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Rest Easy, Windows 8.1 Update Replaces April 2014's Surface Firmware Releases
This month, Microsoft is taking a break from releasing Surface firmware and driver packs and instead letting Windows 8.1 Update 1 do all the work.
Rod Trent
April 8, 2014
2 Min Read
There's a LOT going on during Microsoft's April mass release schedule: regular security patches, Windows 8.1 Update 1 (which is really a critical patch, too), and even three product eulogies (Windows XP, Exchange 2003, and Office 2003). It's like all the product groups at Microsoft got together to gang up on every known customer, because there's something releasing today that will affect everyone.
There is some good news, though. Each month, Microsoft also includes firmware and driver packs for the various Surface device models as part of the Patch Tuesday event. This month, Microsoft is taking a break with those releases and instead letting Windows 8.1 Update 1 do all the work.
If you check out the various Surface update history pages today, you'll see a communication that…
No product updates were released for Surface in April.
The pages also provide information about Windows 8.1 Update, saying…
Windows 8.1 Update includes improvements to make Windows more familiar and convenient for using touch and mouse input with Surface.
You don’t need to do anything to get this update. It’s free, and you’ll get it automatically from Windows Update over the next few weeks.
To see if the update is already installed, go to the Start screen. If you see a Search button next to your account picture at the top of the Start screen, you already have the update.
To install Windows 8.1 Update manually, follow the steps in Install the latest Windows 8.1 Update. If you can’t install the update manually, you might be missing one or more of the required updates. Install all important updates, in particular KB 2919442, and restart Surface.
If you get an error message during the update indicating you don’t have enough disk space available, see Tips to free up disk space.
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