Are Surface Pro Windows 8 drivers available through Windows Update?

[netuser]

If I install Windows 8 from scratch, which drivers will I need to install manually and which drivers will be detected and installed automatically by Windows 8 or Windows Update?
Since Microsoft does not make drivers for the Surface Pro available for direct download, is it possible to use a USB Ethernet dongle to get online and then install the remaining drivers that Windows 8 does not automatically install by running Microsoft Updates rather than downloading drivers from third party web sites?

 

[tonyz3]

I would think running the update would work, but this might also...not sure. Microsoft Update Catalog

 

[J515OP]

If I install Windows 8 from scratch, which drivers will I need to install manually and which drivers will be detected and installed automatically by Windows 8 or Windows Update?
Since Microsoft does not make drivers for the Surface Pro available for direct download, is it possible to use a USB Ethernet dongle to get online and then install the remaining drivers that Windows 8 does not automatically install by running Microsoft Updates rather than downloading drivers from third party web sites?

Its a mixed bag some drivers are available from MS and some of the newest drivers are only available from the the partner's website. Why do you want to install Windows 8 form scratch? Though it can be done (and I believe there is a thread about it), it seems to be more of a headache than it is worth. MS does not include any bloatware or other junk on the Surface so you are already starting from a clean slate without having to jump through hoops for drivers and installation (also an issue because of boot security measures on the Surface Pro. I would recommend against doing a clean install but that is up to you.

 

[netuser]

Its a mixed bag some drivers are available from MS and some of the newest drivers are only available from the the partner's website. Why do you want to install Windows 8 form scratch? Though it can be done (and I believe there is a thread about it), it seems to be more of a headache than it is worth. MS does not include any bloatware or other junk on the Surface so you are already starting from a clean slate without having to jump through hoops for drivers and installation (also an issue because of boot security measures on the Surface Pro. I would recommend against doing a clean install but that is up to you.

It is not for home use. We would like to do a mass deployment and you are not supposed to clone the built-in image and copy to other systems.
If we don't use our own volume licensed Windows 8 media, we will need to manually configure each tablet and that will add too much time and cost.
Microsoft says the Surface Pro is suitable for business use and will start selling them in quantity to businesses, but they don't support it like it is an enterprise-class device.
No Microsoft sanctioned official driver download site and it is covered under consumer home-user tech support policies.
This is a mixed message.

 

[J515OP]

Yep, I agree. There are obviously reasons why you would want to image but they don't make it easy and if you can avoid it that is the way to go. Most likely they will correct the situation but it doesn't help you now. I'll see if I can find the thread covering somebody that did this so you can see this issues they ran into.

Edit: This might help http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/...53-anyone-has-surface-pro-please-help-me.html

 

[machistmo]

If I install Windows 8 from scratch, which drivers will I need to install manually and which drivers will be detected and installed automatically by Windows 8 or Windows Update?
Since Microsoft does not make drivers for the Surface Pro available for direct download, is it possible to use a USB Ethernet dongle to get online and then install the remaining drivers that Windows 8 does not automatically install by running Microsoft Updates rather than downloading drivers from third party web sites?

This site is great for IT Pros and new users alike. This guy is top-notch with his walk-throughs.

How can I deploy Windows 8 X64 to the Microsoft Surface Pro using Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager 2012 - www.windows-noob.com

 

[jnjroach]

With any Enterprise Deployment project using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 or Config Manager 2012 SP1 you'll want to create a Driver Depository for any drivers that are not Native, either by downloading them or copying them from the base unit. Another option is to mount the recovery partition using a third party tool and grabbing the files and more importantly the Surface Pro WIM file and use that as you Gold Image. I've done this in the past. You've not given us what tools you're planning on using, are you using MS tools, Symantec Altiris?

 

[netuser]

With any Enterprise Deployment project using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 or Config Manager 2012 SP1 you'll want to create a Driver Depository for any drivers that are not Native, either by downloading them or copying them from the base unit. Another option is to mount the recovery partition using a third party tool and grabbing the files and more importantly the Surface Pro WIM file and use that as you Gold Image. I've done this in the past. You've not given us what tools you're planning on using, are you using MS tools, Symantec Altiris?

