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How to Install Windows 10 preview on your Surface Pro 3

Dblkk

Member
These instructions are for installing windows 10 preview, on a separate newly made partition. This will allow you to keep your existing windows 8.1, all files, programs, and everything else. They are left untouched. And the Windows 10 preview will essentially be on its own. This also allows for dual boot, in which upon booting up, you will have 30 seconds to pick whether or not you want windows 8.1 or windows 10.

The pros are that the preview will run 100% off your hardware. No virtual machine, no problems. It also allows you to keep everything you have right now, and have 100% access to it at anytime. This way when the preview ends, or you don't like the preview, or you experience bugs, you can just boot back into your windows 8.1.

The only cons I'm aware of, are that #1, you loose the amount of hard drive space in which you allow for windows 10 to use. #2, any/all programs you have on windows 8.1 will have to be redownloaded/installed into/onto windows 10. They will still remain 100% in your windows 8.1, but you wont have access to them when your in windows 10. Normally not a problem, unless its programs that allow only a specified number of installs. Like office, iTunes, kindle, ect.

I've searched high and low, and finally was able to do this myself. So this is for those who don't want to spend hours figuring this out.


So, step 1. Download the windows 10 iso. This will take a while. Download it, but don't install it.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview

Step 2. Download all surface pro 3 drivers. Save these somewhere easily findable on your surface pro 3, or on a usb flash drive. You will need these upon first boot after installing windows 10, especially since without these you will not have wifi access.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826

Step 3. Download EaseUS Partition Master. The free version will work just fine. This will allow you to shrink your c:/ to make a separate partition in which to install windows 10. Normally I use disk management through windows, but since the surface saves files throughout the entire drive, I wasn't allowed to shrink my c:/ more than 200-300mb. Depending how you plan to use windows 10 and what you plan to install on it, I would allow 20-50gb for the windows 10 partition. I used 50gb.
http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Partition-Master-Free-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html

After shrinking/repartitioning you drive, downloading the windows preview iso, and downloading surface pro 3 drivers. Your ready for the process.

Step 4. Normally you would use windows 7 downloader/installer to make a bootable usb. But the format that this program formats your usb drive, isn't usable for windows 8 or windows 10. So follow the steps in this link, and it will work.
http://www.manjeetjakhar.com/2013/09/how-to-create-windows-81-installation.html

Step 5. After using diskpart and following those directions, I just mounted the iso (which opens it up and instead of being a single iso file, its now like 3 folders and several files). Once you mount and can see several files/folders, just click/drag/move those onto your usb that you made through step 4.

Step 5. Time to shut down your surface pro and access bios. After its shut down, hold the volume up button while holding the power button. Hold the volume up button until the surface logo shows up. Once your in bios, make sure that secure boot is disabled/turned off, and make sure that usb boots before your ssd. Once this is done, save your settings, and restart.

Step 6. Restart, with the usb in. Follow instructions and install windows. Click custom install, and then choose the location that windows 10 installs. When your looking at the list of several partitions, just find the one labeled and size of the partition you made for your windows 10.

Step 7. After the whole installation is done, you will be in either desktop or start menu. You wont have most drivers loaded or needed and cant even access your internet. So you need to go to the control panel, go into device manager. And under each of the hundred or so items, right click and hit update driver. Then select the location of the driver, then find the location you saved the drivers you downloaded, and click ok. Select just the broad folder of all drivers, not specific, this will help. Some items wont be updated, but a lot will. Not sure which ones were all needed to be updated but its about 30 or so. Which is why I just say do them all, that way you don't miss any. Also, several updated drivers will want to reboot. Don't o this every time, just wait until all your drivers are updated and then reboot.

Step 8. Upon rebooting from installing/updating drivers, hold the volume up bottom to get back into bios. Once back into bios, turn back on secure boot. Save and exit.

Step 9. Now that your back into windows 10, have drivers installed and updated. You should be good to go. Make sure you look for windows updated. And then do your own personal tweaks to settings, apps, programs, ect.

I had so many problems until I used these exact steps, after using these, Ihad a working windows 10 dual boot install.

Any problems/comments/questions, please post below.

Hope this helps those, I know I wished there was this post before I started, and saved myself hours of my time.
 
OP
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Dblkk

Member
A little tip for problems that might come up trying to install another copy of programs that only allow so many.

For music files that you have off iTunes, you can still gain access of those. So if you don't want to waste an authorized account just on windows 10. Just download iTunes and don't authorize it, or use windows media player, and then find and add those music files. You wont be able to download more this way, but you can still listen to them.

As for my 'workaround' for miscrosoft office. Well, msn's new webpage includes everything Microsoft almost. So I just have that set to my homepage, and you have 'online' access to anything office mostly. No this isn't as good as standalone, but again if you don't want to waste a authorized download of office, its a decent work around.

As for kindle, haven't found any workarounds. But I believe kindle only has a max number of accounts per specific books in which the author demands it. But for app itself and most books, I believe the theory is only 1-2 open programs/apps at a time. So that would mean unlimited installs and downloads for most, but you can only be actively using it once. Which for most sounds good. I know most ebooks are limited to 3 authorized accounts, so that hits me. But ill just boot into my 8.1 for that then.

