Microsoft Releases Code To Fix Surface RT Tablets Borked By Windows RT 8.1 Upgrade

The Windows RT 8.1 upgrade is on hiatus until Microsoft can fix an issue with the software that was causing havoc for a slim percentage of Surface RT owners moving to the new operating system.

The company today released a new statement relating to the problems, indicating that the bug in the code only impacted Surface RT owners. In the company’s estimation, around 0.1 percent of Surface RT owners who tried to upgraded suffered from the issue. But, as the bad code could, it seems, brick your device, that’s a far too high percentage.

Windows RT has had a troubled past, and to have Microsoft trip and fall while helping the owners of its own hardware upgrade its own operating system from version to version, is incredibly embarrassing. To have the issue stretch out for multiple days must be excruciating. So the company is working to fix the problem with alacrity. The company has released a Windows RT build that can be used to restore devices to working order.

Here’s Microsoft’s full statement on the matter:

Based on our investigations of a situation customers have encountered updating to Windows RT 8.1, we can confirm that as of now this is a Windows update issue only affecting Surface RT customers. While only less than 1 out of every 1,000 ( or less than 0.1%) Surface RT customers who have installed Windows RT 8.1 have been impacted, improving their experience and ensuring their systems are fully operable as quickly as possible is our number one priority. We have made recovery media available for download along with actionable guidance for affected customers. We continue to work towards making the Windows RT 8.1 update available in the Windows Store again and apologize for any inconvenience. Further updates will be provided as they become available.

This is exactly what Microsoft wanted to avoid in its Windows 8.1 planning. Let’s see how long it takes to fix.

Top Image Credit: Vernon Chan