Surface turns on and shows "Couldn't find a bootable operating system"
When you turn on your Surface, it displays the following message:
Couldn't find a bootable operating System. Check the Boot Configuration to try to fix this.
On older devices, the Surface turns on and displays a drive icon with an X in the top right corner.
When you turn on your Surface, it boots to UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). If you see this, try the following steps for a possible solution.
-
If shown, select OK to dismiss the dialog.
-
Select Boot configuration from the menu on the left.
-
Make sure that you have a valid boot device selected. All the options including Windows Boot Manager, Internal Storage, USB Storage, and PXE Network should be selected by default.
If Windows doesn’t start, go to Solution 2.
Press and hold down the power button until your Surface restarts and you see the Windows logo screen (this takes about 20 seconds), then release the power button. For more info, see Force a shutdown and restart your Surface.
If Windows doesn't start, go to Solution 3.
Here's how to reset your Surface with a USB recovery drive:
-
Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on your Surface.
-
Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button.
-
When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button. For more info, see Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface.
If Windows doesn't start, go to Solution 4.
If these steps don't resolve the problem, you can submit a service order to Microsoft to access available repair or replacement options. Go to Device Service and Repair, register, and then select your Surface to start a service order.
