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.

It's a good idea to create a recovery drive. That way, if your PC ever experiences a major issue such as hardware failure, you'll be able to use the recovery drive to reinstall Windows 11. Windows updates to improve security and PC performance periodically, so we recommend you recreate the recovery drive annually.

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.

Find operating system info in Windows 11. To find out which version of Windows your device is running, press the Windows logo key + R, type winver in the Open box, and then select OK. Here’s how to learn more: Select Start > Settings > System > About . Open About settings.

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 Hardware problems can be caused by outdated or malfunctioning drivers.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).

In the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, then select Device Manager from the menu.

If you pre-ordered a game and want to cancel, you can do so up to 10 days before the game launches at: Order history. After this time, you may be billed, and you’ll need to request a refund to cancel your order. For more info about digital game pre-orders, see: Pre-order Xbox digital games in the Microsoft Store.

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.

Installing Windows 11 on devices that don't meet minimum system requirements. If you changed your hardware in order to upgrade to Windows 11 and the system is not recognizing the change in a timely manner, this article explains how to initiate the assessment manually.

PC Health Check app brings you up to date info on your Windows device health, helping you take action to improve your device performance and troubleshoot performance problems. It is periodically updated based on customer feedback to help you make the most of your Windows PC. How to open PC Health Check. In Windows, use Search on the taskbar to ...