Booting from a USB device doesn’t refresh or reset your Surface. Instead, it lets you start your Surface using Windows or another operating system that’s on your USB device. For info about how to create a bootable USB drive for your Surface, see Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface.

Fix your audio drivers. Hardware problems can be caused by outdated or malfunctioning drivers. Make sure your audio driver is up to date and update it if needed. If that doesn't work, try uninstalling the audio driver (it will reinstall automatically).

You can use installation media (a USB flash drive or DVD) to install a new copy of Windows, perform a clean installation, or reinstall Windows. To create installation media, go to the software download website, where you'll find step-by-step instructions.

If you can’t boot from your USB recovery drive or don’t see the Recover from a drive option, you may need to ensure that the boot-from-USB function in the Surface BIOS is enabled or configure the boot order so the USB drive is the first option. For more info, see Boot Surface from a USB device.

For Windows 8.1, see Create a USB recovery drive. To download Windows 11 installation media, see Recovery options in Windows. Create a recovery drive so you can reinstall Windows 10 or Windows 11 in case you experience a major issue such as hardware failure.

Check the Xbox services, games, and apps for any service outages.

Open Device Manager. Windows 10. In the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, then select Device Manager from the menu. Was this information helpful?

Getting ready for the Windows 11 upgrade. How to check if your device meets Windows 11 system requirements after changing device hardware. Learn how to use the PC Health Check app to help you improve your device performance.

Get started with Copilot. To get started, open the Copilot app from the Start menu or use the Copilot icon if present on your Windows taskbar. If your device keyboard includes a dedicated Copilot key, you can also use it to launch Copilot.

Get Windows updates as soon as they're available for your device. When the latest Windows update is ready for your device, it will be available to download from the Windows Update page in Settings.