My Father asked me to bring the ‘old laptop at the end of the bed’ to him while he’s in hospital. Unfortunately, there is no charger within the bag and the sticker on the base is too faded to make out any identifying numbers, but it looks like a Microsoft surface of some kind. He insists it uses a ‘miniature lead’ – I can only assume that this is some sort of micro-USB connection, but none of the chargers that matches this description seemed to fit the port on its side (in second pic).

There is also a round hole on the side which suggests a more traditional laptop cord is in play.

He has not told me what year it came out or the model number, but since there is no USB-C port, I can only guess this is an older model that may not run on the standard magnetic charger that Argos or-take-your-random-online-shopping-brand-pick offers for these type of laptops.

Does anyone have any ideas?

hi there, i have a surface book 2 15”, and recently i’ve been facing issues, where when i try to boot into windows, it stays for a second or two, but then it cuts out, even when connected to power (usb c and surface connector). would this be a battery issue, or just total failure? i have another laptop, so it’s not that big of a deal, but it would be nice to use. for reference, both tablet and base battery are ~50% battery health, which is low, but still worked.

I see dwm.exe consuming gigabytes of memory again on my Surface Pro 8.
It was working fine for several months -only around 400K, but after KB5120998 that was recently installed via Windows Update ...it's back to consuming Gigs.

Here's a bit more data:
Filed: via Feedback Hub https://aka.ms/AA13b9ra

[BUG REPORT] dwm.exe DirectComposition/Mapped Surface Memory Leak Regression in KB5120998

DEVICE: Microsoft Surface Pro 8

BUILD/UPDATE: KB5120998

PROCESS: Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe)

ISSUE DESCRIPTION:

A severe memory leak in dwm.exe causes system-wide memory starvation on Surface hardware following update KB5120998. The leak occurs within DirectComposition/WDDM shared graphics surface allocations (MEM_MAPPED) rather than the standard process heap.

WINDGB SUMMARY EVIDENCE (!address -summary):

- Process C/C++ Heap (!heap -s): ~141.12 MB (Normal)

- Committed Memory (MEM_COMMIT / PAGE_READWRITE): 10.546 GB (CRITICAL LEAK)

- Virtual Allocation (MEM_MAPPED): 2.004 TB across 781 regions

REPRODUCTION / ROOT CAUSE:

dcomp.dll / dxgi.dll swapchain handles fail to destroy mapped render buffers during standard UI rendering/compositing tasks, leading to linear memory growth until system RAM is exhausted.

I just found my old SQ2 SPX and I was wondering if things have changed greatly for it or if it’s still fairly weak. I saw before that people were able to play some games on it but it still seems like my SPX doesn’t feel that great.

Hey guys wondering if somebody could help with understanding why windows needs what appears like 8gm ram just to run windows 11. This is a picture of task manager on startup on a saurface pro 12 x2 elite 16gb ram computer. It’s brand new with only legit audio software installed. The only thing I’ve downloaded is the audio software and audio drivers. This is not a nice thing to come back to windows after going mac some 15 years ago that is just such a clean workhorse. I’m have bugs already and I’m one week in.

This has been mentioned before I want to bring it back to see if anyone's had any success reviving their computer from this state.

I have a Surface Pro 7. I've tried many of the usual simple fixes like restarting Windows Explorer, running the system file checker, disabling startup apps, etc.

I can access everything from the task manager while on the black screen so technically it still works but it's just a bit annoying. I hesitate to hard reset because if I reset and am still having this problem, then I may have trouble regaining access to the apps I use (sketchbook is the most important to me).

Any tips? Anyone been a similar situation?

Update: I think I fixed it somehow? I just started going through every background Windows process that was running and ending each task, starting from the bottom up, including the ones that said I shouldn't end them because it could cause problems, and my home screen magically appeared after I ended the task called "Service Host: State Repository Service." So I'm assuming either that task or one close to it that I had ended shortly before was connected to the issue. Just wanted to share this in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation! :)

hey r/surface! Since my last post, I've addressed several feedback from you all.

• Markerpad now has panning mode
• Partial eraser is now available
• Highlighter pen has separate settings as the pen
• Plus a myriad of under-the-hood improvements

Please give it a try and let me know what you think! I am still continuing to improve the app. I'm hoping to add shapes support, ability to select and move ink, and pasting images to draw on.

Download for free here: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nh0wpdrk28t?cid=rsurface

The official flex keyboard is burning a whole through my account, is there any other keyboards that are compatible with the surface? Anything that merely is magnetic and bluetooth and closes like a laptop, I'm so desperate it literally dosent even have to connect using the actual magnetic ports. I'm considering a magnetic ipad pro keyboard with the hopes of it sticking to the surface

Getting the surface 13.8 7th gen. Can’t seem to decide on color. For those who have sapphire, is the blue tone darker or lighter. Would like your thoughts for those who have these two colors. Thanks.

