Hello. New SP3 owner in Ireland

[LP64]

Hi everyone,

I've been following the site for a while but never registered. But today I got a great deal. Got a second hand SP3 I7 256Gb with a dock and keyboard at a very attractive price. So I bought it. And it looks class. All I hoped for really.

A bit about me, I leave in Ireland and got a the SP3 for photography. A new bobby of mine. Started using PhotoShop and thought it would be great with the pen. Do a bit of light video editing and a lot of web browsing. Lol. Nice to have such an active community around.

Now the guy I bought it from didn't reset it. Will I need a windows activation key if i do a factory reset?

 

[malberttoo]

Hi everyone,

I've been following the site for a while but never registered. But today I got a great deal. Got a second hand SP3 I7 256Gb with a dock and keyboard at a very attractive price. So I bought it. And it looks class. All I hoped for really.

A bit about me, I leave in Ireland and got a the SP3 for photography. A new bobby of mine. Started using PhotoShop and thought it would be great with the pen. Do a bit of light video editing and a lot of web browsing. Lol. Nice to have such an active community around.

Now the guy I bought it from didn't reset it. Will I need a windows activation key if i do a factory reset?

Welcome to the forum!

With a device like the SP3, that came with Windows 8 originally, you will not need a product key, it's baked in already. I would do a full restore, which will wipe everything and return it to factory settings.

Hope that helps!

 

[LP64]

Thank you Malberttoo. Will get that started now.

Well first issue. trying to do the factory reset and it says insert media. some files are missing
Bummer. i might need to download a recovery image?

Any ideas?

 

[ChiefSpaceGoblin]

Thank you Malberttoo. Will get that started now.

Well first issue. trying to do the factory reset and it says insert media. some files are missing
Bummer. i might need to download a recovery image?

Any ideas?

You can download the recovery image & instructions from Microsoft here: https://www.microsoft.com/surface/e...ervice-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage

This should recreate the recovery partition then allow you to do a factory restore on the Surface\Surface Pro. Product Keys are held in the BIOS\EFI and the recovery image will pick it up from there.

Since starting my new IT job my SP3 has been my daily companion from research work to using as a productivity device (hello Office 365 + OneDrive + stylus!) to using it as a repository for various technical whitepapers. Wouldn't swap it for the world now (unless the SP4 is a serious step up).

 

[LP64]

Thanks SpaceChiefGoblin tried the link but apparently the guy i bought it from bought it on a business account and i cant add it to my own own microsoft account. I think i might contact the tech support on this one.

 

[ChiefSpaceGoblin]

Thanks SpaceChiefGoblin tried the link but apparently the guy i bought it from bought it on a business account and i cant add it to my own own microsoft account. I think i might contact the tech support on this one.

Does sound as though you'll need to speak to Microsoft over the phone in order to progress. Keep us appraised here as to how you ghet on.

 

[Moonsurface]

Hello and welcome. I am from England and use my Surface pro3 for photography also. I got mine on UK launch day and have to say 9months later I still totally love my SP3, best device I ever owned
I have to keep reminding myself that its "only a tablet" when I'm editing 36mp Raw files in Full PS and Lightroom. Its pretty amazing.

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Congrats and welcome to the forum...