Trying to revert back to Windows 8.1

[iainberryman]

Hello,

I tried the Technical Preview on my Surface Pro 3 and read Daniel's guide to going back to Windows 8.1 but have ran into some problems.

I downloaded the recovery media for my Surface from Microsoft's website and copied it to a FAT32 16GB USB drive but when I power the Surface off, insert the drive and hold the volume down key, press the power key and then release the volume down key I get this...



Any idea's how I can resolve this? Every time I try and restore from a USB drive, I get that.

Thanks,
Iain

 

[Zulfigar]

Is there a way to redownload it? Might have had something go corrupt.

 

[iainberryman]

I've done that twice, it just won't have it. Is that error screen referring to the data on the USB drive rather than the recovery software in the Surface?

 

[Ozzy1320]

Maybe its an issue with what type of USB you were using try a usb3 key and if possible use 16gb key.

 

[MrWhiteman]

You were warned again and again and again DO NOT install on your main device especially if you are not an expert. And seriously you use FAT32???? FAT32 only supports 4GB files.

 

[iainberryman]

Excuse me, I have installed and rolled back many os since Vista and have never had any issues! The fact I used FAT32 is purely because it's what stated to use in the guide so wind your neck in and unless you have any help with this, go away.

 

[CyclingGuyNola]

You were warned again and again and again DO NOT install on your main device especially if you are not an expert. And seriously you use FAT32???? FAT32 only supports 4GB files.

Before criticizing the OP over using Fat32 you apparently know less than he does. It's a EUFI system and requires Fat32.

 

[CyclingGuyNola]

Is this the guide you followed for going back and did you follow every step?

How to remove Windows 10 Technical Preview from your Surface Pro 3 | Windows Central

As another suggested, it might be an issue with your USB Drive.


Another one to try that I've read somewhere is remove the USB Drive and shutdown the Surface completely and just try booting from USB again until you get the Recovery Menu.

Seems like a useless solution but this errors been around for awhile and sometimes works sometimes doesn't.

 

[MrWhiteman]

I didn't know it was EUFI. But my main point was they kept warning us about not installing it on our main devices.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I have not tried this myself but have used Fat32 devices many times to setup a UEFI installation of Windows. If the recovery download is an ISO it will need to be extracted to the USB stick.

Another possibility is to make sure the USB stick actually can be made bootable. I have some older ones that do not work as a boot device.

Not sure what else to suggest.

 

[iainberryman]

I'd like to start by saying I am not an expert but I am also far from a normal user... I have spent years building PCs and repairing them. I say I am not an expert as there are many people out there who I'm sure are more advanced than me. I found the solution and as I suspected, it wasn't me at fault and it did turn out to be my USB drive. I bought a new one and hey presto, worked first time. I posted here to get some help and support and don't like that I was told that I wasn't "expert" enough and I was wrong to use FAT32. Never mind, thanks to Ozzy1312 and DVELOPinc who suggested the USB drive, it worked great! Thanks given!

 

[CyclingGuyNola]

Glad that worked for you.