Recent Discussions
Update on Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8 X plus
This is a 9 month usage update on my Microsoft Surface 7 Laptop Snapdragon X plus. This laptop in my opinion is the best snapdragon laptop on the market and I now use it more than my MacBook Air M3. Reasons - Battery life is one to two days. Build quality is excellent. Thin bezels and thin bottom chin, edge to edge glass. Keyboard does not look worn and shiny. I do not like the keys on a MacBook Air M3, they look very worn after only six months use, The magnetic charger connection is very good. Better than the 13 inch USB C charger. Main usage - Office, internet, emails, PowerPoint, no gaming. The laptop is very fast. Snapdragon chips are definitely the way forward. Less heat, much more power efficient. Very stable. I will not be buying an Intel based machine again.
Boot Surface HUB 2S from USB leads to Bitlocker Recovery Loop
Hi, I have an issue upgrading my Surface HUB 2S from Win10 to Win11. I already prepared my FAT32 formatted USB with the Win11 image for Surface HUB 2S. I shut down the Surface HUB, pressing and holding Volume-Down Button together with the Power Button. When the Windows logo appears I release the Power Button. After that the Bitlocker Recovery starts loading and when I see the loading circle below the Windows Logo I release the Volume-Down Button. Unfortunately I get the BitLocker Screen and when I press Skip this Drive it leads my to following 2 options Continue starting Windows Recover When I press Recover I get following options from cloud local installation I cant select my USB Drive or get the chance to boot from USB. I´ve done and tried it so many times. I need help to boot from this USB. Any ideas?
Overheating problems with Surfaces
Since the temperatures have risen, we already have four devices(Surface Laptop & Pro) that are constantly throttling to the point of crashing due to overheating. Surface Support only allows us to replace the entire device, so I'll try it here. Are you also experiencing these problems? Did Microsoft provide a bad firmware update in this case?
Surface Hub 3 doesn’t rotate on Windows 11 Pro
Hi, I’ve got a 50” Surface Hub 3 that we’ve switched over to Windows 11 Pro. The thing is, we’re trying to get the screen to rotate — but it just won’t. We’ve noticed that it does work when running in Microsoft Teams Room mode, and also in the Windows 11 IoT admin mode. So what’s going on? Why won’t the Surface Hub 3 rotate when it’s running just Windows 11 Pro or Windows 11 IoT without Teams Room? Is there something we need to enable in the system? We even see the rotation icon in the taskbar, but clicking it doesn’t seem to do anything. Thanks!Surface Hub 3 doesn’t rotate on Windows 11 Pro
Hi, I’ve got a 50” Surface Hub 3 that we’ve switched over to Windows 11 Pro. The thing is, we’re trying to get the screen to rotate — but it just won’t. We’ve noticed that it does work when running in Microsoft Teams Room mode, and also in the Windows 11 IoT admin mode. So what’s going on? Why won’t the Surface Hub 3 rotate when it’s running just Windows 11 Pro or Windows 11 IoT without Teams Room? Is there something we need to enable in the system? We even see the rotation icon in the taskbar, but clicking it doesn’t seem to do anything. Thanks!Safe to delete the Surface Hub 3 "admin" account?
We manage our Surface Hubs with Teams Rooms Pro (and Intune where needed). The Windows default local administrator account is disabled during enrollment by the Deployment policy. Intune is configured to add an Entra group to the Local Administrators group, whose membership we manage with an Identity Governance policy. We are all set for administration. And if we were ever to be locked out of a Surface Hub, we would re-image it and begin again. During the Out-of-box experience, a new administrator account named ".\admin", with a well-known simple three letter password, is added to Surface Hub 3 devices. Presumably, the account is added a "convenience". All my testing and research has shown that this account is not needed or used. Is it safe to delete ".\admin" account? Or later, will I find Microsoft expected to use that account in some way? Thanks, in advance.
Trouble Activating Ultimate Performance Plan on My Surface Laptop
Hi everyone, I’m trying to enable the Ultimate Performance power plan on my Surface device. I’ve already used the command powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61, and it shows up in my system. However, when I try to activate it using powercfg /setactive [GUID], I get an “Invalid Parameters” error—even though the GUID matches exactly what was listed under powercfg /list. My current active plan is “High performance” (custom-made). Has anyone else encountered this issue on a Surface laptop? Is this plan blocked or incompatible with certain Surface models, or am I missing a step? Would appreciate any insights or tips! Thank you so much for your attention and participation.
