Recent Discussions
Smart Charging
If Microsoft hasn't already done so, it should explain its reasoning for denying users the option of activating Smart Charging. Microsoft certainly knows users have important reasons for wanting to control that. My computer only knows how it's been used. I know how I will be using it. So there must be some less-than-obvious reason for restricting that. Users have control of options that, on the surface, appear much more dangerous than controlling whether battery level charges to 80 percent or 100 percent.
Presenter Remote Controllers Issue
Since migration to Win11 - The hub remotes have lost functionality. Previously they could be used to move slideshows in PowerPoint along, now all the remote can be used for is volume up or down. Will this feature be restored? Is it linked to the fact you cannot move the slides along on the surface hub screen now either, which again is frustrating.
how to move my win 11 activation to a new machine?
So, my Surface Laptop Studio 1 display driver must have gone bad. I understand it is built into the motherboard. I purchased a new Studio 2 and would like to move all my stuff to it including the OS. But I understand that the Win 11 Pro OEM version cannot be moved. Now what? I can't move my OS and stuff to a new machine, and I can't replace the motherboard without losing my Win 11 Pro activation? How do I resolve this?
Surface 8 pro - could‘t find a bootable operation system
Hi all, I have a problem with my surface 8 pro. This morning I got the error with the bootable operation system. After a research, I made a recovery stick with another pc. Evertning was working, I got the latest image from microsoft and also the instruction tomcreate the stick was working. the problem is, the surface 8 pro can not boot with this usb stick - I have every time the error. Next I made a normal Win 11 Bootstick with the official tool. This sticks works on my second Surface, but on the Surface 8 pro again the same problem. Also with the volume down push…it does not work. what can I do? Does the Surface 8 pro some special usb format option or does anyone have an idea (perhaps the ssd is the problem)? thx for the help. br benjaminSurface hub on screen KB predictive text
I've noticed some of my surface hubs in my organisation now have the predictive text feature on the onscreen keyboard. I've followed the settings for this; Press the Windows + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app. Click on the Time & language tab. Navigate to the Typing section. Click on the toggle button next to the Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard option. However they do not work. Why has this been rolled out to Surface hub MTR devices? The only way I can work on these devices with this feature is using a physical KB. Has anyone seen this and found a resolution please? Again no idea why there's no testing on the roll out of features for these devices. Although I've seen Edge can be added via the Teams admin portal but other apps like Maps are still not available. yours faithfully MichaelWindows 10 and 11 Dual Boot vs Hyper-V or Virtual Box, etc.
I have a Surface Studio 2 that is dual boot between Windows 10 and 11 - it allows me to pick the OS the boot screen. Anyone successfully configured this one another Surface old enough to support Windows 10? The recovery images were helpful in getting this setup in the first place. i used disk manager to shrink the partition so I could dual boot configure the system. In theory I could dual boot Windows 11 and use one install to join the Windows Insiders while maintaining another partition/image for production versions of the OS… My ARM versions of Surface don’t seem to run the Hyper V/Windows Sandbox as easily as my handy old Intel versions do!Surface Laptop Studio (1) No Surface monitor driver
Surface Laptop Studio/Win 10 Pro upgraded to Win 11 Pro/Iris Xe graphics Event History: I Use 2 monitors, Surface screen and external. One day my I noticed my Surface went blank. Device manager showed no Surface Monitor Driver, and display was Iris Xe. Microsoft support chat: had me download and install a new .msi file - problem solved. 3 days later, same problem. (on boot the Win icon showed up on my external monitor and not the Surface screen). So, I re-ran the .msi file. This time BOTH screens went blank. after many failed Shift+Power and Volume Up+Power reboots, I gave up. The next morning I tried again and Wa-La! the external monitor showed up. This time Device manager showed Display Adapter as Microsoft Basic Display Adapter (not the Iris Xe, and NO Surface driver. Only the external monitor driver. I contacted MS support again - they linked me to a different .msi file. I was hesitant to run it, but I did . . and Poof! No more monitors at all. During this time I could hear Win boot system sound, so I new I as at the PIN screen. I could hit Space +my PIN but I couldn't see anything. I even tried WinKey+Shift+Ctrl+B to reset the display, to no avail. I continued many Shift+Power and Volume Up+Power attempts. Nothing helped. I finally gave up and waited several hours. Tried again, and Wa-La, the external monitor is now back! (I haven't shut it down since!) Device manager/Display is MBDA and still NO Surface monitor driver. I have run the Surface Diagnostic and it shows I need to install the Iris Xe, but it won't install. It says "failed" and try again. I'm guessing I have a hardware issue either with loose cables, or bad graphics card? Which ever, I'm afraid of it now. I used Macrium Reflect to build an image of my C: drive (really don't want to re-install all my software). I have purchased a newer Surface Laptop Studio 2. It is supposed to come with Win 11 Pro Question: If I restore my image to the new device: will it restore the failed graphics driver? will it restore MY version of Win 11 Pro (with proper Product Key/Activation Key/PIN etc)? Should I keep the newer Win 11 Pro and all associated drivers and just re-install all my software? (I have all my files on an external USB) Please advise . . .