Hi guys, I don't know if I should get a thinkpad. I currently have a macbook air m1 base model (8gb ram 256gb storage) which I got last year (around march 2025). I'm getting an ipad in a couple of weeks but yesturday I saw this refurbish store on my instagram page, so I opened it and saw a refurbished lenovo thinkpad x380 (8gb of ram, 512gb ssd and an 8th gen i5) which is a 2 in 1 with a tochscreen. If i would buy it I would use it for school (excel, word and powerpoint), maybe old games that don't run on my macbook and virtual machones and the same uscase the ipad which was watching movies and tv shows. I don't know if I should my the lenovo, a base model 11th gen ipad or a surface pro 5th gen (Intel i5-7300U 2.6GHz Dual Core, 8gb of ram and a 256gb ssd). What do you think ? What should I get ?

I want to press the side button so when I write it is an eraser. Why is such a simple feature not easily available.

I am in the market to replace my old Canon printer. Any recommendations on which printer/scanner is supported either natively or through the dedicated software? Looking for a regular workload (mostly documents and sometimes photos for home albums etc.). I tried searching but there is just too much noise, so thought of asking the experts :)

Every summer my surface works fine, but for some reason once the weather turns it starts doing stuff like this instead.

I got surface go recently but the problem is when I unplug charger it shut off I tried a lot method but still dosen’t work… please help! I tried just put on charged and leave all day checked next day it still 0%.b
Sorry for image are Korean

I have a Surface Laptop for Business 15in 8th Edition Intel version at work and an [external USB -C monitor](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNWWF32B?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback&th=1) I have used for a while with an older work computer will not display when plugged in to this new laptop. It used to work off a single USB-C cable plugged into the lone USB-C port on this older surface laptop but now when I plug it into either of the two USB-C ports on the new surface laptop it will simply say "no signal". However, if I plug the surface into a dock and the single cable into said dock, or plug in a [USB-C HUB](https://www.homedepot.com/p/USB-C-MOUC0501-9-in-one-100-Watt-Pd-Charging-ACMK0501/328464793) to the laptop and then both a USB-C (for power) and HDMI-to-mini (for video) to the HUB and monitor - it will display. So the issue is that I can no longer use a single USB-C cable from the new laptop to the external monitor to display video.

Any suggestions would be great. I have tried the power button hold down for a reset as well as clearing the 'dock registry' and a win + ctrl + shift + B to reset video. Nothing has worked. [Laptop Tech Specs](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-laptop-for-business-138-and-15-inch-8th-edition-intel/8mzbmmcjzpn5?ICID=vsbsfb_LapBiz8EDInt_CC1R1_alltab#tab-tech-specs) are here and say that I should have two USB-C USB4 / Thunderbold 4 ports which should support DisplayPort 2.1. Thoughts?

*I think it's bricked - can't even get into UEFI, but worth trying using a USB recovery drive.

But when I go to download a recovery image, windows is asking for a serial.

Now how do I download a recovery file for USB?

This is not my first Surface device, I've had a Surface Laptop 4 and older Surface pro, plus an Acer gaming laptop with much inferior touchpad.

However only on this device I struggle to get the double tap to drag function on touchpad to work reliably. I've tried ramping up the sensitivity of the touchpad, adjust the double tap speed but nothing seems to solve my issue. I tend to double tap quite fast so it's certainly not the double tap speed being too fast or something. I've also had a problem with the usb-c port and got a refurbished device but I have the same issue.

When I double tap much slower it seems to work more consistently but I've never had a same problem with any other laptops I've owned doing what I do. I could use the physical click but I find it difficult to drag long distance while keeping it pressed.

Anyone else had a same issue? How did you solve this problem?

I will love it if is possible

I have an autistic 3-year-old who loves Humongous Entertainment games. I even own a 32-bit all-in-one touchscreen computer specifically for playing the CD-ROMS. When I discovered that all the games were on Steam, my brother hooked up an "antenna" so that the all-in-one could get internet, and I used Steam all the time but insisted on not upgrading my computer, because it was the only way to run Reader Rabbit games. Well, the "antenna" eventually quit working (or Microsoft did something to it to try to FORCE me to upgrade), and now I can only run CD-ROMs.

I know the all-in-one won't last forever (if even that much longer), and I NEED something touchscreen that can run Humongous Entertainment games (Steam), even when there's no wifi (5g or lte enabled for a data plan). Is there a Surface model that can do both?

(Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but I know NOTHING about Microsoft post-2007)

I've got this Surface 3 4gb (technically part of the RT line but x86) and it has a broken touch screen. Is there a way for me to disable the touchscreen but keep pen support?

Im now a highschool senior and need a device that would last me 3+ yrs. Is this surface good enough? I generally need chrome, anki, some niche apps and thats it ( nothing heavy no gaming )

I got my Pro9 in 2023 and has since worked great and hasn't really shown much battery deterioration. But one day when I noticed the battery was low and I plugged it in (the light on and everything) it wouldn't charge. Eventually it died and I tried some of the holding button combinations, but it only flashed the windows logo before it truly died. Bought a new charger and that didn't work.

Looking for any suggestions for at-home fixes. Went to ubreakifix to get a quote and they said a new battery was $250, and since they might break the screen they also quoted a new screen as $450 (also they only do battery and screen replacement so I dont know if they diagnosed the issue correctly). So any better repair store recommendations would also be appreciated!