| Note that Windows 7 USB/DVD (Microsoft store) Download Tool doesn’t seem to properly prepare the USB flash drive for UEFI booting. |
| Requirements
4 Gb USB stick/flash drive Windows 8 Enterprise Installation files (either their own image or from the Volume Licensing website) Windows 8 PRO running on a Surface Pro device |
| Make a bootable USB flash drive using DISKPART
Run CMD.EXE as an administrator (Win-X then A), then run DISKPART with the following commands (not case-sensitive): |
| Command | What it does |
| LIST DISK | Shows all mounted disks. Find your USB flash |
| SELECT DISK n | Selects the disk that future commands will use. Replace ‘n’ with the disk # for your USB flash drive.
NOTE: Be careful that you don’t select your hard disk! The next command will wipe the selected drive clean. |
| CLEAN | Erases all previous partition & volume information on the flash drive. |
| CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY | Partitions the flash drive as one partition for the whole drive. |
| SELECT PARTITION 1 | Selects the new partition so future commands will operate on it. |
| ACTIVE | Marks the new partition as active so the BIOS/UEFI can boot to it. |
| FORMAT FS=FAT32 QUICK | Formats the partition as FAT32.
(NOT NTFS!) EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! |
| ASSIGN | Assigns a drive letter to the flash drive. |
| EXIT | Exits DISKPART |
At this point your USB drive is formatted. DO NOT format the drive with Windows Explorer or format.com; you will not be able to boot from it.
| Copy files to the USB Drive and Prep Disk
Copy the Windows 8 Enterprise Image files to the USB drive (use XCOPY or ROBOCOPY) both of which are available in Windows 7/8. robocopy <source directory> <usb flash drive root directory> /mir Example: robocopy d:\Win8Files e:\ /mir |
| OPTIONAL, if you do not have USB Ethernet cable – Add the Wireless Network Card driver
Download Marvell AVASTAR 350N driver from Windows Update Catalog – http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/home.aspx Double Click .cab file and copy contents to a directory on the USB stick Copy c:\windows\system32\driverstore\surfaceaccessorydevice.inf_amd64_74faf8b2bdd32b88 directory to the flash drive |
| Boot off USB drive – Get into UEFI setup screen
Shutdown Microsoft Surface PRO Hold volume up and press power, keeping volume up held down Click Secure Boot, then click disable Boot into Windows 8 on Surface Insert USB stick into Microsoft Surface PRO Press Windows Key + R Enter : shutdown.exe /r /o /f /t 00 After the system restarts – Click boot from another device Select USB device |
| Install Windows 8
Go through normal Windows 8 Enterprise setup |
| OPTIONAL – Add the Wireless Network Card to the System
Open device manager Right Click Marvell Wireless Device – select update driver software Choose “Browse my computer for Software” Browse or enter path for the directory on the USB where you put the network driver Right click the Unknown Device – select update driver software Choose “Browse my computer for Software” Browse or enter path for the directory on the USB where you put the surfaceaccessorydevice driver |
| Finishing up
Join your wireless network and run Windows Update Right click the last question mark device – select update driver software Click automatically install driver, it will find it online Go back into the BIOS / UEFI and re-enable secure boot Congratulations! – You are running Windows Enterprise on your Surface PRO |


