Got used Surface Pro, missing restore partition

[spectre51]

Just got my 64gb surface pro today in the mail. It's a used system and I noticed that it already had a generic user account setup. I wanted to start fresh so I went to do a factory reset but it looks like the previous owner removed the recovery partition to save space because it says some files are missing for the restore.

Am I SOL? Anything I can do?

 

[markfive]

Firstly, it might be worth checking with the original owner to see if they created a recovery drive when they zapped the partition, and if so if they still have a copy of it.

If the answer to the first question is no, then this article will be of interest: Things That Might Interest Nerds | Surface Pro: Dump the Factory Image. It’s for the Best.

 

[Coreldan]

I'd figure someone who owns one could make a copy of the partition for you. Sadly I don't own a Pro

 

[spectre51]

Firstly, it might be worth checking with the original owner to see if they created a recovery drive when they zapped the partition, and if so if they still have a copy of it.

If the answer to the first question is no, then this article will be of interest: Things That Might Interest Nerds | Surface Pro: Dump the Factory Image. It?s for the Best.

Thanks for that link. I do have a valid windows 8 license that I bought when it came out. It is the upgrade version though. Will have to see if I can do the same thing using it. Thanks again.

Sent from my Sony Xperia? Z

 

[spectre51]

I'd figure someone who owns one could make a copy of the partition for you. Sadly I don't own a Pro

Yeh that would be good. Would still like to have a valid surface pro image.

Sent from my Sony Xperia? Z

 

[Guzzler3]

I would take your Surface, and a thumb drive, to a Microsoft store and ask them nicely if you could make a new recovery thumb drive from another Surface Pro.

 

[Devon Day]

I would take your Surface, and a thumb drive, to a Microsoft store and ask them nicely if you could make a new recovery thumb drive from another Surface Pro.

Or just see if they'll do it for you.

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with CyanogenMod 10.1

 

[spectre51]

I used the link Markfive posted and created a Win8 Pro USB stick. Was able to boot to it just fine. Haven't tried doing a reset but at least I know I can now.

 

[DonnieV]

although windows 8 has the ability to "refresh" or what not, it still requires a disk for the additional files. This is not the fault of the original owner. I just installed windows 8 on my desktop via upgrade, then did a refresh, and it required my windows 8 upgrade disk to be in the drive.

 

[spectre51]

although windows 8 has the ability to "refresh" or what not, it still requires a disk for the additional files. This is not the fault of the original owner. I just installed windows 8 on my desktop via upgrade, then did a refresh, and it required my windows 8 upgrade disk to be in the drive.

Surface Pro doesn't need any extra disks out of the box because everything is loaded on a recovery partition. The original owner removed that partition to make more space on the HD so I had to create a my own recovery/reinstall USB drive. It was the fault of the previous owner as had he not removed it I could reinstall/refresh without needing any extra disk or USB drive.

Sent from my Xperia Tablet Z