Booting from USB Issue

[hittka]

Hello everyone,

I'm starting a job from home that requires a boot up from a USB drive. I finally figured out how to boot from the USB (I'm really not very tech savvy) by accessing the UEFI and disabling secure boot. My issue is, my keyboard doesn't work while booted from the USB. It lights up when I press keys, but I cannot type in a password. When I go back to just a normal windows boot, it says something about bitlocker and I have to type in a key. Any way to get my keyboard to be able to type in this USB boot? Would a USB keyboard possibly fix this issue? Thank you in advance!

*Update: USB keyboard does work, but I would still like to know if there's any way to get the surface keyboard working.

 

[jnjroach]

Hello everyone,

I'm starting a job from home that requires a boot up from a USB drive. I finally figured out how to boot from the USB (I'm really not very tech savvy) by accessing the UEFI and disabling secure boot. My issue is, my keyboard doesn't work while booted from the USB. It lights up when I press keys, but I cannot type in a password. When I go back to just a normal windows boot, it says something about bitlocker and I have to type in a key. Any way to get my keyboard to be able to type in this USB boot? Would a USB keyboard possibly fix this issue? Thank you in advance!

*Update: USB keyboard does work, but I would still like to know if there's any way to get the surface keyboard working.

You need to use Windows 2 Go based off your Surface Book (meaning it needs the drivers) - Your employer's IT can follow these instructions:

Windows To Go feature overview (Windows 10)

Windows To Go frequently asked questions (Windows 10)

 

[GreyFox7]

What are you booting from the USB?
Nothing current that's built correctly requires turning off Secure Boot.
Anything that does is either dodgy or built be someone who is behind the times and dodgy.

 

[Plantje]

Here's my two cents... Why not put a virtual machine on your Surface and have that boot using the USB?
That way you can also always switch to your personal environment.

I hope others here support that idea. I think I or others can help you doing this. Any of the others see any caveats here?

 

[GreyFox7]

Here's my two cents... Why not put a virtual machine on your Surface and have that boot using the USB?
That way you can also always switch to your personal environment.

I hope others here support that idea. I think I or others can help you doing this. Any of the others see any caveats here?

This may depend on... If you have any control over the USB or the environment. Often companies will give out a locked down bootable USB for you to run in their environment preconfigured with all the VPN and security settings they require... In which case there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[jnjroach]

Using the methods above is the most secure and the approved way to do what the OP is needing to do...

 

[Plantje]

This may depend on... If you have any control over the USB or the environment. Often companies will give out a locked down bootable USB for you to run in their environment preconfigured with all the VPN and security settings they require... In which case there is nothing you can do about it.

For the record: just trying to think along here.

If you get a USB with a bootable environment that you should use to boot your Surface Book from you can most likely use a virtual machine to boot from that same USB as well, right?
I would prefer (especially if one is not really tech savvy) to stay away from entering the UEFI and disabling secure boot.

To the OP: did you get the Surface Book from your employer for this job or is it a personally owned device that you use for your job? In the latter case I would really opt for using a virtual machine.

 

[GreyFox7]

For the record: just trying to think along here.

If you get a USB with a bootable environment that you should use to boot your Surface Book from you can most likely use a virtual machine to boot from that same USB as well, right?
I would prefer (especially if one is not really tech savvy) to stay away from entering the UEFI and disabling secure boot.

To the OP: did you get the Surface Book from your employer for this job or is it a personally owned device that you use for your job? In the latter case I would really opt for using a virtual machine.

Yes, and that's the question, what really is the situation, without more information we can't give a proper answer. Is it a Windows USB Or a Linux USB? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Plantje]

He he... does that really matter? As far as I know it is some sort of x86/x64 OS. If you can run it to start a Surface Book I would expect you can use it to start a virtual machine as well. I am very curious now!

 

[GreyFox7]

He he... does that really matter? As far as I know it is some sort of x86/x64 OS. If you can run it to start a Surface Book I would expect you can use it to start a virtual machine as well. I am very curious now!

That all assumes you can control or select something... If it's locked down I wouldn't expect you could. Completely different story if you can do anything you want.

 

[Plantje]

Hmmm... interesting... If you can select the device to boot from when booting the actual Surface Book wouldn't that imply that you can use it to boot a virtual machine from as well?
I mean: it is not controlling or selecting something from the USB device itself... it is controlling and setting up the virtual machine to use that USB, right?

The USB device wouldn't "know" it isn't booting on an actual, but a virtual machine...

 

[GreyFox7]

Hmmm... interesting... If you can select the device to boot from when booting the actual Surface Book wouldn't that imply that you can use it to boot a virtual machine from as well?
I mean: it is not controlling or selecting something from the USB device itself... it is controlling and setting up the virtual machine to use that USB, right?

The USB device wouldn't "know" it isn't booting on an actual, but a virtual machine...

I think the boot loader on the USB would be in control or could be in control if they wanted to lock things down to their specified environment. I know what your saying, it could be done but if you can change the boot location to anything you want is it really a controlled environment? If not, what's the point of doing it in the first place?