Anyone with any other tips or anything feel free to post
 

ScottyS

Active Member
Thanks Dblkk, this helps a lot.
I still have a few questions. Can the SP3 boot from a DVD drive plugged into the USB or does it have to boot off a USB drive and does this setup give you a boot manager so you can chose which OS to boot to? If not how do you boot back to Win8?
 
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Dblkk

Member
Bios only shows network/USB/SSD. But the DVD is technically USB, so I don't see why. Personally I have issues 3/4 the time with my USB powered USB DVD drive and the surface pro, so I wouldn't even try.

BUT do note, windows 10 64bit preview alone is over 4gb.

As for boot selection, theres a selection screen right after the surface screen, that pops up before your typical password screen would come.

WP_20141010_14_08_11_Pro.jpg
 

ScottyS

Active Member
Great, thanks.
As for USB or DVD, I right clicked on iso file and picked Burn disc image and it extracted 4 files and 4 folders and is only 3.82GB. But although the DVD drive is plugged in to the USB slot, if Bios only shows network/USB/SSD I think that means no drivers are loaded to recognize and run the drive at boot up. I'm going to go out and pick up a > 4GB USB flash drive.

If I were to run the Win10 setup from within Win8.1 does it give an option to install clean to a different partition or just the upgrade Win8 to 10? Past Windows preview releases only gave upgrade option when running from within Windows but clean install option when booting from installation media.
 
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Dblkk

Member
Your USB drive idea, I think 8gb would be smallest I would go. 4gb isn't actual size, normally a bit smaller. Typically $ difference between 4-8gb is a few dollars.

As for installing while your in windows. No, there is no choice of where to install. That way works as upgrade current only.
 

ScottyS

Active Member
I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
I shrunk my C: by 50GB using EaseUS Partition Master (had to turn off Bit Locker first) and formatted the unallocated space as NTFS and assigned a drive letter using diskpart following instructions here http://blogs.msdn.com/b/habibh/arch...e-to-install-windows-8-developer-preview.aspx .

I used Command Prompt as an Administrator and CHDIR into the boot folder of the Windows 10 ISO image I had extracted to the DVD drive and typed bootsect /nt60 E: (where E: is the drive assigned to the USB flash drive). I then used xcopy to copy all files and folders from the DVD to the USB drive.

I disabled Secure Boot in the UEIF and boot order is set to network-->USB-->SSD, but every time I reboot it boots to Win8. Should I have not used bootsect /nt60 E: to make the USB drive bootable? Should it just be formatted in fat32 and the iso files extracted to it?
 
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Dblkk

Member
I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
I shrunk my C: by 50GB using EaseUS Partition Master (had to turn off Bit Locker first) and formatted the unallocated space as NTFS and assigned a drive letter using diskpart following instructions here http://blogs.msdn.com/b/habibh/arch...e-to-install-windows-8-developer-preview.aspx .

I used Command Prompt as an Administrator and CHDIR into the boot folder of the Windows 10 ISO image I had extracted to the DVD drive and typed bootsect /nt60 E: (where E: is the drive assigned to the USB flash drive). I then used xcopy to copy all files and folders from the DVD to the USB drive.

I disabled Secure Boot in the UEIF and boot order is set to network-->USB-->SSD, but every time I reboot it boots to Win8. Should I have not used bootsect /nt60 E: to make the USB drive bootable? Should it just be formatted in fat32 and the iso files extracted to it?

Yes, you are correct in your final statement. What happens when you make a 'bootable' USB drive, is that it reformats it to (for whatever reason) a typical/normal windows 7 format. Not the fat32 format that's needed for windows 8/10 (for whatever reason, why its different now that windows 7 no clue).

The only way I got it to 'boot' from my USB, was to format the USB using disk part,, unmounting the ISO files, and then copying over the extracted ISO files onto the USB.
 

ScottyS

Active Member
Success! I tried formatting USB with diskpart as fat32, then NTFS (each time taking forever) and then copying over iso image files. Finally went back to fat32 using quick format from drive property dialog. That didn't work until I remembered... Hold the volume down button while starting up and that worked.
Thanks Dblkk for all your help.

Thing I liked best so far? A little thing, but I think it's cool and will be a help for those who don't get it that Windows has windows and which one is active. The shadow the active window makes, along with the loss of the border, really makes it jump out as the window on top, the active window.
 
OP
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Dblkk

Member
Success! I tried formatting USB with diskpart as fat32, then NTFS (each time taking forever) and then copying over iso image files. Finally went back to fat32 using quick format from drive property dialog. That didn't work until I remembered... Hold the volume down button while starting up and that worked.
Thanks Dblkk for all your help.

Thing I liked best so far? A little thing, but I think it's cool and will be a help for those who don't get it that Windows has windows and which one is active. The shadow the active window makes, along with the loss of the border, really makes it jump out as the window on top, the active window.
No problem at all. Glad to help. It took me several attempts, and major problems along every step of the way. Which led to hours and hours of web searching and sometimes blindly trying different things. Now that I actually have a workable solution, I'm more than happy to share to those wanting the same as I. And since these steps are mine, and I'm telling you to follow them. I don't take full responsibility of anything that could happen, but if you follow these directions exactly you shouldn't have any problems. But I do take responsibility and will help those that are trying to follow my directions (like you), and will help to the very best of my ability.
 
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