14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has officially acknowledged the Surface Pro random shutdowns issue, and the company says it’s closer to completing work on a fix, with users to get it very soon via Windows Update.
In a post on the Microsoft Community forums, Microsoft engineer Bryan H. says that the fix will be delivered via Windows Update to all Surface Pro devices, though for the time being, no specifics or ETA can be provided. In a July 10 update, Bryan said “we believe we have identified the issue, and are currently testing a fix that will be delivered via Windows Update.”
Of course, everyone expected this fix to land on Patch Tuesday, which took place on July 11, but Microsoft now says that it needs more time to complete testing before shipping the update.
“Wanted to provide a quick update, we believe we have identified the issue, and are currently testing a fix that will be delivered via Windows Update,” the latest message reads.
“Just wanted to provide additional information that this fix was not included in the 7/11 Windows update, as testing still continues. I will update this posting when the update is available, also the Surface Pro Update History page will also be updated with the details when it launches.”
A software issue, it seems
According to the long discussion thread on the forums that started on June 17, a number of Surface Pro units are shutting down randomly due to what appears to be a hibernation problem.
Users explain this happens with the default settings, no matter what they are doing, and some revealed that the device shut down even while they were typing.
At this point, it appears it’s all just a software issue that Microsoft can address with a software update, though there is a number of users who decided to return their devices to the company and have them exchanged.
For the time being, it’s not known how many Surface Pro units are hitting the bug, but judging from the number of people who joined the conversation on the Community forums (385 confirmations and growing), this is quite a widespread issue.