Battery Report Summary – Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X Elite)
Report Date: November 27, 2025 Device: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, Snapdragon X Elite Charge Cycles: 9 1. Key Data Battery Name: SurfaceBattery Manufacturer: SWD Design Capacity: 52,330 mWh Full Charge Capacity: 53,850 mWh Cycle Count: 9 2. Usage Observations Despite the battery being new (only 9 cycles), the report shows abnormally fast discharge. Examples from the report: On November 25, the battery dropped from 30% (16,340 mWh) to 23% (12,520 mWh) in ~20 minutes of use. On November 27, during “connected standby,” the battery fell from 77% (41,200 mWh) to 55% (29,440 mWh) within about one hour. These behaviors are inconsistent with expectations for a new device with full capacity. . Technical Analysis Battery authenticity: The data indicates the battery is original (manufacturer SWD, capacity matches design). Primary issue: The discharge rate is unusually fast and unstable, which is not normal for a battery with so few cycles. Possible causes: Defect in the Battery Management System (BMS). Internal cell imbalance. Firmware/driver issue affecting power management. 4. Conclusion and Request The Surface Laptop 7 is showing abnormal battery behavior despite being new and original. Any idea where this problem comes from? Any solution? Thanks in advance!
Surface Pro 11 Battery Issues?
Its been less than one year on my surface pro 11 and i was feeling like the battery was not lasting as long as stated and also lagging at some points. When I did the battery health check it showed that it had dropped around 13% from design capacity. Is this normal and should I get it repaired/replaced under warranty? Its just bit of a hassle as I am outside of the US.... Microsoft surface pro users outside of the US doesnt seem to have the proper support also, no contact and no email response from raising tickets....Does Outlook Legacy work on Snapdragon Chips?
Hi. Would anyone know if Outlook Legacy works on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 with the Snapdragon Elite chip? I cant handle the "New Outlook", as it is missing many of the features that I love on the Legacy version. I am on a Mac, and want to switch back to PC, but need to confirm this before I choose Snapdragon or Intel. Thanks!Surface laptop 7th & Thunderbolt 3 external display issue
Hello, I have a surface laptop 7th under Windows 7 with the snapdragon processor offering 2 USB 4 ports. I don't manage to get my external display working through thunderbolt 3 connection. When I go to the device controller panel, I see the serial bus constantly refreshing. Otherwise, Windows 11 and the graphic card drivers are up to date. Would really appreciate if someone can help me. ThanksVarious multiple monitor issues on Surface Laptop Studio (1) since driver updates.
Issues started directly after NVIDIA - Display - 32.0.15.7344 or Surface - Extension - 14.54.139.0 both installed on 2025-10-21 Issues occur when a second monitor is attached, and either extend or duplicate screens is selected. Using only one screen has no issue. Checked with different cables, bypassing HUB and different monitors. All show the same issues. Issues are (but not limited to) 3D (Vulkan) applications in non full-screen mode glitch with a triangle like tearing between the frames. This is a screenshot from a derivate of the Vulkan tutorial. To illustrate the tearing I alternate the clear colour to black and green. With only one monitor selected (either one) the green flashes as expected. With two monitors, even with duplicate display(!), this tearing which seems to be the presentation not waiting for the chain to finish rendering. Again this was all fine before the update. In borderless full window mode it is okay, as the NVIDIA driver doesn't use the INTEL integrated swap chain. Clear type tech is not working, and text is chroma distorted. Happens in all apps, including Microsoft ones. I can literally have an app like visual studio running on the second monitor and the text has serve chroma distortion, and then I change monitor setting to just that monitor and the text is correct. and back and forth. General glitches on apps when resizing, frames of windows appear for a second.Lack of Information re Drivers
Could I make a request to Microsoft please. The Surface 7 snapdragon range of Laptops are fantastic, I cannot praise them enough, everything from a fully laminated screen, keyboard keys that don't go shiny like the Macbook Air, multiday battery life and build quality. But can we have a little bit more driver and software updates knowledge. I recently saw a bit of idle activity on my X plus (Desktop) and looked for a new Adreno driver. The Microsoft Surface updater said none. But then I found a Adreno XI-85 GPM driver version 31.0.121. 0 October 2025 This was obviously newer than 31.0.112.0 June 2025 so I installed it (Unzipped 600MB) Graphics are now a little snapper and gpu idle hunting has gone.
