Surface Pro 3 reinstall with no touchscreen

So I picked up a very cheap Surface Pro 3 recently - just to see if I could fix it - it was described as not working with the surface keyboard since windows 10 was installed, but working ok with a usb keyboard and mouse. I thought it might be an install/driver issue and have always wanted to try a Surface Pro (curiosity killed the cat lol).

So far I have been stuck trying to resolve anything because the touchscreen is not working either (now partially working after I uninstalled the last few Windows updates but only the start menu works with touch screen). And as there is only one usb slot I can't have a keyboard and mouse plugged in at the same time! So reinstalling from usb has me stuck. I have a bluetooth mouse but it still requires a usb thingy to work. Ok I know so I need to get a usb extender so I can plug both in - but before I do that I am just wondering if I am wasting my time.

I have now downloaded the recovery from Microsoft to reinstall it back to factory settings and then see what is working and what isn't. But two issues.

1) There are two options for the serial number entered - either Windows 8 or Windows 10. I am not sure whether I need to use the Windows 8 (which it originally came with) or whether the Windows 10 version is an option for this model - or whether the Windows 10 version is just an option for a later surface pro 3 model - but it did come up for my serial number.

2) How the heck do I install it? I need the only usb slot for the recovery installation usb. Meaning I have no keyboard, mouse or touchscreen to fulfill the recovery installation.

Thanks.

Cheers. Yes I just forked out for an Anker one at £11 - I guess it will be useful anyway for other things at some point.

So do I select the Windows 8 recovery install or the Windows 10 one? The machine original came with Windows 8 but maybe that model had a crossover with some being sold with Windows 10. Obviously I want Windows 10 on it but the main thing is to restore it to factory settings and take it from there.

Use the Windows 10 recovery. I also have a Surface Pro 3 that came with Windows 8. I installed the Windows 10 with no problem. You will need a hub for the keyboard and mouse. I use a 4 port unpowered hub just fine. What I have read reinstalling Windows will not fix the no keyboard and mouse problem, but you can use an external keyboard and mouse fine.

Thanks. Very helpful. I hope it solves the touchscreen issue. Did you just clean install Windows 10 or use the recovery image? I was thinking of using the recovery image as it will contain all the drivers. I used the tutorial on here to make a bootable usb for the recovery image but I am not sure it will work as something strange happened when copying the files to usb. It came up with some files which couldn’t be copied saying the usb drive was write protected. It wasn’t! To be sure I checked in disk part to remove write protection but it still wouldn’t copy those few files and still said it was write protected. So I selected to skip those. So somehow I don’t think the bootable drive will work.

So you think it’s a hardware issue- not working with the surface keyboard? If reinstalling doesn’t solve the touchscreen issue I’m sending it back - because the touchscreen was supposed to work.

I used the Surface recovery image from Microsoft. Maybe try a different USB drive and see if that works.
Hopefully reinstalling Windows will fix the hardware problem.