Installing Windows 10 on a Surface RT

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Today we're taking another look at that Microsoft Surface that I picked up at a garage sale recently. Turns out, it's pretty easy to get Windows 10 running on this thing. So let's do that!
Original Video: • The $10 Microsoft Surface
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#MichaelMJD #Windows10 #Surface #Akamai #Linode

[@darkmxth9010]

A MJD video where everything doesn't go wrong? Shocking

[@unamelable256]

Bro this edible ain't shi...

[@asadfarraj]

woah, spoilers

[@amolitee]

Shocking 😱

[@SiriHacked]

​@adilmaya1246Jeremy Dash

[@Mod_headgear2]

​@@unamelable256 yea makin me tripin!

[@Windows95-likes-old-tech]

Finally the thing isn't useless!

[@botchedrepair1542]

still is; very underpowered

[@WhoKilledRadioStar]

@@botchedrepair1542pretty sad that it only has 2 gigs of ram 😢

[@ÜÄÖ9-n4m]

​@@botchedrepair1542still better than my laptop

[@jbritain]

Oh it is, Windows 11 struggles on my Surface Go so 10 will be at a crawl on this

[@ÜÄÖ9-n4m]

​@@jbritainbut still better than my laptop.

[@clebbington]

It really is crazy to think about browsers from 2017 already being outdated and broken.

[@unamelable256]

Note: Windows XP support ended 9 years ago 💀

[@Supreme6Draco]

Note: Windows XP is 22 years old 💀

[@bipinnambiar]

Note: you now feel old.

[@bipinnambiar]

Note: Windows XP is older than the universe itself

[@batorerdyniev9805]

Chain break 😂

[@IndellableHatesHandles]

This reminds me of installing the Play Store on Amazon tablets. Unsupported, but still required to do almost anything useful with the device.

[@itskdog]

It's always a surprise when an MJD video has no issues!

[@awesomeferret]

One of the saddest ewaste stories has been the Surface RT. These things would be often used even today had they not been locked down. They could have been great 50 dollar beater work tablets but they were locked down to Windows RT.

[@user-jz8po2eu2d]

they are not locked down, it's just the only OS version they can run having an ARM32 processor

[@awesomeferret]

@@user-jz8po2eu2d yes, they are. Unless I'm very wrong, you can't just boot any 32 bit Linux distro on it out of the box.

[@quayzar1]

@@user-jz8po2eu2d Do you know how to get a Linux build on it? It required a jailbreak the last I looked.

[@user-jz8po2eu2d]

@@awesomeferret I meant from Windows world

[@povilasstaniulis9484]

The desktop mode of Windows 8 ARM (aka. RT) was locked down to running only Microsoft-signed apps at the API level. Even though Microsoft HAD SUPPORT for compiling your own ARM desktop apps in Visual Studio ! From technical point of view, the decision to restrict desktop mode makes absolutely zero sense. My very best guess that this was done purely for marketing reasons (to prevent ARM devices from competing with more premium x86 models) and to reduce support costs.

[@fexploder3281]

Windows 7 was 8 years old and still widely used in 2017. Now it is long out of support and will be 15 at some point in 2024... God dang time flies.

[@user-vf3gs9td1p]

You really Inspired me to get into tech stuff You are my favorite youtuber Thank you and keep it up!

[@karar709]

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You brought back to life something that had been abandoned for years. I tried repeatedly to make a new system for it, but I was unable. Thank you again.

[@lockl00p27]

Did ya not consider Linux an option?

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

1:48 It might be a fun experiment to try, but if you have one from years ago that you used, it could breathe new life as...maybe a digital picture frame or a wall mounted web-based public transit schedule display.

[@kylespevak6781]

That second example is wildly specific

[@Geomandingo]

great smart home panel if you know how

[@JamesWoglom]

@@kylespevak6781 Wildly specific, but wildly great!

[@JanusCycle]

Really great install mod, thank for showing this!

[@SubtotalAnt8185]

Fun fact: on 15035 the "night light" feature will actually turn the screen blue instead of red on the Surface RT

[@j.w.techchannel]

Another nice video, as always. It's cool to see that it's actually possible to get Windows 10 running on this device.

[@OptiplexAircraft]

I first thought this was going to be in the original video of the Surface RT, but here it is!

[@mathesonstep]

Wow I can't believe 2017 was that long ago... I feel old. Really excited for the Linux episode

[@Atsumari]

There are certain software applications you could download an arm32 package for. It would not be a fun experience because of the old equipment but you would be able to get "modern" stuff to run...

