Transfer videos, music, photos from PC to Surface 2 on Windows 8.1/8

This tutorial shows you the simple ways to transfer videos, music, photos, and more from PC to your Surface 2 on Windows 8.1/8.
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Surface 2 is an ideal device for browsing, playing, reading outdoors. You got this new Windows 8.1 RT tablet and the first thing you may want to do is to import photos, videos, music from your PC on Windows 8.1/8 to your new Surface 2 Tablet.

One of the advantages with Windows tablets is you get USB Port, microSD Port. Transferring files or media is same as transferring on to new laptop or computer on Windows 8.1/8. There are ways for you to transfer a variety of files from your Windows 8.1/8 PC to your Surface 2. The article aims to give you some tips for newbies of Surface 2 of how to seamlessly move music, pictures, videos, and documents to your Surface 2.

For Microsoft Surface 2 file transfer, you can use one of the following methods:

• Connect to a networked computer
• Use a USB flash drive or a memory card — microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface 2.

Connect to a network computer

Surface 2 can access music, pictures, videos, and documents on computers that are part of your home network. To see the files and folders that have been shared on your network, go to the Start screen and open File Explorer. Shared items appear under HomeGroup or Network.



Use a USB flash drive or memory card

You can also move files to Surface 2, by copying them to a USB flash drive or memory card (microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface 2) and then adding the files to Surface 2.

Here’s how:

1. Copy files onto a USB flash drive or memory card on your other computer.
2. Insert the USB flash drive or memory card into Surface 2.
3. Tap or click the notification that appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.

4. Tap or click Open folder to view files.

File Explorer opens.



5. Select the files or folders you want to add to Surface 2, tap or click Home, and then tap or click Copy to.

6. Select a location. For example, choose Documents if the flash drive or memory card contains documents.

Use SkyDrive

With SkyDrive, you can store music, pictures, and documents in the cloud and access them from any web-connected device. This includes your Surface 2, phone, or any computer.

To learn more see SkyDrive or help within the SkyDrive app (open the Settings charm, and then tap Help).

Notes

You need to have a Microsoft account associated with your user account to use SkyDrive.
By default, Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview saves documents to SkyDrive.

How much local storage space do I have?

To see how much storage space you have:

• Open the Settings charm, tap or click Change PC settings.
• Tap or click General.
• Scroll down to Available storage, to see how much storage space you have.

Or don’t move files to Surface 2. Store them in the cloud instead using Your files on SkyDrive. This way you can access your files from other computers or your phone.

Tips – Prepare unsupported files on Windows 8.1/8 for MicroSoft Surface 2 Tablet

What if you have files on your desktop or laptop computer on Windows 8.1/8 that you want to use on your Surface 2 Tablet, but the files are stored in the wrong format? In most cases, you can use a program or utility on your computer to convert the files to a compatible format. Below are some small tips for synchronizing videos/pictures/music to your MicroSoft Surface 2 Tablet:

1. When the files are not friendly or unsupported by Surface 2, you will need reformat these videos for Surface 2 Tablet first.

2. Movies purchased or downloaded from online (e.g. iTunes, BBC iPlayer) or the Digital Copies from Blu-ray or DVD discs have playback restrictions – so called DRM restriction. Windows Store does not seem to have any apps like iTunes Remote or iTunes sync yet. To have your surface 2 play these movie purchases, get yourself a DRM removal tool first.

3. Compress/Convert your HD videos when necessary. By necessary I mean when the Surface 2 pops up an error message saying unsupported file or plays video in slow motion.

4. If you have the intention to transfer Blu-ray, DVD movies as well as your personal HD video files to Microsoft Surface 2, you’d better get the best all-in-one video convert tool Blu-ray Video Converter Ultimate to have fastest and most effective.

That’s all. Hope this article is really useful for you to share and watch media files on Surface 2. Have a good time!

