Surface 3 No-working USB Port Windows Install

rtesta007

Honorable
Nov 17, 2013
2
0
10,510
I have a surface 3 with intel atom 4gb ram and 128gb SSD. The device doesn't have any windows installed on it so I can only get into the bios. I tried using a flash drive to install windows but the USB port won't recognize it. I tried using an OTG adaptor with the flash drive also but it wasn't recognized. Is there any other way to get windows installed on this device maybe through the microSD card?
 
Solution
USB 3.0 ports need drivers before they can work... if it has USB 2.0 ports, that's what to use. Otherwise the Micro SD card should be your best option as long as it's 4GB or larger which is the minimum USB installer apps require. I found several options for creating a Windows installer from Micro SD card... they are describe in order of popularity but I've used the Universal USB Maker that has the capability to detect and show all drives and disk partitions besided USB drives which is a feature you need so the app can make that drive or partition the Bootable Windows installer.

12 Best Bootable USB Flash Drive Creation Tools / Software
http://www.toptrix.net/2012/03/bootable-usb-making-tools-windows-linux.html

How to install...

Chicano

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2011
193
2
18,910
USB 3.0 ports need drivers before they can work... if it has USB 2.0 ports, that's what to use. Otherwise the Micro SD card should be your best option as long as it's 4GB or larger which is the minimum USB installer apps require. I found several options for creating a Windows installer from Micro SD card... they are describe in order of popularity but I've used the Universal USB Maker that has the capability to detect and show all drives and disk partitions besided USB drives which is a feature you need so the app can make that drive or partition the Bootable Windows installer.

12 Best Bootable USB Flash Drive Creation Tools / Software
http://www.toptrix.net/2012/03/bootable-usb-making-tools-windows-linux.html

How to install Windows 10 using SD card?
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install-winpc/how-to-install-windows-10-using-sd-card/60ed4100-7dcc-4861-8184-4c1e6eba30e6

Make a bootable micro SD card
https://software.intel.com/en-us/get-started-galileo-windows-step1
 
Solution