brand new Surface 3 stuck at login screen, no input method works (HELP)

[acc]

Hello, new member here, with a freshly almost bricked, brand new, Surface 3 Pro, looking for some help.

I tried following this procedure to create a custom recovery image.
http://www.surfaceforums.net/thread...very-image-on-surface-pro-surface-pro-2.8173/

I encountered a serious problem with Surface 3 being stuck at the login screen with the touch screen, pen, virtual keyboard, bluetooth keyboard, and wifi not working (password cursor blinking).

All seemed to work perfectly until the last step of Phase V (so I created D:\OEMdriver.wim and I created the custom in C:\Recovery\install.wim
The only difference in my process has been that I did not destroy yet the original, Microsoft recovery partition: I carved the D: drive by resizing the C: partition.

At the final reboot the device said "Surface" and "Please wait..." (Windows communicating in the English language).
Then the login screen appeared and it showed the last of the three administrator accounts I created following the instructions.

BUT the touch screen did not work, the virtual keyboard does not work, the bluetooth keyboard does not work anymore, the pen does not work anymore, wifi neither...
the cursor blinks but no input works.

The only thing I could do was pressing "volume button down while pressing the power button".
this took me to a recovery menu in ... SPANISH (!)
(Spanish, a language I have never seen during the whole installation. The tablet is brand new from the shop).
In the light blue screen of the recovery/troubleshooting, the touch screen works.


what should I do? or where should I look for a solution/help?
Also, is there a way to undo setting the recovery image to C:\Recovery\install.wim and point again to the Microsoft image in the hidden partition?

Thanks for any hint.

 

[GreyFox7]

If you don't already have a standard Recovery USB download one from Microsoft then boot to that, go into command prompt, run diskpart and clean your drive then exit Command Prompt and do a Reset and repartition.

 

[acc]

If you don't already have a standard Recovery USB download one from Microsoft then boot to that, go into command prompt, run diskpart and clean your drive then exit Command Prompt and do a Reset and repartition.

Thank you. What you suggested worked to get back to the beginning (even though I have got some issues with bitlocker now).

Is there an easier alternative to perfectly restore Windows to a known point?
Thank you.

 

[leeshor]

Thank you. What you suggested worked to get back to the beginning (even though I have got some issues with bitlocker now).

Is there an easier alternative to perfectly restore Windows to a known point?
Thank you.

You're best option would be to do regular full systems images. My suggestion would be to use a program (the free version) of Macrium Reflect to create images to external storage. You can restore to the last backup image and pick up exactly where you left off when the image was made.

 

[GreyFox7]

You're best option would be to do regular full systems images. My suggestion would be to use a program (the free version) of Macrium Reflect to create images to external storage. You can restore to the last backup image and pick up exactly where you left off when the image was made.

Agreed, once you get your image where you want it make a copy then its just an image restore vs rebuild.
You probable should have a base image as new and one with your standard config and programs. Others as needed.

I typically do separate file backups or syncs with GoodSync but the built-in File History is an option as well.

 

[GreyFox7]

Thank you. What you suggested worked to get back to the beginning (even though I have got some issues with bitlocker now).

Is there an easier alternative to perfectly restore Windows to a known point?
Thank you.

And the Bitlocker issue is???

 

[acc]

If you don't already have a standard Recovery USB download one from Microsoft then boot to that, go into command prompt, run diskpart and clean your drive then exit Command Prompt and do a Reset and repartition.

Hello,
I did not clean my drive properly before reinstalling Windows and so I cannot activate Bitlocker in C: (in order to decrypt, resize partitions, etc.)
Can you please explain a bit more what do you mean by run diskpart and "clean your drive".

thank you.

 

[acc]

And the Bitlocker issue is???

thank you for your question!

the issue is that, for the D: drive, BitLocker can be activated and the D: drive can be decrypted.
But when I try to activate the C: drive, Bitlocker tells me that it is impossible.

So C: stays encrypted and i can't resize it.

(I spoke with Microsoft customer service via chat and , even though very nice, the person I spoke to, had zero technical knowledge.)

So now I am trying to reinstall Windows from the USB flash drive again but this time I (took all courage and ) did: diskpart, sel drive 0, clean

Fingers crossed that this will solve the BitLocker issue.

 

[acc]

thank you for your question!

the issue is that, for the D: drive, BitLocker can be activated and the D: drive can be decrypted.
But when I try to activate the C: drive, Bitlocker tells me that it is impossible.

So C: stays encrypted and i can't resize it.

(I spoke with Microsoft customer service via chat and , even though very nice, the person I spoke to, had zero technical knowledge.)

So now I am trying to reinstall Windows from the USB flash drive again but this time I (took all courage and ) did: diskpart, sel drive 0, clean

Fingers crossed that this will solve the BitLocker issue.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Argh, I might have misunderstood when GreyFox7 wrote to "clean" the disk with diskpark.
Now the USB flash drive (FAT32 with extracted SurfacePro3_BMR_50_3.4.1.zip ) cannot do anything to reinstall Windows.
I tried (translated to English):
problem resolution, update PC
problem resolution, reset PC
advanced options, reset PC
advanced options, reset PC from image
nothing works.

It seems that my Surface is a brick now.

Any advice?

 

[GreyFox7]

This procedure from an MS Support thread which I understand wipes the disk and it gets repartitioned during the Reset/Setup.

Boot your Recovery disk.
When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.
Tap or click Troubleshoot,
Then tap or click Advanced Options,
Then tap or click Command Prompt.
If prompted for a recovery key - select Skip This Drive at the bottom of the screen.
At the command prompt, type diskpart.exe and press Enter.
Type LIST DISK and press Enter.
Type SELECT DISK SYSTEM and press Enter.
Type CLEAN and press Enter.
Type EXIT and press Enter.
Close the Command Prompt by clicking the "X" in the upper right corner.
Tap or click Troubleshoot
Then tap or click Reset your PC.
On the Reset your PC screen, choose Next.
If prompted for a recovery key, tap or click Skip this drive at the bottom of the screen.
Tap or click Yes, repartition the drives, and on the next page, tap or click Next.
Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive. The option to clean the drive is more secure, but takes much longer. For example, if you are recycling your Surface, you should choose to clean the drive. If you are keeping your Surface, you just need to remove your files.
Tap or click Reset.
Surface will restart and the Surface logo displays while the reset process completes (this can take several minutes).
During recovery, at American Megatrends screen, press Esc. (Not sure you will see this)
If the UEFI screen is shown, press Save & Exit.

However, if its locked you may need the recovery key, there should be a copy in your MS Account... would have to look up the link... haven't done this before myself...

 

[GreyFox7]

Here's a better documented procedure for doing essentially the same thing...
http://www.windowscentral.com/how-remove-windows-10-technical-preview-your-surface-pro-3