Issues with fresh reinstall of Windows on Surface Pro X

Question

Issues with fresh reinstall of Windows on Surface Pro X

Michael Silverleaf 0

I have a Surface Pro X which I have been using for several years. The hard drive has become kludged up so I decided to do a clean reinstall Windows 11 Pro and set it up afresh. After a few false starts with the ISO, I managed to produce a bootable USB and have reinstalled the system. (I used the ARM Surface ISO image from Microsoft and a bootable USB made using RUFUS - the latter because the machine fell over after producing a recovery USB so I couldn't produce another one and the USB failed to be recognised after I had used it to try and install the wrong ISO.) The ISO was 24H2 and the first thing the machine did following installation was spend several hours downloading and installing 25H2, which was what was previously installed. I am unsure why 25H2 isn't directly available.

Much of the functionality is fine but there are issues. First, every time I turn the machine on from cold, it takes forever to boot and then displays a message saying that it has run into a problem and has to restart. It then reboots and appears to be fine: I am using it now. It then works well. I have installed all my basic applications and used it for videoconferencing, so far without issues. However, it sometimes enters some kind of doom loop in which neither the keyboard (Microsoft Designer Compact) or mouse (Surface mouse) functions properly. The keyboard seems to insist on going to the top of a document when I am typing and the mouse won't scroll down from the top of a document or a webpage. Turning the machine off, unplugging it and starting again seems to reset it. Any suggestions as to what might be the problem? Or solutions?

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2 answers

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Answer 1

The behavior described (slow cold boot, initial crash with automatic restart, intermittent input issues) after a clean reinstall on Surface Pro X points to a system-level problem that typically requires a reset or full recovery using official Surface recovery media rather than a generic reinstall path.

For Surface devices, the supported way to return to a known-good state is:

Use a Surface recovery image instead of a generic ISO
Download the official factory recovery image for Surface Pro X:
- On a working PC, go to the Surface Recovery Image Download page and select the exact Surface Pro X model, then download the recovery image .zip file for that device.
- This image is tailored for Surface (including firmware, drivers, and correct Windows build for ARM) and is the baseline Microsoft supports.
Create a USB recovery drive from the Surface image
Follow the documented process for Surface:
- Extract the downloaded .zip recovery image.
- Prepare a USB drive as described in Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface (correct format, copy files as instructed).
- This ensures the device boots with the correct firmware/driver combination and avoids issues caused by mismatched ISOs.
Boot Surface Pro X from the USB recovery drive and reset
Once the recovery USB is ready:
- Insert the USB recovery drive into Surface Pro X.
- Press and hold the volume-down button, then press and release the power button.
- When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.
- Choose language and keyboard layout, then select Troubleshoot → Reset your PC.
- When prompted, select:
  - Yes, repartition the drives.
  - Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive (for a completely fresh start).
- Select Reset and let the process complete.
This process reinstalls Windows and Surface-specific components in a supported configuration, which is the recommended fix for persistent boot and stability issues.
If Windows boots but remains unstable
If the device boots but continues to show issues (e.g., repeated boot error, input “doom loop”), use the built-in reset option from within Windows:
- Go to Start → Settings → System → Recovery.
- Under Reset this PC, choose Reset PC.
- Select Keep my files first (to preserve personal files) and let Windows reinstall itself.
- If problems persist, repeat and choose Remove everything.
If the device still fails after USB recovery
If a full reset using the official USB recovery drive does not resolve the boot crash and input issues, the guidance is to proceed to Device Service and Repair, as this indicates a deeper hardware or firmware problem that cannot be fixed by software recovery alone.

References:

Answer 2

S.Sengupta 32,366 MVP Volunteer Moderator

I don't think the generic ARM ISO is necessarily the cause. Since Windows upgrades to 25H2 successfully and then works normally after the automatic restart, the installation itself appears to be largely sound.

The more telling symptom is the repeatable cold-boot BSOD followed by a successful reboot, which points more towards a firmware or driver initialization issue than a corrupt Windows installation. I'd first ensure all Surface firmware and optional driver updates have been installed and check the BSOD stop code or Reliability Monitor for clues.

