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.

Start by running the automated audio troubleshooter in the Get Help app. Get Help automatically runs diagnostics and takes the correct steps to fix most audio issues. Open Get Help. If the Get Help app is unable to resolve your sound or audio issue, try the possible solutions listed: Windows 11 Windows 10. 1.

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.

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.

Manually update Surface drivers and firmware. Manual updates are useful if you need to update an offline device, update many devices that are all the same model, or if you’re creating system images for your organization.

We understand that sometimes purchases of digital game products don’t go as planned. When that happens, we’ll help you request a refund. Refunds are typically issued for requests meeting the following criteria: Requests are made within 14 days of the purchase date.

Fixing the Secure Boot bypass described in CVE-2023-24932 requires revoking boot managers. This could cause issues for some device boot configurations. Mitigations against the Secure Boot bypass detailed in CVE-2023-24932 are included in the Windows security updates that were released on or after July 9, 2024.

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

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.

If you can’t set the power mode in Power & battery settings, open Control Panel, select System and Security > Power Options, then choose a Balanced power plan. Learn how to change the power mode on your Windows PC to preserve your battery, limit notifications, and background activity.