*** The Official Microsoft Surface Thread ***

Hey,

So I realise it's an old device, but I just inherited an original Surface RT from my BIL. I really really want to like this device, but it's been driving me cuckoo ever since I got it.

Things that are going wrong:
  • WiFi is really bad - the connection drops every few mins when actively using it
  • Downloads from Windows store always fail (possibly related to the above?)
  • Machine will randomly not power on at all from a cold boot
  • Sometimes it will hang permnanently on the lock screen when waking up (have to force shutdown)
  • IE is slow bloody slow it makes me want to cut myself

Things I've tried to solve it:
  • The machine has been factory reset before I got it
  • Ensured Windows was fully up to date
  • Performed an operating system "refresh"
  • Currently doing another factory reset

Has anyone had similar experiences with Windows RT? Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Su
 
Ok, so the full factory reset just finished... but it has still kept my desktop wallpaper, start screen tiles & tile positions etc.

What on earth?! :confused:

This device is starting to annoy me...
 
Sumanji said:
Ok, so the full factory reset just finished... but it has still kept my desktop wallpaper, start screen tiles & tile positions etc.

What on earth?! :confused:

This device is starting to annoy me...
Click to expand...

Its called backup, via your live account/skydrive. An extremely good feature which restores those things.

Charms > change Pc settings > skydrive > sync settings.

As to the rest of it take it back and exchange it sounds life a duff unit. Oh you didn't buy it. Is it running 8.1 and fully upto date?

I have given up on the network speed test from Microsoft and gone back to speedtest.net. On wp8 the app now refuses to launch and on surface it seems to give random results, but speedtest.net is giving results expect.

The bug that annoys me on it. Is after watching videos in browser, for some reason you get the little hand whenever you touch the screen. Doesn't affect anything just darn annoying.
 
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I agree with what Glaucus has said. I have an original Surface RT and don't have any of the issues you have described.

If you are using a Microsoft account then your settings including what apps you have and Wallpaper for example are replicated to other devices. Pretty swish especially when I swap between the RT and the Pro 2.

Speaking of the Surface Pro 2, there are reports of some people getting 18/01/2014 Firmware update which seems to have resolved the sleep and battery issues. Not everyone seems to be getting it yet, including me. Maybe worth checking your Windows Updates.
 
Bought the RT launch day and its still my fav tablet, but I have not experienced those problems daily, used to randomly get the odd lock up but these are from certain Apps, and not very often.
 
Ok cool, the SkyDrive backup is pretty cool actually - thanks for clarifying :)

I still can't install anything from the Windows Store, or perform any Windows updates now though :(

Wondering if the 8.1 update semi-buggered the thing up, so I'm going to reflash the factory image which MS made available a few months back to see if that resolves things. Could all of these symptoms point to a hardware fault though?

Like I said, I really want to like this device a lot. With Outlook RT, t's perfect for me to take into school everyday and use a productivity device.

Cheers,

Su
 
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The Skydrive backup is very nifty. Spent a little time setting up the Surface 2 first time around so when it was returned and replaced with the Pro 2 it was a nice surprise to login and have everything almost exactly how I'd left it.
 
I meant to ask, but ars Apps now updating themselves in the background? As i don't see any app update notifications on the store tile anymore.
 
cu3ed said:
Is the Store trouble just today?..the Store can be "funny" far to often.
Click to expand...

No dude it's been going on for weeks :(

Thinking about it, it must have been a recent update? I installed Ilo Milo fine, but then when I tried to install Six guns a couple of days afterwards it just wouldn't download. Now even Windows Update times out when I try to check for new updates.

So I downloaded the old RT 8.0 image onto a USB drive, but not sure I'm using it the right way... using this guide at the moment:

http://sstjean.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-reset-microsoft-surface-rt-back.html

But I have been aggressive and told it to recreate all the partitions, and totally wipe all the files. I guess it's just wiping stuff at the moment, as it says "Resetting Your PC (8%)", but the USB drive is not actually being accessed (LED not flashing).

Cheers,

Su
 
cu3ed said:
I meant to ask, but ars Apps now updating themselves in the background? As i don't see any app update notifications on the store tile anymore.
Click to expand...

Yes 8.1 feature.

Store > charms > settings > app updates


I can't decide if I like it or not, as you don't find out what's been updated and what if any new features have been added.

cu3ed said:
Is the Store trouble just today?..the Store can be "funny" far to often.
Click to expand...

Haven't had any issues since the update the other week, which makes it very fast. Kb2913270
 
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Has anyone got their Surface in the last couple of weeks and are still waiting for their £25 app store voucher?
 
Glaucus said:
I can't decide if I like it or not, as you don't find out what's been updated and what if any new features have been added.
Click to expand...

When devs bother to write a change log that is. I'm sick of mystery updates, and Microsoft are no better with their first party apps.

It's really bad practice and becoming somewhat of a pet peeve of mine.
 
For those with Surface Pro 2 and the dreaded December firmware, Microsoft have released the 18/01/2014 firmware to fix the battery and sleep issues.

I have updated mine and it seems to be fine so far. If I do have issues I will report back.
 
Just put the new firmware on my surface pro 2.

Looks ok so far. Hopefully it'll sort out the sleep and battery problems.

Will report back.

Al
 
I didnt even see it until I shutdown earlier and it said it was doing a FW update...
Guess I'll find out tomorrow..
 
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