[@midwestweirdo666]

Finally a video with only a minor inconvenience instead of everything going wrong

[@TibiAltF4]

I had managed to do this myself with the Surface RT and it was a fun process! Wasn't too difficult although I do know my way around. Awesome too see you attempt it too!

[@TibiAltF4]

@GUIZAGG as long as the apps support arm32 I believe so, don't believe there are many but there's a possibility. Maybe there's a Linux distro that can run on the Surface RT?

[@Techmej]

Always a good day when there's an MJD video

[@intelcorei7gaming]

agreed

[@zariy2164]

agreed

[@musicalplayzyt]

This is the video I've been waiting for

[@cyanmine]

THANK YOU SOO MUCH MJD! Now i can make my surface rt useful again

[@unhenryable]

I own a RT, so this is going to be fun 😁 Thanks Michael 👍

[@dvdemon187]

I actually have one of these lying in a drawer. I just haven't gotten around throwing it away. But now I think I know what to do with it. _Thanks!_

[@Aryx_]

wow, this is great, thank you Michael MJD!

[@valoroushell]

We need more video like this

[@lamakdaruwala]

An MJD Video without any problems ❤

[@kofteburger]

I've been looking forward to this.

[@equinixxx]

Thanks for the video. Installed this on my parents old surface, Netflix stopped working recently and is working again on win10 =)

[@CEO100able]

This is interesting since Windows 10 is a cross-compatible operating system. Good experiment!

[@tuvalutorture]

This video makes me wanna find my surface rt to try this! Would have been cool to do back then lol

[@coralanapdx]

As soon as I saw the first Surface video I knew this was only a matter of time 😂

[@nintendofan_64]

Ahh the nostalgia for the old windows 10.

[@Stiky_Piston]

Didn’t expect this! Finally I here at vid launch (9MIN AGO LAUNCH!)

[@Retorica26]

Ohhhh nice i have one of these surface rt's lying around so i might try installing it 😮😮

[@TheOnlyMorais]

i cant tell you how much greatfull i am for your video!! I just wanted to run netflix on it and it works perfectly!! Thank you so much!!

[@andresbravo2003]

Holy Dell, I didn't said it but WOW. you did it good.

[@Anjure_Danjure5092]

Ayyy os2 merch chillin in the backround

[@vcprocles]

At least for some time, Visual Studio allowed to compile software for desktop ARM32. I'm curious if you can cross-compile open-source Win32 ARM32 software to run on this build or on the jailbroken RT8.1

[@botchedrepair1542]

yes, you can

[@georgeh6856]

When I lived in South Florida many years ago, I did some work fixing people's home computer problems. One of my customers told me that he had gotten a great deal on a Surface RT tablet. I did not have the heart to tell him that it was a great deal because Microsoft was discontinuing Windows on ARM back then. I don't even remember his name so I cannot contact him to let him know that he could try this. I doubt that he still has his Surface RT tablet anyway.

[@SilvercattoOsom]

I think my dad downloaded Windows 10 on a Surface RT, he used to have one way back when and I would hop on it from time to time when he would let me. Once, I ended up losing an SD Card that was inside it, he needed it for work and if something were to happen to it, he'd get into serious trouble with his employer or something, I'm not entirely sure. I think that when he downloaded Windows 10 on his Surface RT, the boot-up screen was entirely red while the Surface logo's background was black. A bit of a weird bug, but it still worked surprisingly well.

[@SilvercattoOsom]

Huh.

[@user-xc2ty1zd7k]

Good Job, it's very useful!

[@alty3130]

yoo unlocked memory, i loved my surface i had this exact one andthe 3rd gen model, ahead of its time

[@frstesiste7670]

Interesting video. The one thing I'd need to make my RT slightly usable again is a newer browser than IE. Maybe the old Edge would be enough, but no chance of finding a Firefox or Chrome-version that will run?

[@nikolavukcevic8066]

Thank you imma try this on my Surface RT

[@bhasitl]

Omggg. I am so early. Only 22 seconds after upload. On top of that i was looking forward to this video since the unboxing video

[@ahmadamini3059]

hi i cant boot from usb device my flash disk is 32 GB should i use a lower such as 16 or 8 GB ?

[@echonomad94]

Finally! My RT is usable

[@wiwingmargahayu6831]

if you put glass prism on your device background wallpaper the light that shine from outside to the inside room will separate into many light color composition like in silicon wafer chip color or opal gemstone color Sir

[@wantikjasonchiu4711]

It seems to have that you have after followed the instructions to enter the information to set the correct values in the registry editor. It seems to have also let you switch to the back camera and front camera in the camera app since there is that button besides the timer button.