Surface 2 iTunes Converter- Sync iTunes Music, Videos to Surface 2

Do you encounter the problem when trying to play iTunes files on your Surface 2? Do you want to play purchased iTunes m4v with Surface 2? The article will tell you how to play iTunes music and videos with Surface 2.

According to a survey, we find that more and more people buy the music and movies on ITunes because its qualities are very good. But with this trend, there are appearing some questions, for example, many people can’t play the iTunes music and movies on Surface 2.

The Surface 2 is a touch screen Windows 8.1 RT tablet designed by Microsoft . The tablet directly succeeded the Surface RT, with a thinner and lighter design, a faster processor, and an improved camera. It has a 10.6-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and you can play full HD (1080P) video on the top Windows 8.1 RT tablet.

For iTunes videos, if they are video podcasts from iTunes, you can play them on your Surface 2 without any problem. But if they are Movies (including some TV-shows) or Music videos which you purchased directly through iTunes store, they are all with DRM protection. DRM can not stop you transferring iTunes video purchases to Surface 2, but the videos will say "this file is not supported" or "this video can't be played" when you play these iTunes music and movies on the Surface 2 tablet. 

Is there the best way to  iTunes Music, Videos on Surface 2 ?

Their answer is yes. The most important thing is to  to remove DRM from iTunes movies and convert iTunes M4V files to Surface 2 compatible video formats(MP4 with H.264 video codec is highly recommended) beforehand.To get the work done, a DRM Removal software is needed. If you're looking for ease-to-use, just check out Pavtube's ChewTune, which is an intuitive and stable DRM converter to help you remove DRM protection from iTunes, Amazon, Zune, BBC iPlayer, Napster, Blockbuster, etc. and convert videos to all popular video formats for playback with its original qualities. Now, let’s use the Nexus 5 iTunes Converter to play iTunes on Nexus 5 with the best visual effect.

The equivalent Mac version is the ChewTune for Mac, which can convert and transfer iTunes movies to Surface 2 on Mac OS X. Free download the right version and enjoy your iTunes M4V movies on Microsoft Surface 2 without any hassle!

Free Download iTunes to Surface 2 Converter:
   (Download the DMG file for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard)

A command window will pop up during the installation to install specific audio driver, do not shut down and let it running until the installation completed.



Convert, Transfer and Play iTunes music and movies on Surface 2

The quick start guide below uses ChewTune Windows screenshots. The way to encoding iTunes M4V to Surface 2 on Mac is almost the same. Just make sure you get the right version according to your computer operating system.

Step 1: Add video and choose target format.

Drag and drop your videos to it directly, or you can click icon to import them as below.

Step 2: Let's click the drop-down-list besides "Format" and choose "Windows > Microsoft Surface Windows RT H.264 Video (*.mp4)". The output videos could fit on Surface 2 perfectly.




If you like, you can click "Settings" to change the video encoder, resolution, frame rate, etc. as you wish. For watching videos on the Windows 2 based Surface Tablet, 720p with 1500~2500kbps is just all right. I found that bitrate higher results in big file size, and lower visible quality loss.

Step 3: After above steps, just click "Convert" to start removing iTunes DRM protection and converting iTunes m4v to Microsoft Surface 2 MP4 videos.

This converter will activate your media player automatically and start to play this video. The player windows cannot be removed or closed.

In the meanwhile, it will start to record this video in MP4 real-time. The conversion time is equal to the video length itself; you can do other tasks during the converting the process.

Note: the system volume could turn off temporally during this period; no worries, do not touch it to get perfect DRM removed video.



After the conversion, click "Open output folder" to quick locate the converted video. An then transfer the DRM-free iTunes videos to your Surface 2 Tablet via USB cable. Now you are free to enjoy and watch iTunes music and videos on Microsoft Surface 2 as you like.  

• If you have no idea about Surface file transfer, you can check out the post The Ways Transferring Files to Your Surface 2 to learn more. 

