Secure Format SP3 For Return

[savaytse66]

I will be sending my SP3 in for warranty replacement. Is there a way I can securely erase the SP3 without booting into the OS? For a couple reasons, I cannot get into Windows and reliably navigate the OS; let's just say touch input no longer works, and the device is registering random clicks every second or two, which prevents me from being able to do anything with touch, mouse, or keyboard.

I'm not looking to troubleshoot my issues, but I want to be able to cold boot to a command line or USB/SD card and erase my data and the partition I created for Windows 10 Tech Preview. Or, if there is another option, that would work too.

Thanks!

 

[mohcho]

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en...recovery/restore-refresh-or-reset-surface-pro

See the section about Reset from Windows sign-in screen. If that doesn't work, then use the USB recovery method as noted in that link as well.

 

[GreyFox7]

I'm conflicted by your description. if its true that navigating via the screen is near impossible I'm not sure how even the simplest of just booting to USB drive and deleting partitions could successfully be accomplished, much less anything else. Maybe an external monitor but... you still have to configure that. Perhaps a modified Recovery Drive with automatic scripted partition wipe but it has to be something that works with secure boot on assuming you can't navigate to disable it.

 

[savaytse66]

I'm conflicted by your description. if its true that navigating via the screen is near impossible I'm not sure how even the simplest of just booting to USB drive and deleting partitions could successfully be accomplished, much less anything else.

What I'm hoping is that if somehow I can disable touch input. Right now, the cursor jumps around and randomly registers clicks, making it impossible to really do anything. I hope that that problem goes away if I can rely only on mouse/keyboard input.

I am going to try booting to a USB recovery image and see if I have success resetting the SP3. My drive is encrypted with BitLocker, so I'm not overly worried about data. I do have two partitions to worry about though since I have the Windows 10 preview on a separate one.