Surface Completely Useless after Attempting to Update - Mac Owner

[surfacenew]

I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to do about the problem I'm having.

I bought a Surface yesterday. I attempted to update to 8.1. Complete disaster.

Update failed just before it was about to end and in the process damaged a bunch of files in Windows.

It booted back into 8.0. I clicked the ad in the Windows store to update to 8.1. Nothing happened.

I tried to refresh/wipe the Surface but there were files missing so it couldn't.

Contacted Surface support. They told me I could created a bootable USB on my Mac to make the Surface work again.

It didn't work and now the Surface just boots into a black screen.

I contacted Surface support again and told me that I actually need a Windows 7+ PC to make the bootable USB.

I don't have a Windows 7+ PC. They told me they should replace it for me. For a software issue. It's a day old.

I'm obviously not happy but does anyone here have any idea whatsoever of what I can do? At all? I'm so worn out by this experience.

 

[oion]

I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to do about the problem I'm having.

I bought a Surface yesterday. I attempted to update to 8.1. Complete disaster.

Update failed just before it was about to end and in the process damaged a bunch of files in Windows.

It booted back into 8.0. I clicked the ad in the Windows store to update to 8.1. Nothing happened.

I tried to refresh/wipe the Surface but there were files missing so it couldn't.

Contacted Surface support. They told me I could created a bootable USB on my Mac to make the Surface work again.

It didn't work and now the Surface just boots into a black screen.

I contacted Surface support again and told me that I actually need a Windows 7+ PC to make the bootable USB.

I don't have a Windows 7+ PC. They told me they should replace it for me. For a software issue. It's a day old.

I'm obviously not happy but does anyone here have any idea whatsoever of what I can do? At all? I'm so worn out by this experience.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with this. I assuming you bought a Surface RT since that's 8.0--if it's new, you might consider just returning it for a refund if possible and buy the Surface 2, which already has 8.1. (It is, however, a bit more expensive.) In any case, the upgrade from Win RT 8.0 to 8.1 on Surface RT has brought nothing but headaches to some people, not just you. Unfortunately, it does appear the Surface RT 8.0 recovery image requires a Win7-plus machine; I don't suppose you know anyone who has one, even at a workplace?

When you say "wipe," did you mean you attempted a reset as well? The missing files bit is curious. If your Surface RT is new, its recovery partition should be intact and the recovery image untouched even with the 8.1 upgrade because the point of the reset image is to return to factory conditions (Windows RT 8.0 for the Surface RT), so maybe something else got corrupted. You might try the instructions here to see if you get a reset option (not refresh).

If the above doesn't work and unless you can find a current Windows machine or someone nearby who's willing to create the bootable USB drive for you, you can opt for the replacement. MS is pretty good about exchanges, so I wouldn't worry about that.

If you opt for a new Surface RT, this is what you should do upon receiving it:

1. Create a USB recovery drive from your working Surface. Swipe from the right to open the Charms bar and search for "recovery drive," then select "Create a recovery drive." You will need a USB thumb drive of at least 4GB; these are pretty cheap. I don't recommend deleting the recovery partition in your case, however, since you don't have another Windows machine.
3. Updating from Windows 8.0 (RT or full) requires you to install existing patches before attempting the 8.1 upgrade, so make sure your Surface is fully patched before going to the Windows app store for 8.1. From the Charms bar, search for "update."

Then try 8.1 again.

 

[surfacenew]

Sorry to hear you're having problems with this. I assuming you bought a Surface RT since that's 8.0--if it's new, you might consider just returning it for a refund if possible and buy the Surface 2, which already has 8.1. (It is, however, a bit more expensive.) In any case, the upgrade from Win RT 8.0 to 8.1 on Surface RT has brought nothing but headaches to some people, not just you. Unfortunately, it does appear the Surface RT 8.0 recovery image requires a Win7-plus machine; I don't suppose you know anyone who has one, even at a workplace?

When you say "wipe," did you mean you attempted a reset as well? The missing files bit is curious. If your Surface RT is new, its recovery partition should be intact and the recovery image untouched even with the 8.1 upgrade because the point of the reset image is to return to factory conditions (Windows RT 8.0 for the Surface RT), so maybe something else got corrupted. You might try the instructions here to see if you get a reset option (not refresh).

If the above doesn't work and unless you can find a current Windows machine or someone nearby who's willing to create the bootable USB drive for you, you can opt for the replacement. MS is pretty good about exchanges, so I wouldn't worry about that.

If you opt for a new Surface RT, this is what you should do upon receiving it:

1. Create a USB recovery drive from your working Surface. Swipe from the right to open the Charms bar and search for "recovery drive," then select "Create a recovery drive." You will need a USB thumb drive of at least 4GB; these are pretty cheap. I don't recommend deleting the recovery partition in your case, however, since you don't have another Windows machine.
3. Updating from Windows 8.0 (RT or full) requires you to install existing patches before attempting the 8.1 upgrade, so make sure your Surface is fully patched before going to the Windows app store for 8.1. From the Charms bar, search for "update."

Then try 8.1 again.

Thank you so much for this detailed response. It's very much appreciated. I'm going to look into your suggestions and see if I can get it to work.

Thanks again, dude.