Windows RT 8.1 ESD IR5 - Surface 2 Install Guide

[anon(8195883)]

You can download Windows RT IR5 refresh directly from Microsoft using these links;

English (EN-US): http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._2F1E1C773E39C4672F52B1F3A0AE7844FD837B23.esd

Other languages;

ar-sa: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._343214DC5C52DBA99F34B9196A6ACBDD0BE53505.esd
bg-bg: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._307C20D50B8EC7CE3C8A8AE3E087E211A3BED662.esd
cs-cz: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._8D39E5906B750806CA68802DF1F79A2AF81B9FD5.esd
da-dk: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._62A6E28F1679CB64726655EF928936BFDF8F9FF4.esd
de-de: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._AD36CA5F9F8D384187EAB1583C71E7979357B63D.esd
el-gr: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._6813245AFCC99B8F84CC63B72FA082CCE8CE1AC4.esd
en-gb: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._410B5AE61DE3EA349F61BB8ACC3F3CB0681B1DCF.esd
es-es: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._45C90FB10612AF9C4AE7795623129AB9950FE655.esd
et-ee: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._516956ECB25C4B480489F820E4C780214F9551BE.esd
fi-fi: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._6CBAF4362316241EF87D5EF9B80CB7F1F37EDBED.esd
fr-fr: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._1EF69BB926B9A0742A093854DF82ABFF2E995F23.esd
he-il: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._11CB81D14F847684BD193BEB50BC3C4E408FF34C.esd
hr-hr: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._48FC1DABE3D0A1B88E0E68FD083381E99A24516E.esd
hu-hu: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._182ECAEBB0E738B165924C8F99B89A696F4FCADA.esd
it-it: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._D942BBC8808E629681CC21E1BD77A15E4396AF9C.esd
ja-jp: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._B788FF2B21517E2E555F8037A806A55ED967D8EB.esd
ko-kr: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._CB3FE5FBBEEDC1A7C15BC7906853663AFE853B98.esd
lt-lt: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._CE7A71D3FA5F56F58E2D6ACD9BB645725C04FB0E.esd
lv-lv: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._21ADAE9C229741CAE4C249125D03060410A864B6.esd
nb-no: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._7C750ADB12C6AAEA12D4A8D951D6E5386D984181.esd
nl-nl: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._7A1963FF85610217CA3B0DEF2C35B266BCABAD0D.esd
pl-pl: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._81EB4062960D6A3461A1564094A8EB00AE9685BF.esd
pt-br: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._409716869AA521EF41B7D86333B77088EDD73334.esd
pt-pt: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._3182A88D293A37AAF7418BF896DFDF19F5A4818D.esd
ro-ro: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._967EB013E8C52BA0B2A7C1F9BE3A474EE2402ECF.esd
ru-ru: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._FBE42B32AB8B8A8D0F84FEBEB95099EC5DA1EEF8.esd
sk-sk: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._A0CBCFCD2B80D22AFC1C8403ACDBA62C4E9BA635.esd
sl-si: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._78571325C1D8395436A6630E31EBC4FE2CFD8C91.esd
sr-latn-rs: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._18FED3F95C86CB7B1E3BA6A669F73B5218501125.esd
sv-se: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._2EE5CDE96856C69021B643825BE26C04B59E3331.esd
th-th: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._76873E5D21F711EEB31239479B215868AC779F78.esd
tr-tr: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._86C5586E947025AEC939F2D0A7B2B52E0760B744.esd
uk-ua: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._F4D7A99684BE4B7AA01D37E14377B1786FD24C4E.esd
zh-cn: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._36BE8400D2BDA3C3BEBE8A51F0859090C1C27C76.esd
zh-hk: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._89FE5E0F6173EE16806482C4884E32E5535193BB.esd
zh-tw: http://vg.dl.ws.microsoft.com/dl/co..._AA6F117073060E944950AD4081F178C126145C26.esd

Updates Microsoft added;
KB2919355 (Windows 8.1 Update)
KB3000850 (November 2014 Rollup)
KB2975061, KB2920189, KB2931358, KB2931366, KB2932046, KB2934018
KB2937220, KB2937592, KB2938439, KB2938772, KB2939153, KB2949621
KB2954879, KB2958262, KB2958263, KB2961072, KB2962140, KB2965142
KB2965500, KB2966407, KB2967917, KB2968599, KB2971203, KB2973351
KB2976627, KB2976978, KB2977629, KB2978002, KB2978742, KB2981580
KB2987107, KB2989647, KB2998527, KB3001237, KB3003057, KB3014442
Embedded Lockdown Manager KB2959936​

Getting these ESDs to work on the Surface 2 is a three step process.

1. Decrypt the .ESD, and covert to .ISO.
2. Add the Surface 2 drivers to the install.wim and boot.wim
3. Copy the files to USB.

