On Saturday, Microsoft halted downloads of Windows RT 8.1 from the Windows Store, due to an issue that the company said was "affecting a limited number of users updating their Windows RT devices to Windows RT 8.1." While those particular downloads have yet to resume, Microsoft is now offering a recovery image for people who have been dealing with the problems caused by the update.
The download, which Microsoft is calling the Surface RT Recovery Image, can be found on the Microsoft Downloads website. The file size is pretty large at 3.7 GB and it also contains a PDF file that offers instructions on how to install the file on a Surface RT tablet. Owners of the tablet will have to have have a USB Flash drive and a PC that"s running Windows 7 or later to create the Surface RT recovery drive. After the drive is made, users can then insert the Flash drive in the Surface RT"s USB port and follow the instructions on the PDF form.
The download is labeled for the Surface RT tablet, so it"s unknown if this file can be used for any of the other Windows RT tablets that are out there like the Dell XPS 10, the Lenovo Yoga 11 and others.