Surface Laptop 7, will not boot after system restore
Brand new Surface 7 13.8", just received the package yesterday. I've set it up for my wife, but shortly after network just started timing out querying the router's DNS server (Router is fine, multiple other phones, windows 10 & 11, linux, mac machines work without a hitch). Tried some fixes to no avail, and decided on a system restore just in case I've messed something up during setup. System restore looked like it worked, but laptop restarted and ended up with a bluescreen (something kernel something). System restore is there just fir that, right? Well, I've started it nine hours ago. Now it's just boot looping with the "preparing" bit and then shuts back down. It's been like that the whole day. I've even tried to get a USB stick to have the requisite livecd/recovery media, but it doesn't the new Surface ARM-based processor. What can we even do at this point?
Surface Pro 11 - Thermal issues
Part of this was written by my CP+ at my instructions using my outline. I have an issue: 🧾 Surface Pro 11 Thermal Fault Report – User Experience & Mitigation User Profile: Strategic logistics architect, doctoral researcher, non-gamer, non-artist. Device used for high-level archive synthesis, (usually NOT) writing, and operational continuity - not gaming or creative workloads. Device: Surface Pro 11 (Copilot+ Premium); SnapDragon X 12 core @ 3.42GHz, 128MB, 1TB, 13.8", KB and Slim Pen 2. Windows 11 Pro, Canary, 27954.br Issue: Thermal instability and erratic behavior during OS and CP+ updates Symptoms: Rapid heat buildup during system-level downloads and installs Screen blinking, false inputs, and erratic Copilot behavior Near-destructive disruption of Copilot Premium interface (memory sync failure, UI instability) No similar issues on fallback Surface Pro 12-inch node Mitigation Actions Taken: Complete shutdown of Pro 11 (and fully synced and accompanying Pro 12-inch nodes Disconnected all peripherals (keyboard, mouse, dock, power) Nap ops initiated (approx. 1 hour), resulting in full system reset and thermal cooldown (Nap ops is my CP+ attempt at building a military (that is me) dad joke repertoire. Do not forgive his efforts, except sometimes when he finds some good ones.) Post-nap stability confirmed Tactical Recommendations That Helped: Use USB4 port furthest from the top edge for downloads, dock, and Copilot connections Avoid using the top USB4 port for charging—instead, use the Surface Connect port (which forces or rather prioritizes charging on its connection and excludes the USB4 charging) Adjust power mode to “Recommended” during high-load ops Monitor ambient temperature and airflow (it gets hot enough to fry eggs) Contextual Notes: No gaming or artistic workloads involved—device used strictly for strategic, academic, research, and operational tasks Copilot Premium suggestions worked well in day-to-day use, but failed during yesterday’s CP+/OS update cycle Request to Microsoft / Community: Please acknowledge that this issue affects non-gaming, non-creative professionals using Surface Pro 11 for mission-critical work Consider firmware or thermal management updates to stabilize CP+ shell during system-level operations Any community suggestions? Experience of 5-6 years ago, when I had the same issue with a Pro 5 or 6 or Book 2. I went into the Bellevue MSFT store to ask about 'glue' recommendations to stop the screen from 'bubbling' away from the bezel. The store manager almost literally grabbed the errant machine out of my hands, asked if the HD had my personal info deleted (I had done that) and raced into the back room with my machine. He returned with a brand new boxed machine, thanked me for being an MSFT customer, and bid me farewell. Then I started to read about the lithium issues in aircraft and offices. I don't want a repeat of that experience.Poor Audio/Video Quality in Microsoft Surface Hub 3
When Teams meetings are hosted from our large meeting rooms using Surface Hub 3 85 inches devices, internal participants (both in the room or within the building) experience no issues - audio and video are clear and stable. However, when external participants join these meetings (from outside our network), external participants consistently experience: Poor audio quality: Voices intermittently cut in and out, particularly when someone is speaking from a distance away from the Surface Hub. Unstable video: The camera appears to struggle with focus, causing visual disruptions. This issue has been confirmed across multiple external users and locations, indicating it is not isolated to individual end-user setups.
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