This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(198.4, 13%, 29%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EJ%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hi,
When I try to post a question I get this error:
Why is this happening?
My question simply contains my device name windows ver, and the steps I've taken to install a recovery image.
I'm going to post my question one sentence at a time to figure out what is wrong.
Hi Surface pro 11 with all updates. Got a virus and need to reinstall win 11. I downloaded the snapdragon image after entering my serial number.
SurfacePro11_BMR_12010_2026.107.11763125.zip. I created a recovery usb drive. Then extracted all files from the recovery zip and copied them to the USB drive.
It is FAT32. I entered bios settings on the surface and set USB as default boot drive. I inserted the 32 GB USB stick into the surface pro USB C slot using a usb a to c adapter.
I did verify that the my surface can access this drive. I boot up the surface and it requests Language.
Then request keyboard. Then I select recover from USB drive. Screen goes dark and then it starts over asking for language. I did try both USB C ports. I tried using Trouble shooting and selecting recover from a drive but it says that it cannot find an image.
Then request keyboard. Then I select recover from USB drive. Screen goes dark and then it starts over asking for language.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(300.8, 72%, 39%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ECL%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hello Jim,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.
For your forum question issue, this could be authentication error, can you please sign out and sign in again to make sure?
Regarding your Surface installation issue. Before we proceed, can you please check the content of the USB and let me know what you see. Also, can you please try a direct USB-C connection if possible?
I'm waiting for your reply.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(259.20000000000005, 47%, 35%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EJP%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hi Carl-L, Thanks for replying. Let's see if I can post all the info this time. I tried a lot of things yesterday trying to get this to work. I used two different 32 GB USB drives both failed repeatedly. I also tried a 16 GB micro SD card using an adapter USB which had a USB C end on it. It also failed. Turns out the Surface was ignoring or could not boot off of the USB and was going into recovery mode. You cannot buy a USB C drive that is less than 64 GB which won't work. You can't format FAT32 on a 64 GB drive.
So I found an article that suggested downloading an ISO image if the installer above does not work. This image is Win11_25H2_English_Arm64_v2.iso. It said to use Rufu to create the USB ISO drive. It said to choose FAT32 which Rufus won't let you do. Someone told me that Rufus will actually do FAT32 behind the scenes so I tried and my Surface booted into the ISO install. I was able to reinstall Windows 11 via this method. Sadly it only took 2 days of struggling and search the web for help.
I am really curious why the USB drive would not boot using the snapdragon image.
Thanks
Hi Carl, Yes I got windows reinstalled and its working fine. I would love to know what was wrong with the snapdragon install so if you find out anything definitely let me know.
Thanks
As I checked, the procedure of creating a Surface image is not simply extract and copy to a freshly formatted FAT32 USB alone. You will first need to create a recovery drive using the Microsoft tool and then copy the image on it, overwriting the existing files. I hope this clarifies.
HI Carl,
Yes I tried that several times with different USB drives and it did not work.
Jim
Thanks for replying.
This actually point to the recovery image itself can be corrupted. A file can be extracted and copy looking completely normal but then having issue that prevent it from working with your Surface. Your USB formatted using Rufus contains very standard boot structure which can help.
I hope this clarifies.
Hi Carl, I did go back and redownload the zip file and that did not help. I didn't try to use Rufus to format the drive for the snapdragon install just the ISO. I wonder if that would have worked for the snapdragon approach. I'm tempted to recreate the install disk just to try.
HI Carl, being bored today, I redownloaded the snapdragon install zip file and tried again. It still does not work. I was looking on youtube and no one uses the snapdragon file. They all use the arm ISO file. Would be great if someone could post a video using snapdragon just to prove it actually works. I'm beginning to thank that either the file MS posted is missing something or there are missing steps in the instructions.
Never mind, its an app on my pc. I sent the info to them.
