my father's old work that he retired from. When I try to reset the computer it won't proceed past the screen where I choose Cloud Download or local file reinstall. The touchscreen and keyboard no longer respond. Same thing happens when I try to go to the command prompt. It asks who the user is and then no response. I've tried the USB recovery image drive but the Surface doesn't read it or ignores it and goes to the regular start up screen. In the UEFI I've turned off master book record and left only USB drive turned on and the computer only starts up to say "Couldn't find a bootable operating system"

Answer 1

Easiest process will be -Contact the Former Employer's IT Department.

This is genuinely the fastest path. Since your father retired, the IT department can:

Remove the device from Intune/Azure AD enrollment

Deregister it from Autopilot

Your father just needs to contact his old IT helpdesk, explain he has a retired personal device, and ask them to remove it from device management. Once they do, a normal reset will work fine. Many companies do this routinely for retiring employees.

2nd option will be Create the Recovery Drive using Microsoft's own Surface Recovery Image, not a generic Windows ISO. Download the exact model's recovery image. Follow all the instructions sited there.