October 2013 Surface Pro 2 Firmware and Driver Pack

Microsoft this week released its October 2013 Surface Pro 2 Firmware and Driver Pack. If you do own a Surface Pro 2, you don't need to worry about installing these drivers and firmware. But they're good to keep around in case something goes wrong.

Since Surface Pro 2 shipped just this week, you won't be surprised to discover that this is the first-ever for the new device. My review of Surface Pro 2 is now available.

You can download the October 2013 Surface Pro 2 Firmware and Driver Pack from the Microsoft web site. According to the releases notes, this release is comprised of "cumulative firmware and drivers for the Surface Pro 2. This firmware and driver package contains drivers for all of the components in the Surface Pro 2 device, as well as updates to the system firmware that have been released via Windows Update. These drivers and firmware are compatible with Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows 8.1 Enterprise. These drivers and firmware are not compatible with Windows 8.0 or Surface RT."

Unpacking the 158 MB ZIP file, you'll find folders representing the manufacturers of the various system components—Intel, Marvell, Microsoft and Realtek—and then within those folders subfolders representing the drivers for the individual components. For example, the Intel folder contains drivers for the audio, graphics, system bus, and more. The Microsoft folder has the current firmware plus drivers for various Surface accessories and onboard devices.

Since Surface Pro 2 is new, you may wonder why you should bother downloading this driver and firmware pack. According to Microsoft, these drivers and firmware can be used by admins and IT pros to prepare custom images for enterprise deployment. But individuals can also use them to repair problems with custom installations of Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 8.1 Enterprise on their Surface Pro 2 device. With that in mind, I think any proud new Surface Pro 2 user should download the pack and hide it away for a (very bad) day, just in case.