(1) Decrypting the ESD;
Download the esd-decrypter-wimlib.zip file from;
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhfYj4o5GT01hM1bUkD-PA3UP6qP_w

Extract esd-decrypter-wimlib.zip to a folder.
Put the the .ESD file you downloaded into that same folder.
Right click decrypt.cmd file in the same folder and click Run as administrator
Select '1 - Create Full ISO with Standard install.wim'
Wait a while, an ISO file will be created
Once complete, double click on the ISO to mount and copy the files to a folder or extract the ISO to a folder using WinRAR or 7z

(2) Adding the Surface 2 Drivers;
Download the Add-Drivers.zip file from here;
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhfYj4o5GT01hNIFLGPvUITUq6RNZQ

Extract Add-Drivers.zip to a folder
Move both boot.wim and install.wim files from the extracted ISO \Sources folder into the Add-Drivers\WIM folder
Right click Add-Drivers.cmd, click Run as administrator
The drivers are now being added to the .WIM files. Wait a while.
Once done, check for errors, there shouldn't be any.
Press any key to close the window.

(3) Copy files to USB;
Move both the boot.wim and install.wim files back to the ISO \Sources folder
Copy all the files from within the extracted ISO folder to the root of a USB drive formated as FAT32.
Make sure you have a backup of your files before proceeding.
Now you can boot from the USB and reinstall Windows 8.1 RT.



NOTES;

Windows will get your product key from the bios.
A recovery partition will NOT be created.
The Installer looks like Windows 8.1 for Desktop, not a normal Surface 2 recovery.

Enjoy!

 

[Harrie-S]

Re: Microsoft Refreshed Windows RT 8.1 ESD

Thanks I have a surface 2 but what will this update bring?

 

[anon(8195883)]

Re: Microsoft Refreshed Windows RT 8.1 ESD

It's just a refreshed image, so basically you wont have as many updates to do if you install RT using this, as they are integrated in.

 

[onlysublime]

Re: Microsoft Refreshed Windows RT 8.1 ESD

Is this going to be handled via the normal update process?

I would love to have a newer image but I don't want to mess up my system by mistake.

 

[anon(8195883)]

Re: Microsoft Refreshed Windows RT 8.1 ESD

I doubt it will be done via Windows Updates.
There is very little risk, just make sure you create a USB recovery drive of your system, and have a backup of your important files before you start.

 

[anon(8195883)]

Updated guide and added IR5 link.

 

[Hanzoligen]

Is this a newer build than the image microsoft provides for its recovery images?

I mean this one here:
ms DOT com/surface/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage
Surface2_BMR_20.2.19.0.zip

I am trying to battle connected standby issues causing battery drain and like to test your windows build.

 

[Hanzoligen]

btw. the Add Drivers batch doesn't work when you have blank spaces in your directory structure.

Errrr.... I think you linked the spanish version of Windows. It was difficult selecting the correct language Does this mean Windows commands and Folders are in spanish, too? I cancelled the installation.

 

[anon(8195883)]

btw. the Add Drivers batch doesn't work when you have blank spaces in your directory structure.

Errrr.... I think you linked the spanish version of Windows. It was difficult selecting the correct language Does this mean Windows commands and Folders are in spanish, too? I cancelled the installation.

Opps,
Sorry about the script errors, I never did test it with a space in the folders, and I did have the incorrect esd file.
I have updated the script, it works with spaces in folders now, and the URLs for the esds have been updated.

I am only able to download Surface2_BMR_10.2.19.0.zip from https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...ry%2Fdownloadablerecoveryimage&token=2yGtTzma so I am not sure what is in Surface2_BMR_20.2.19.0.zip..If I can find a copy I will try it out, it seems only the first digit is different, perhaps it is region/language?

I have no battery drain issues in standby after using this, but I did with the original factory image, so it should solve your standby issues.

Again, sorry about the problems with the guide, and thanks for letting me know

 

[anon(8195883)]

Updated Add-Drivers.zip with updated drivers from “System Hardware Update – 4/28/2015”

April 2015 updates

•Surface Platform Power Driver update (v2.0.824.0) improves use cases with the Power Cover.
•Surface Power Cover Firmware Update (v2.0.829.0) improves use cases with the Power Cover.

 

[Chief Wit]

Hello, do you have an updated link for the Add-drivers file? I get an error when I click on the one posted. Thanks.

 

[sepatkedah]

hello.... do u have another link for download?
1 can't download using one drive...

thank's

 

[Jonnz]

Help please!! My Surface 2 OS is corrupted. I used this guide to try to create a bootable usb drive but i ended up getting an error when running the Add Drivers.cmd. just took a screenshot of the error

 

[anon(8195883)]

I doubt you still need help, but just incase;
Move both boot.wim and install.wim files from the extracted ISO \Sources folder into the Add-Drivers\WIM folder
Right click Add-Drivers.cmd, click Run as administrator

 

[Wolfgang Quatz]

Help please!! My Surface 2 OS is corrupted. I used this guide to try to create a bootable usb drive but i ]

I have the same error

 

[Wolfgang Quatz]

Plz help me!