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Apps Arrow Square

8.1 should not have been removed during a refresh. When you install 8.1 it replaces the recovery partition so a refresh and a advanced restore stays at 8.1. I think there is a possible corrupted install here. I'd try a advanced restore or a 8.1 DVD/ISO. (Get your product key first if you try this!)
 
In the In the recover/restore/refresh link Restore, refresh, or reset Microsoft Surface Pro or Surface Pro 2 | Surface factory settings it specifically states: Did you update Surface Pro to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8?
If your Surface Pro came with Windows 8 installed and you updated to Windows 8.1, you’ll need reinstall the Windows 8.1 update after a reset or refresh.
Besides that, I checked via the Control Panel/System and Security and it said Windows 8, not 8.1.
 
Ah I apologize it must be different for the SP2.

I would certainly try an advanced restore though so you can rule out any software problems.
 
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5-11-14
After I learned that what I called "Apps Arrow Square" in the title of this thread actually is called Help Tips popups, I was able to use a link that showed how to stop the Help Tips from popping up. For others who may encounter the same problem (that is Help Tips showing up in all and every window), here is the link: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/disable-windows-8-help-tips/
The procedure is pretty straight forward and I had no problem navigating down to Edge UI and enabling the Disable Help Tips option.

Getting rid of the annoying Help Tips popup was great, except that after I got done with that, the touch screen was no longer responding. But plugging in a USB mouse brought the touch screen back to life.

I should mention that I had problems with my Surface Pro tablet from the day that I first tried to turn it on. Not only did the on-screen keyboard not show up, but when I tried two different, known-good, USB keyboards, seven of the lower-case keys (uophlcv) did not respond. Instead there was some kind of an audio announcement when I depressed the lower-case u key.

Every time I do a Refresh, the OS reverts back to Windows 8. Then downloading, installing, plus time for some house keeping chores, getting Windows 8.1 to run takes almost two hours over my 54 Mbps Wi-Fi link. If only the tablet had an Ethernet connector, then I could use my high-speed Internet connection.

I’m a retired engineer who spent nearly 40 years designing electronic communications equipment and I can honestly say I have never seen a piece of equipment that has been this troublesome. I have already spent an inordinate amount of time trouble shooting the Surface Pro tablet, only to find a new problem as soon as I get an earlier one fixed.

Presently, I no longer have any audio. The error message says: “No Audio Output Device is installed” and the Playing Audio screen has this message: “Troubleshooting couldn’t identity the problem.” Of course without audio, I can no longer use Skype. The audio worked fine with Windows 8 and I don’t recall purposely uninstalling an Audio Output Device! This is really getting old.
 
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well, since I didn't see anywhere whether you completed the steps the tip suggests, i'm not sure what to tell you.

1. complete the steps the tip suggests, not just touch it.
2. try using the trackpad to complete the steps.
3. Try using gpedit.msc. Enable "Disable help tips" in Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Edge UI.
 
5-12-14

well, since I didn't see anywhere whether you completed the steps the tip suggests, i'm not sure what to tell you.

I took care of the Help Tips problem and I said so in my post: "The procedure is pretty straight forward and I had no problem navigating down to Edge UI and enabling the Disable Help Tips option."

What bugs me is that as soon as I eliminate one problem, another one shows up. The latest is that: “No Audio Output Device is installed.” I definitely had audio whenever I was running Windows 8, not 8.1.
 
5-13-14

I had planned on downloading the audio driver pack today so as to get audio back, but as of this morning I can no longer connect to the Internet. According to Windows Network Diagnosis I must “Install a driver for your network adapter.” And Problem found says: “Windows could not find a driver for your network adapter.”

So, why do I no longer have a driver for the network adapter?
 
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