[@simtitan1]

Just used this video as a guide to install Windows 10 onto my $15 thrift store Surface RT. Was shockingly painless, aside from the download process taking nearly 6 hours for some reason. Performance still kinda sucks, but at least more things seem to work, at least for now.

[@TheOfficialBaharaByte]

Last video: “aaand I definitely didn’t buy this Surface RT to install Windows 10” Now:

[@EWARS_2]

12:50 HOLD UP - MS-DOS mobile is in there!! That was an MS official Windows RT/mobile exclusive app from what I recall. Haven't ever been able to fiddle with it and the x86 versions of the MS store hides it.

[@andreg011]

It's an April Fools app that recreates a MS-DOS like interface. It's just for fun and doesn't do anything but perform some Easter eggs

[@EWARS_2]

@@andreg011 Good info, I am aware, although I'd still like to try it out even if only for novelty's sake.

[@kamellevels1571]

finally a installation with out a problems : )

[@Canleaf08]

rarity in IT.

[@kamellevels1571]

@@Canleaf08 fr

[@Kintoas1234]

first time I have seen a video posted within a minute

[@ragalthor]

Finally, a video that doesn't goes south whilst installing software.

[@jorgeboticasdecarvalho40]

Thank you very much! You just did something Microsoft didn't do! Electronic sustainability! How did Microsoft abandon this equipment that cost customers money!? Thanks to you, I'm going to reuse it and offer it to a young person who can't afford to buy a new one! Thank you one more time!

[@red2vab9y20]

Would it work with m1/m2 macbooks?

[@vidz982]

nice this will help me a lot to install a usable version on it :D

[@123warsie]

Love your videos

[@Xarvo]

I'd be interested to see how it works with Linux - so if you want to do another experiment with the Surface RT, why not?

[@darkiceywolf2953]

It would only work with arm based linux distros.

[@sokhoeunsiv]

I downloaded by your link, but still show an error when right click on build.cmd after I copied from USB in driver C:

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

The most comprehensive guide online! Thanks MJD!

[@stepanrumyantsev6098]

Thanks for the video! I've managed to install this ARM32 Windows 10 build on my Lumia 640 phone. That's a lot of fun but in the end just as useless as running it on this Surface RT as no recent apps support ARM32.

[@DonMr]

You need to find then in xda forums.

[@N....]

Wow, I never knew there were ARM32 builds of Windows 10, I thought all ARM builds were exclusively 64-bit, this is cool

[@StasM]

You will be surprised to know there is also ARM32 build of Windows 7 which also could be ran on Surface RT - just google windows arm build 8061.

[@ThatRandomToast]

@@StasM It's an early build of Windows RT. If you didn't know, early builds of a new version of Windows retain the branding of its predecessor.

[@philtkaswahl2124]

This is pretty timely since there's a local used Surface RT2 for dirt cheap I was eyeing to tinker with, though I was thinking to try running Linux on it.

[@CyanOwenGuo]

Shockingly smooth! How's that even possible?!😂😂😂

[@TheGoldenG_]

i know it's an actual beast! (for it's specs)

[@SectorfiveYT]

Hey Michael, I think that maybe Linux for ARM32 could be a good idea to run on Surface RT, it could make an interesting video and would enable this device to be daily usable, as it would still be updated. You might be able to use Linux for Raspberry PI as it has ARM32 and touch support, or you might be able to run some Linux distribution meant for Linux Phones, or just go with standard conventional desktop version of Linux distributions that have Arm32 support, like OpenSUSE or Arch.

[@SimonBauer7]

agreed, linux on arm is a lot better than windows on arm. there is even arm64 linux so if the rt supports arm64/aarch64 that works too.

[@ej_tech]

@@SimonBauer7 Nvidia Tegra 3 is unfortunately 32 bit only (Cortex-A9).

[@Daktyl198]

Manjaro has ARM based builds of it's distro, and since it's arch-based it's much more likely to contain any packages necessary to get Surface features working.

[@5Hydroxytryptophan]

​@@Daktyl198That is for ARM's AArch64 architecture, not for the 32 bit present in the Surface RT. There is a project that targets Linux on Surface RT, but it never was really complete. At least last time I looked into it.

[@Daktyl198]

@@5Hydroxytryptophan are all of them like that? I know Manjaro publishes builds that target a wide array of specific hardware, aside from the “generic” AArch64 build. I was thinking at least one of those has to be an older 32-bit arm processor.

[@paulward2076]

I would love to see what you could do with those vtech computers or an amstrad emailer 😎

[@emmyryan6592]

Hi, When I click the link for the Windows Media Builder, it gives a message "Not authorized. You do not have permissions to access this space. Contact the organization administrator to configure access". I have signed in with my Google account. I don't know what else to do. Can anyone help?

