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Unable to Boot from USB or Access BIOS After Disk Wipe

Eddie Does IT 0 Reputation points
2025-09-15T16:44:03.89+00:00

I have a surface pro model 1824 that went into a boot loop and could not load Windows. I could not recover either using restore from backup or online so I wiped the drive using diskpart so I can boot from USB to re-install, (Have done this in the past but without the dispart wipe)

I burned a windows 10 iso using rufus with the options below but I get "No bootable device" found shortly after power on, same error if I hold down the Volume button while it's shutoff before pressing & releasing the power button. If I try to access the BIOS, I get a "Enter password" prompt in but I can't bypass because it wont accept my recovery key.

I confirmed the USB drives work and bootable using another Windows laptop that I have and works fine. How can I get past this issue so I can do a new install of Windows 10? Note that the iso is from the Microsoft portal MSDN portal called "Windows 10 (multi-edition)" iso

  1. Partition scheme: GPT
  2. Target system: UEFI (non-CSM)
  3. File system: FAT32
  4. Boot selection: Windows 10 ISO
Surface | Surface Go | Install and update
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  1. John Carl Nazario 8,535 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-09-15T19:43:26.68+00:00

    Hi Eddie Does IT,

    Thanks for reaching out! This issue with the Surface Pro model 1824 not booting from USB after using diskpart has come up for several users, and there are a few reliable fixes you can try. First, make sure you're using the official Surface recovery image from Microsoft’s Surface Recovery page, as generic Windows ISOs often don’t work well with Surface devices. For the USB drive, use a 16GB or 32GB stick formatted to FAT32, larger drives may fail unless formatted with third-party tools. If your ISO is over 4GB, you can use Rufus to format the USB as NTFS and enable UEFI (non-CSM).

    Also, check your UEFI settings by holding Volume Down + Power: disable Secure Boot, enable USB Boot, and set USB as the first boot device. Some users also had success by swiping left on the USB boot option in BIOS to trigger boot.

    If you're prompted for a BitLocker recovery key, make sure you're signed in to the correct Microsoft account when retrieving it from account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey.

    Let me know if you need help with any of these steps, happy to assist!

    Best,
    Carl

  2. Barb Bowman 80,280 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-09-25T21:25:32.0133333+00:00

    Eddie, the UEFI password is not the same as the Bitlocker key. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forgot-uefi-password-for-surface-e44d979a-7d85-4108-98d0-6bce7d421046 You will need to contact support if you can’t find it. They cannot help you find the key, but might offer an out of warranty exchange

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