Surface Pro 2 & Windows RT 8.1

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2004
Posts
4,522
Location
Melbourne , Oz.
I've resurrected an old Surface Pro I have had lying around - bought back when I was trying (in vain) to avoid the Apple ecosystem. Works ok, bit slow but good enough for what I need.
I do some consulting for construction companies. Bought myself a Legion Pro laptop, overkill for what I need but it handles large files and graphical applications without breaking sweat and is an absolute joy to use after using sub standard company supplied equipment for years. It is a bit big and heavy with a loud fan and battery life is poor - its portable but barely. Probably should have got something different but is what it is now.
I save all my work on One Drive and it syncs up well with my different devices but I'd like something super portable I can take to meetings to take notes and browse files etc where I don't need to actually do some work however need something that will run MS Project which I cant do on my iPad.

I did a recovery / factory reset on it this morning, removed everything and reinstalled windows so I could have a clean machine linked to my business MS365 account rather than my old personal one. It's installed RT 8.1 but now I cant install any apps from the store or run any windows updates. Onedrive has been renamed skydrive and wont sync unless I update windows - which I cant do. MS say RT is no longer supported. I tried this solution https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...nnot-get/7a6ef150-a5a3-4b2b-b363-28436761548e and downloaded the kb files to a usb and tried that but get a notification from Windows update standalone installer saying the update is not applicable to my computer on both files.

Anyone know a solution? The thing is pretty much useless now. Some pretty cheap used ones on Ebay I may just get one of those with Windows 10 on it if it can't be rescued.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Apr 2015
Posts
4,066
Location
Hungerford, UK, Earth
I've resurrected an old Surface Pro I have had lying around - bought back when I was trying (in vain) to avoid the Apple ecosystem. Works ok, bit slow but good enough for what I need.
I do some consulting for construction companies. Bought myself a Legion Pro laptop, overkill for what I need but it handles large files and graphical applications without breaking sweat and is an absolute joy to use after using sub standard company supplied equipment for years. It is a bit big and heavy with a loud fan and battery life is poor - its portable but barely. Probably should have got something different but is what it is now.
I save all my work on One Drive and it syncs up well with my different devices but I'd like something super portable I can take to meetings to take notes and browse files etc where I don't need to actually do some work however need something that will run MS Project which I cant do on my iPad.

I did a recovery / factory reset on it this morning, removed everything and reinstalled windows so I could have a clean machine linked to my business MS365 account rather than my old personal one. It's installed RT 8.1 but now I cant install any apps from the store or run any windows updates. Onedrive has been renamed skydrive and wont sync unless I update windows - which I cant do. MS say RT is no longer supported. I tried this solution https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...nnot-get/7a6ef150-a5a3-4b2b-b363-28436761548e and downloaded the kb files to a usb and tried that but get a notification from Windows update standalone installer saying the update is not applicable to my computer on both files.

Anyone know a solution? The thing is pretty much useless now. Some pretty cheap used ones on Ebay I may just get one of those with Windows 10 on it if it can't be rescued.

bin it and look for an 8th or 9th gen HP/Dell/lenovo laptop, they have ones with 12.5 screens in that era. Will run windows 11 pro, 8gb ram and have an m.2. I have a lenovo X280 works well and charges via USB C
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2009
Posts
16,591
Location
Greater London
As above, if it's Windows RT then it's the non pro version as it runs on 32-bit ARM instead of the usual x86 on the pro models. The OS is dead, Microsoft gave up on it and there's no more support.

You might be able to find a Linux distro that can work on it, but I'm not sure on the steps of getting this installed.
 
Back
Top Bottom