UPDATED: Windows RT 8.1 bricks devices, pulled from Windows Store

UPDATE: Microsoft has now released a Recovery Image for Surface RT, located here, for Surface RT users whose devices were bricked by Windows RT 8.1. The download includes a PDF explaining how to use the image to recover a device. Since the tool has only just been released, we cannot comment on its efficacy.

The tool is reportedly only applicable to Surface RT devices, and not any other Windows RT device.

ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS:

Microsoft has pulled Windows RT 8.1 from the Windows Store mere days after its release, following reports that the OS update rendered some customers’ devices unusable, or ‘bricked’.

In the days following the release of the OS update, some users reported that their attempt to upgrade to Windows RT 8.1 failed due to a boot configuration error. Afterwards, when attempting to boot, these users are reportedly greeted with a blue screen of death, and a message that says:

Your PC needs to be repaired
The Boot Configuration Data file is missing some required information

On the 19th, a user on Microsoft’s community site posed the question: “Why isn’t the Windows RT 8.1 upgrade available in the Microsoft Store?”

Reagan_L, who carries the tag ‘Support Engineer – Surface’ on the site, replied:

“Microsoft is investigating a situation affecting a limited number of users updating their Windows RT devices to Windows RT 8.1. As a result, we have temporarily removed the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience. We will provide updates as they become available.”

So far, this statement - buried on a Microsoft community website - appears to be the only official acknowledgement of the problem, and of the pulling of Windows RT 8.1 from the Windows Store. At time of publishing, Microsoft’s Twitter feed made no mention of the situation.

Given the lack of information provided, no one can say for sure how many users or devices have been affected. That said, the problem doesn’t seem to be affecting every Windows RT device - some Windows RT users have reported installing the 8.1 update without issue.

Note that the problem mentioned has only been reported as affecting Windows RT 8.1 - the version of Windows for use on devices that use ARM architecture, such as Surface RT. It has not been reported as affecting the regular version of Windows 8.1.

Similarly, Microsoft has only pulled the RT version of Windows 8.1 - not the regular version.

Wordpress user KickThatComputer has detailed their experiences with the problem, and posted several possible solutions.

Please note that Technology Decisions cannot vouch for the efficacy, validity or security of any advice or files provided by any third party, including KickThatComputer. Follow their instructions at your own risk.

For completion’s sake, it’s worth pointing out that there has been some debate online about whether the Windows RT 8.1 problem really constitutes a ‘bricking’. A ‘bricked’ device, some say, is one that has been rendered irreversibly useless.

Since there’s a possibility those devices harmed by Windows RT 8.1 may be fixed, such devices are merely ‘temporarily useless’, and not truly bricked, the argument goes.

We’ve used the term here as there is so far no sign of an official fix from Microsoft, and we expect that few users will bother going through the unofficial fix mentioned above. Therefore, most of the devices in question are, effectively, bricked.