Tips:

1. The DRM removing process may mislead your anti-virus software to falsely report virus/worm. Please ignore the report to keep on ripping.

2. This product cannot convert unplayable video (damaged, unauthorized, etc).

Related Articles:

Copy Blu-ray ISO to Surface 2, Surface Pro 2
Rip DVD movies to Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 for playback 
MKV to Surface- Play MKV files on Surface Pro 3 
Enjoy Blu-ray to Surface 2 for watching 
Best Video Converter Ultimate Review for Surface 2, Surface Pro 2, Surface RT/Pro
  
Tip: To save up to $19, you can try the below:
ByteCopy($42) + Vidpie($29) = Only $54.9, Save $16.1 
Video Converter Ultimate($65) + Vidpie($29) = Only $74.9, Save $19.1 
BDMagic($49) + Vidpie($29) = Only $49.9, Save $28.1 
DVDAid($35) + Vidpie($29) = Only $49.9, Save $14.1 

How to Play SD/HD Videos and Movies on Surface 2

Have no idea to transfer SD/HD videos (MKV, AVI, VOB, Tivo, MPG, WMV, MOV, M4V, VRO, FLV, F4V Videos) to Microsoft Surface 2 in best video quality. Read the article to learn how.

Surface 2 has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9. You can play 1080P video on Surface 2's 10.6-inch screen freely. Under the hood of the Microsoft Surface 2 we find an NVIDIA Tegra 4 (T40) SoC with a 1.7GHz quad-core CPU. 2 GB of RAM are thrown in as well for good measure. This should be enough processing power to deliver a smooth user experience, especially knowing that Microsoft makes sure its software is optimized for the hardware it is meant to run on.

As Surface 2 is so convenient to take, you may use it to deal with documents, but when you tired, you can also use it to play movies for relax. However, the video formats supported by Surface 2 is limited. Let's see it as below.

Surface 2 supported Video format:

MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263

Surface 2 supported Audio format:
MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC

So you can’t play MKV, AVI, VOB, MPG, Tivo, MXF, MTS, M4V, FLV/F4V SD/HD videos on Surface 2 directly. In some time, you may also need a video converter on Surface 2 to convert videos to compatible formats for further usage, which is best video converter for Surface 2? Which video converter is most compatible with Windows 8.1 RT?

Here, Pavtube Surface 2 Video Converter is your best choice. It has easy quick interface, and great final file quality. (For Mac users: Get Mac Video Converter for Surface 2)

Please follow the easy steps below to convert SD/HD Videos in MKV, VOB, Tivo, MPG, MTS, FLV/F4V to MP4 format for Surface 2.

Fistly download and install the right vertion:

 

(Note: free download a dmg file for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard users.)

Step 1. Import source videos to the Video to Surfce 2 Converter.

Install and run the best Video Converter for Surface 2 on your computer. Add videos in the following two ways:

1. Click “Add video” button to choose video files from your hard drive for converting.

2. Directly drag the videos to the Surface 2 Video Converter.

Tips: To save your time, you can add multiple video files for converting at a time since batch conversion is well supported.



Note: when load tivo file to Pavtube Video Converter, The program will ask you to enter you Media Access Key, Do as the program requires, and then click ok to continue.

 

Step 2. Choose presets for Surface 2.

Click the “Format” list to choose Windows > Microsoft Surface Windows RT/Pro H.264 HD Video (*.mp4) as the best profile for Surface 2. Or you can key in “surface” in the little search box to get it.



Step 3. Edit video and customize specs before conversion. (Optional)

You can edit these videos before conversion by clicking the pencil-like icon on the top. Some of the source video such as MXF/MTS/MKV could be interlaced which is not good for playback; in this case you can check “Deinterlacing” in Effect tab to get perfect progressive HD MP4 videos. Trim, crop, edit audio and add srt/ass/ssa subtitles are all supported in this edit window.

Back to main interface, you can click Settings to free customize video size, bitrate(quality), frame rate, sample rate and other specs.