[@Sheikh_Speare]

I wonder if it's possible to run Android or Chrome OS on this.

[@n.park1]

That old edge app brings back memories

[@joshuamay8028]

I installed W10 on my surface RT (2nd gen) around April this year, it was great for school, youtube "worked" on internet explorer on the mobile site, and mail would still sync my emails and calendar. Only issue is the graphics would randomly crash, forcing a lower resolution. Dont know if this is common

[@fra4455]

Great video

[@z21c.ch1]

Do you think If I sent this to some IT person they could do this for me

[@geeklylawdog1503]

Can anyone help? i cant get the surface to go into recovery mode.

[@ThatRandomToast]

For anyone who asks, unfortunately, no other builds of Windows 10 were leaked in ARM32, the architecture that Surface RT's CPU uses, leaves alone Windows 11. The released Windows 10 on ARM is actually ARM64, not ARM32.

[@IsaacsHut]

It would be cool to see what the arm insider build of windows 11 would run like

[@user-kr6vv2yl7g]

It won’t run on it. It have to be ARM32 version.

[@acetheice6666]

how do u disable the golden keys?

[@flashesbuck]

This would make a great picture frame for the MIL.

[@MiC-YT]

can it run unsigned code?

[@MonochromeWench]

When this build was made there would have been a lot of apps compiled for Windows Phone that would have worked but after Windows Phone was Discontinued Arm32 apps disappeared from the store. A lot of phone apps were compatible with "desktop" devices as it is easier to develop and debug an app if it runs on a windows 10 computer not just a phone and developers wont bother removing computer support when uploading the app to the store. There were no ARM32 computers so it didn't matter if the ARM32 build said it could run on phones and computers. I do wonder if this is why Arm32 app support was removed from Windows 11 Arm64 so old Windows phone apps would not show up for Arm64 users.

[@afarewelltokings]

would love a tutorial on getting linux on one of these!! i got one back in the day and was really disappointed with RT's limitations and would love for it to have a second life. god that thing will feel gross, it's had rainbow duct tape on it for over 10 years

[@user-yp6rg3sk5p]

My surfacert is broken. It won't work after the logo flashes. How do I continue to use it

[@FoxyAnimater]

If I'm not mistaken Windows 10 on arm did have access emulation baked into it, at least whenever I ran it on my pi4 it did, I don't know if they ever had it for the arm v7 version of Windows but I know it was on the arm V8 version!

[@pineappleroad]

I think the release version of Windows 10 ARM (which I believe was only released as ARM64) supports x86 32 bit emulation

[@djaeb2001]

Every time I try to do this, it says it's already running the boot software the part where you have to go to administrator mode). Just won't work for me apparently.

[@jasontheseventh4474]

can sidekick browser install from app store on surface rt??

[@codrutx]

Watching this video of you not using the Windows 10 tablet mode on the Surface RT was a bit irritating, It would have been interesting to compare It to the Windows 8.1. Oh well, great video anyways!

[@jonathanthegoober]

Is there a way to revert the surface rt to windows rt 8.1 after installing windows 10? Edit: I tried the windows RT 8.1 media builder and after it installed it bootloops into a bluescreen, any fixes?

[@Bluewoif007]

I might do this later

[@DANOVERBOARDvlogs]

Is it possible to convert the RT in a Google Nest/Hub or like home device?

[@JamesSmith-sw3nk]

Any browser like Firefox etc that you can side load so you catch youtube etc?

[@hollytheottafox]

10:24 the 2020 efect (makes u think that's 2017 is like 2 years back 😢

[@celebraces2]

I tried doing this with my SRT, but i deleted the partitions then couldn't get anything to boot from USB. Probably very difficult to recover from here.

[@waqs321]

How can you the rt to play KZbin or watch videos on it

[@iphonejsd]

ahh - frustrating - just followed this - but seem to have the setup.exe file missing - strange - will try aagin tomorrow on a different pc :-(

[@RazzerPaper]

Did have anybody the Media Builder for the Update.I cant access the Gitbook page

[@darthtd]

same , i guess its down now

[@saucehp495]

I lost you at the installation on to the RT, what did you do to the RT before plugging in the USB drive? thanks

[@happyatheists9361]

Nice wallpaper 💗👌

[@Canleaf08]

0:43 Michael, in IT, a small problem can become a huge hassle. Like moving from Java 11 to Java 17 and Spring Boot migration are a real pain.

[@hannanhaziq5068]

Do u ever done with surface 2..? Im stuck with surface 2 and now google wont allow to open gmail in the tablet..😢😢 i tried ur step..make the bootloader usb using the surface 2 option..but my surface 2 refuse to boot from the usb..