Apparently there was no reboot testing on SP3 with the latest Win10 beta, and the SP3 bricks on reboot. Some SP4 owners have complained, too. Credit: Thinkstock Those of you with a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 who are running Windows Insider beta builds, sit up and take note: Don’t turn off your machine. Somehow Microsoft managed to release the latest beta build, 16288.1, to both the Fast and the Slow ring. If you install it on your Surface Pro 3 and try to reboot, you’ll see a “Surface” on a black screen, the dot-chasing “working” icon, and exactly nothing else. My SP3 has been bricked since yesterday, and the dots are still chasing each other. How, you might question, could this have happened? Certainly anybody who installed 16288.1 on an SP3 machine didn’t ever get it to reboot. The build was pushed out to the Fast ring on Sept. 12. It went out on the Slow ring on Sept. 15. And I didn’t see any mention of the bug until Sept. 16. Is it possible that nobody inside or outside Microsoft rebooted a beta-enhanced Microsoft SP3 between Sept. 12 and Sept. 16? There’s a report of a similar bug on the Microsoft Answers forum, dated Sept. 14, but that appears to be caused by having an SD card installed. The Surface Pro 3 won’t reboot if there’s an SD card in the slot. There’s also a thread on Reddit with a similar complaint, but it concerns build 16362, the “Skip Ahead” (read: version 1803 or RS4 or Spring After Fall Creators Update) channel. That thread, though, drags the Surface Pro 4 into the bricked tar pit. What to do if your Surface Pro 3 won’t boot up The only solution being proposed is a full reinstall from a bootable USB drive. There’s a monstrous string of Surface Pro 3 laments attached to Dona Sarkar’s tweet from Sunday, promising us “more info on Monday.” Monday’s here, and there’s no notice as yet. Of course, you shouldn’t run beta builds on hardware that you need to use. But … Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 3, this late in the beta testing cycle — and released to both Fast and Slow rings, fer heaven’s sake? You have to wonder who’s running the show. We’ll keep you posted on the latest missives from Microsoft on the AskWoody Lounge. In the interim, don’t shut down. Related content opinion On a personal note... Woody Leonhard looks back a bit, looks ahead to retirement — and shares good news about who's picking up the Windows patching torch. By Woody Leonhard Nov 09, 2020 3 mins Small and Medium Business Computers Windows news analysis Get Microsoft's October patches installed — and seriously consider Win10 2004 Odd ancillary patches have their problems, but the mainstream October patches look pretty reliable. The big question: Is Win10 version 2004 up to your stability standards. I’m skeptical -- especially because it has few worthwhile improvements. By Woody Leonhard Oct 30, 2020 6 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Computers news analysis Microsoft Patch Alert: October 2020 The big news with this month’s patches – aside from the usual smorgasbord of strange errors – has more to do with the patches that are outside the regular cumulative update stream. Remarkably, we didn’t get any security fixes By Woody Leonhard Oct 22, 2020 189 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Office Microsoft news analysis With Patch Tuesday here, be sure Windows Update is paused With all the flotsam floating around, it’s easy to lose sight of Second Tuesdays. October’s arrives tomorrow and, with it, another round of Windows and Office patches. Take a minute to make sure you aren’t in the front lines, as eve By Woody Leonhard Oct 12, 2020 5 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe