Ask the Expert: How to Downgrade a Surface Pro and Create a Bootable USB by Eric Ortega

Before you start this process you should download a copy of the drivers from the Microsoft Surface Pro to a different computer or USB drive. Windows will NOT automatically install drivers and you will be left with a computer that cannot reach out to the Internet or network.

You will also need a Windows license key for the version of Windows you are downgrading to if your computer did not come from the manufacturer with Windows 8. (Windows 8 has windows license key hard-coded into the computer.)

First you will need to properly format the USB drive.

Open a “Disk Partition” by holding the windows key on your keyboard than pressing the “r” button and let go of both keys.

You should get a little window that looks like this called the "run" window

Then start the diskpart utility by typing "diskpart.exe" and hitting the ok button

List all the disks and identify your USB stick: "list disk"

Select the disk number that is your USB stick, e.g.,: "select disk 4"

Remove all existing partitions: "clean"

Create a new partition, make it active and format as FAT32, then assign a drive letter:
"create partition primary"
"select partition 1"
"active"
"format quick fs=fat32"
"assign"

Exit diskpart: "exit"

Example of Diskpart Output in Response to Commands Above

The final step is to copy all the files from the Windows install media to the USB device--for example, where d: is my .ISO (International Standards Organization) mount of Windows media and f: is my USB stick:

xcopy d:\* f:\ /s /e

Secondly you need properly boot into the usb device for the surface pro you’re working on

Make sure the Surface Pro device is turned off.
Attach a bootable USB storage device.
Hold the volume-down button.
Press and release the power button.
When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.
The Surface Pro should boot from the attached USB device.
Depending on the windows version you are downgrading to depends on the next steps for the windows install.

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