Multi-cast Surface Hubs
My department has multiple Surface Hub devices around the meeting room floor. We have many instances where it would be helpful to be able to control the devices from a central device - a hub, a computer, or similar. The goal here would be to project a screen, a slide or a video across the devices. They are hung on the walls throughout the floor - one example is when we need to usher groups of people back into the main room, we would love to cast an alert on all screens. Is there a way to do this on the Hub devices? We have considered starting a Zoom or other video call across them all, but that seems like an overly complicated workaround. Let me know if anyone has any ideas or experience with this.Microsoft Surface 7 XIP Laptop continues to impress.
The Microsoft Surface 7 laptops with Arm Snapdragon chips are a real game changer. Impressive build quality and keyboard keys that do not go shiny like the MacBook Air M3. My typical usage - emails, internet, Word, PowerPoint, Excel. battery will last two days, no fan noise heard so far. Good design features - fully laminated screen, thin bezels, thin chin, non shiny keys, reasonably thin, not as thin as M3, but not noticeable, magnetic charge plug with side entry, better than 90 degree MacBook Air M3 plug, upgradeable M.2 2230 ssd, 16 GB ram. Question - Crucial P310 1TB PCie Gen 4 NVMe 2230 M.2 looks like a good upgrade if more storage needed. However will the Crucial P310 generate more heat ?
Surface Pro 6 running super slow
Haven't put anything new on it. Visit the same websites daily. Just outta nowhere this thing is super slow the past few days. No viruses or malware. Windows up to date. Ran "a program" ...everything is clean and up to date. Chromium was running in the background, stopped that. Nothing running at startup that shouldn't be. (only Logitech keyboard/mouse, Avast, RealTech audio, and SecurityHealthSysTray) Task manager says 3% CPU usage - 49% memory usage. Any ideas? Thanks!
Type Cover will not Connect
I’ve tried everything — up-to-date, restarting, turn off and on, troubleshooting, running device tests—and I can’t get in contact with Microsoft customer service. My type cover for my surface pro 8 is magnetically connected but it won’t work at all and the connection won’t register in the tests. Without the type cover my surface pro is essentially useless. I can’t type on the keyboard or use the type cover mouse. I’ve submitted a ticket for customer service and haven’t heard back yet. A service repair is like $180 for a type cover!? I bought your device like 2-3 years ago and it’s still in great condition. Haven’t even dropped it once & it randomly stops working. Wtf. There doesn’t seem to be a scratch or anything. What could I do to fix this?Surface User Update February 2025
This is a user update from the UK for Surface 10 core XIP6400 16Gb 512GB 13 inch Laptop. Almost identical in use to MacBook Air M3 (Apart from OS) but better battery life. Fully laminated screen with thin bezels. No fan noise heard so far. Services disabled - - Connected user exp and telemetry. - Dolby Dax - Windows Search - All Xbox apps - SSD indexing. It looks like the Arm Snapdragon has transformed the Surface Laptop. A question - My surface laptop has a 2230 M.2 512GB ssd which appears to be a SDDPTQD 1124 WD. Is there any benefit in changing to a Samsung 2230 990/991. Would this impact battery life or heat generation ? ie, The Samsung is better in theory but would I ever notice using MS Office/emails, etc.MDT Replacement Mode
I'm trying to replace the screen on a Surface Pro 8, and the manual straight from Microsoft says I need to run some pre-repair software. There does not appear to be any documentation showing how to actually do that. Here's the section in the manual: • Prep Device – Device must be set in TDM Replacement Mode prior to removing a faulty TDM. a. Connect software tools USB drive with SDT to USB connector on device under repair. b. Connect power supply to device. c. Power on device – Depress the power button on the side of the device. d. Run software tool – At the device OS, use Windows Explorer, navigate to USB drive and run: SDT – Select Repair setup and validation. Run the Touch Display Setup. At the end of the tool process device will power down. IMPORTANT: This step must be carried out on the device successfully before removal of a faulty TDM. Ensure light levels in the work area remain consistent during the touch display setup process. I've been able to determine that the correct version of the SDT software is the "for Business version". The options to put it in setup and validation mode are not present when running from the machine. There are no directions for making a portable install on a USB. I started here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/tdm-replacement-mode-on-usb-drive/9b02132e-6fee-46fe-9d90-1934303b8255 and after that and a bunch more reading I found some guidance that got me to creating a custom package, which I placed on my USB. It doesn't run. I've got to be missing something here. I just need to get this screen replaced. I have the hardware part handled, this software is really throwing me for a loop. Could I get some direction on how to actually make it work, or a detailed description of what would happen if I ignore it and just replace the screen?Surface Laptop 5 abysmally horrible battery life
I bought this laptop 2 years ago for $1.4k. I expect it to have a battery life that lasts more than 3.75 hours. The charger it came with is also incredibly finnicky and this webcam makes everything look like it was recorded on a D-list smart fridge. The only think this crapshoot is good for is the aesthetic. Functionally it's useless. I really expected better from a reputed company like Microsoft.
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