Pen not opening OneNote after installation of Windows 8.1 Enterprise

[WPCentral Question]

Hi all,

I had a couple Surface Pro 3's. I have wiped one of them and installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise on it and have also installed all the updates and patches. I also installed the latest Office 2013 SP1 + updates and OneNote as well.

Device Manager is clean and looks similar to the Surface that I have not yet wiped. I paired the pen, but I cannot get it to launch OneNote. The pen works as a pen, and the eraser button works. But I cannot get the top button click to do anything.

I know then pen is good (and the batteries are right) because if I pair the same pen to the factory fresh Surface, it launches OneNote properly.

So what are the steps to troubleshoot and verify pen connectivity? Seem very strange to me that the pen works but not the clicker! There must be a profile or driver or piece of software that makes the top button work with OneNote that I am missing somewhere along the way.

Thoughts?

 

[xandros9]

I would think there's a small piece of missing driver too, perhaps there's something in a folder (I know many drivers extract themselves to a folder in C:\ before installing)

Perhaps a search in the recovery data and/or MS support website would help?

 

[Denegar]

I had the same issue after installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise Edition on my new Surface Pro 3. Despite having all software and firmware updates installed, the pen wouldn't open OneNote or take a screenshot. The article entitled "Deploying Surface Pro 3 Pen and OneNote Tips" on Microsoft TechNet (Search with Bing to find the article by name -- I'd post the link but WPCentral won't let me yet) explains that the OEM installed version of Windows 8.1 Pro has KB2968599 pre-installed, and provides a link to download it directly. Although my system was fully patched via Windows Update, including this patch, it didn't work. So, I went into "Programs and Features", tapped "View installed updates", found patch KB2968599 (use the search function at the very upper right of the window to find it instantly), and uninstalled it, restarted, then downloaded and manually installed the patch from the TechNet article. After a restart, the pen now opens OneNote and takes screenshots. :smile: I hope this works for you too!