Windows 8.1 Enterprise on a Surface Pro 2

[Mange]

Hi,

I have a new Surface Pro 2 that I’m trying to reinstall with Win 8.1 Enterprise from a USB stick.
The USB stick is made with ‘Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool’ and works fine on a Lenovo laptop. I can get to the menu where I choose to boot from USB but it never does. It just restarts and boots from its HD as usual.
Can I install a Surface Pro 2 from a USB stick? I really don’t think it works…
I have followed this guide, but I only think that works for Surface Pro 1.
https://www.microsoft.com/surface/e...ers/boot-surface-pro-from-usb-recovery-device

Any idea how I get Windows 8.1 Enterprise on a Surface Pro 2? I need it so I can get Direct Access up and running.

 

[jollywombat]

Hello,

The SP1/2 are UEFI only (as far as I know, please someone let me know if this is incorrect) bios, so you will need a UEFI OS (modded windows 7 or any flavor of windows 8) to be installed which means the install media will need to be configured correctly. The Windows 7 USB tool does not set your USB drive up to be UEFI, just standard bios, so you will need to go through a slightly different process to get this working.

The following website explains what needs to be done pretty well: UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

That *SHOULD* do the trick for you and let you install, but if it does not you may need to go into the bios and delete the secure boot keys on the surface prior to installation of Enterprise 8.

 

[oion]

Hello,

The SP1/2 are UEFI only (as far as I know, please someone let me know if this is incorrect) bios, so you will need a UEFI OS (modded windows 7 or any flavor of windows 8) to be installed which means the install media will need to be configured correctly. The Windows 7 USB tool does not set your USB drive up to be UEFI, just standard bios, so you will need to go through a slightly different process to get this working.

The following website explains what needs to be done pretty well: UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

That *SHOULD* do the trick for you and let you install, but if it does not you may need to go into the bios and delete the secure boot keys on the surface prior to installation of Enterprise 8.

Yup, you're right. UEFI.

I don't know about the details in installing a different OS, but I suppose you'd need the SP2 drivers too: Download Surface Pro 2 firmware and driver pack from Official Microsoft Download Center

 

[jnjroach]

Your USB Thumb Drive needs to be formatted FAT32, the easiest way to make the drive is to mount the Windows 8.1 Enterprise ISO on another machine, plug in your 4GB Thumb Drive (8GB would be better) and for the example, I'm using "E:" as the mounted ISO and "F:" as the Thumb Drive. From an elevated Command Line type:

xcopy e:\*.* /e/f/s f:

Wait for it to finish and now you have a bootable Windows 8.1 Thumb Drive, now you should be able to boot from USB. (UEFI only supports booting FAT32 External Drives).

 

[Ruffles]

Also, turn the tablet on with Power + Vol down to get it to boot to the USB.

 

[Mange]

I used Rufus and it worked perfectly fine. Thanx for fast replies...