If the problem persists, I'd then try the official Surface Recovery Image for your exact Surface Pro X model. Unlike the generic ISO, it includes the complete Microsoft-validated driver and firmware package. If the issue remains even after a factory recovery, I'd start suspecting a firmware or hardware fault.

One thing that also caught my attention is that the machine reportedly became unstable even while creating the recovery USB before the reinstall, which suggests the problem may have pre-dated the clean installation.

Michael Silverleaf 0 Reputation points

2026-07-01T12:01:42.9566667+00:00

Thank you to both the responses. I have now refined the issue. First, for clarification, I did not use the generic ARM ISO. I tried that and it didn't work because of the missing drivers. Once I had done that, I searched and found that I needed to use the Surface-specific ISO and downloaded from Microsoft that ISO (24H2) for the Surface Pro X. That still gave me a bit of trouble. The machine would not boot from the USB with that ISO on it and the Rufus bootable installation until I changed the boot sequence and turned off secure boot after a bit more research (original settings now restored). Then it booted from the USB and installed Windows. As noted above, the first thing it did was to update to 25H2. However, it then had the odd boot sequence noted in my initial question. Having read the answers, and not wishing to start again from scratch, I tried to make a recovery USB. That failed with the message that the recovery drive could not be completed.

I then looked at the update page in settings and found the offer of a 26 Preview update. I installed that. The machine then booted perfectly first time. I then made a recovery USB drive. This took about 4 hours but completed successfully and the machine was booting perfectly (and almost instantly) from cold.

The next step was to attach a second screen (Dell U4320Q). This attached perfectly. However, the next time I booted the machine, it went through the error message and reboot sequence again. I have now disconnected the screen but the same behaviour continues. The machine is now attached to a Surface Dock 1 through which the screen is running. It continues to have the odd boot sequence but as far as I can tell is otherwise fine. In particular, it is now running quickly, as it did when new, and has a hard drive which is no longer kludged up and overfull.

For further clarification, I should add that, when the machine initially fell over when I was trying to make a bootable USB drive after I had already had one go and the hard drive was almost full, presumably with various dodgy back up copies of Windows et al. It would still boot from the hard drive but was barely functional. This is hardly surprising and does not suggest to me any fundamental underlying issue. All the checks I have done with diagnostics and the Surface App, say that the machine is fine, has no firmware issues and is fully up to date.

I suspect that, if I were to reinstall Windows from scratch, it would be fine but that is a long job and I am deferring it for the moment. If the above comments provide insight to the responders which might enable them to assist further, I would be happy to receive further input.

Thanks for the help so far.
Michael Silverleaf 0 Reputation points

2026-08-24T17:23:51.4+00:00

I am pretty confident that I have now identified the cause of the problem by further reinstallation and monitoring the machine's behaviour. I use Bitdefender Premium Security. This appears to have an incompatibility with the latest Windows security update KB5121003. The problem first appeared when this was installed. The week before last I did a further clean reinstall of Windows with the instruction to clean the drive. The machine then behaved perfectly. The update was installed last week before I had installed Bitdefender. I then installed Bitdefender and the machine immediately went into the cold boot fail followed by a restart. I uninstalled the security update. The machine was fine. The update of course reinstalled itself automatically and the problem immediately recurred. I have now uninstalled Bitdefender and the machine is fine again. The key problems are that the machine falls over when booting from cold. Once it has rebooted the clock is wrong (not something that normally happens) until it has logged on to the network. The cursor then misbehaves, scrolling to the top of pages or documents and going to the top of documents when I try to type.

It seems pretty clear that there is some form of invalid interaction between the update and Bitdefender. Please could Microsoft and Bitdefender sort this out asap so that I can reinstall my preferred antivirus.
S.Sengupta 32,366 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-25T01:53:23.6966667+00:00
That is much stronger evidence for a Windows security-update/Bitdefender compatibility problem than for a failing Surface Pro X SSD or motherboard.

I would not reinstall Windows again if you have already reproduced the problem this systematically.

For the moment:

Keep Bitdefender uninstalled.

Keep Microsoft Defender enabled.

Don't repeatedly uninstall/reinstall Windows.

Record the exact Windows build and KB number.

If possible, capture the BSOD stop code from the failed boot.

Report the reproducible combination to both Microsoft and Bitdefender.

Check Bitdefender's release notes/support forum for a build that specifically addresses KB5121003