We don't have Config Manager or any third party tools. Only free tools like MDT.
We cannot risk downloading drivers from random websites that we don't whether or not the files have been compromised and use those files to deploy across the company. So, how can he get the drivers out of the base unit or WIM file? I have made a copy of the recovery partition to a USB stick before our evaluation units were sent out to the users. Can I use that? I won't have a Surface Pro to work with until the shipments assigned to employees come in.
Are the files labeled so we know which driver is for which device on the system (keyboard, audio, touch screen, wirless etc??

Doesn't anyone think it is very strange or unprofessional that Microsoft is selling the Surface Pro commercially in volume without making the driver files available to use for volume deployment? Microsoft now allowing business customers to buy Surfaces in volume | ZDNet

The OEM license agreement does not allow for cloning the image the Surface Pro comes loaded with.
Businesses that use Windows 8 Enterprise also must wipe and install Windows 8 Enterprise and reinstall drivers.

 

[J515OP]

Maybe you should contact MS directly. They may have an enterprise solution setup for their bulk Surface customers.

 

[netuser]

Unfortunately, they do not. Maybe they will in the future, but right now they don't. I already called. Microsoft support actually refused a support call transferred from Surface support. They are two different divisions.
If someone will post how to get the drivers off of the recovery thumb drive image, I will try that as a workaround for now.

 

[jnjroach]

We don't have Config Manager or any third party tools. Only free tools like MDT.
We cannot risk downloading drivers from random websites that we don't whether or not the files have been compromised and use those files to deploy across the company. So, how can he get the drivers out of the base unit or WIM file? I have made a copy of the recovery partition to a USB stick before our evaluation units were sent out to the users. Can I use that? I won't have a Surface Pro to work with until the shipments assigned to employees come in.
Are the files labeled so we know which driver is for which device on the system (keyboard, audio, touch screen, wirless etc??

Doesn't anyone think it is very strange or unprofessional that Microsoft is selling the Surface Pro commercially in volume without making the driver files available to use for volume deployment? Microsoft now allowing business customers to buy Surfaces in volume | ZDNet

The OEM license agreement does not allow for cloning the image the Surface Pro comes loaded with.
Businesses that use Windows 8 Enterprise also must wipe and install Windows 8 Enterprise and reinstall drivers.

Actually any Enterprise Deployment requires VL Agreement, as your OEM License doesn't support a re-deployment from IT. A VL upgrades the OEM licenses to VL for deployment. So if you grabbed the recovery partition the drivers should be on there so you integrate them into your Task Sequence for a Light Touch Deployment, just follow the instruction included with the MDT and create the Drivers Folder and create a Surface sub-Folder for the drivers. Now depending how MS copies that over to the USB Drive you sill may need a 3rd party to mount the image.

 

[netuser]

Actually any Enterprise Deployment requires VL Agreement, as your OEM License doesn't support a re-deployment from IT. A VL upgrades the OEM licenses to VL for deployment. So if you grabbed the recovery partition the drivers should be on there so you integrate them into your Task Sequence for a Light Touch Deployment, just follow the instruction included with the MDT and create the Drivers Folder and create a Surface sub-Folder for the drivers. Now depending how MS copies that over to the USB Drive you sill may need a 3rd party to mount the image.

Yes, but even with a Volume License agreement, I don't think you are allowed to clone the OEM image that comes pre-loaded on the Surface Pro. So, you have to wipe the systems and use new media to create the image that will be used to deploy to multiple systems.
If it is not practical to get the drivers off of the USB stick recovery files, then I will wait and when the shipment comes of Surface Pros arrives, I can start one up and get the drivers off of the hard drive.
Exactly where are the drivers and how do you tell which files are for which device on the system?
On my Windows 7 system, I see what looks like driver files in C:\Windows\Sytem32\Drivers, but it is just a lot of driver files with cryptic names. I could not tell a audio driver from a network driver. There are also what looks like drivers in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository as well as C:\Windows\System32\DRVSTORE.
Which ones are the ones that need to be copied and used for the MDT deployment?