Step 4. Start converting all Videos for Surface 2.

Click the red “Convert” to start converting SD/HD video to Surface 2 MP4.

Wait for a few moments, and you can click “Open output folder” to locate the converted video quickly. Now you can transfer videos to your Surface 2 for entertainment.

How to transfer media files to Surface 2?
To see how much storage space you have:

• Open the Settings charm, tap or click Change PC settings.
• Tap or click General.
• Scroll down to Available storage, to see how much storage space you have.

Or don’t move files to Surface. Store them in the cloud instead using your files on SkyDrive. This way you can access your files from other computers or your phone.

You can pick using one of the following methods to transfer video to Surface 2

-Connect to a networked computer

Use a USB flash drive or a memory card -- microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface.

Connect to a network computer

Surface 2 can access music, pictures, videos, and documents on computers that are part of your home network. To see the files and folders that have been shared on your network, go to the Start screen and open File Explorer. Shared items appear under HomeGroup or Network.



Use a USB flash drive or memory card

You can also move files to Surface, by copying them to a USB flash drive or memory card (microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface) and then adding the files to Surface. Here’s how:

1. Copy files onto a USB flash drive or memory card on your other computer.
2. Insert the USB flash drive or memory card into Surface.
3. Tap or click the notification that appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.



4. Tap or click Open folder to view files.

File Explorer opens.

5. Select the files or folders you want to add to Surface, tap or click Home, and then tap or click Copy to.
6. Select a location. For example, choose Documents if the flash drive or memory card contains documents.

Good news:

The Pro version of Video Converter – Video Converter Ultimate now on 20% OFF! It’s not only able to convert all SD/HD videos but also capable of legally removing Blu-ray/DVD protection and put Blu-ray/DVD/ISO/IFO movies on your Surface 2, Surface Pro 2, Surface RT/Pro and more other devices.

(Here is a guide of best Vdieo Converter Ultimate for Surace 2: How to Put 1080p Video, Blu-ray and DVD Movie to Surface 2)

You may also interested in Money-saving bundles from Pavtube Special Offer page:

ByteCopy($42) + Video Converter Ultimate($65) = Only $79.9, Save $27.1 
ByteCopy($42) + DVD Creater($35) = Only $44.9, Save $32.1 
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ByteCopy($42) + MXF MultiMixer($45) = Only $69.9, Save $16.1 

Related Articles:

Playing Blu-ray movies to Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2
Convert MPG to Surface Pro 3 for viewing
Copy/Rip DVD to Surface Pro 3 without DVD drive

Tricks for playing Blu-ray movies to Microsoft Surface Pro 2

This is simple guide for ripping and putting Blu-ray onto Microsoft Surface 2 tablet for enjoyment on the go. Let’s find the easy way to play blu-rays on Surface 2 out here!

The Surface 2 has a breakthrough on chipset- it adopts the most powerful nVidia Tegra 4 which 2GB RAM; It has great improvement in resolution- the 10.6-ich model has 1920*1200 resolution which must be persuasive that Surface 2 would be your best choice to play your collection of video file with high quality.

With a Surface 2, what if you simply want to play a Blu-ray on the powerful Windows 8.1 RT tablet? As you know, Windows 8.1 does not have the DVD, BD support function built into it, and frankly, there’s not a quick and easy way to do it. You need special software to accomplish it. Here I will give you a relatively easy solution for copying Blu-ray to Surface 2 tablet.

There are many programs out there that allow you to make copies of your Blu-rays and let you watch them the way you want to play them. You may be confused about choosing a most suitable tool. If so, I recommend you try Pavtube Blu-ray to Surface 2 Ripper. It is easy to use for editing and conversion and makes great quality copies of my Blu-rays.

To be honest, the Blu-ray to Surface 2 Converter can help you rip and convert all the Blu-ray/DVD Discs even iso/ifo image files. I’ve been using the program to convert all my Blu-ray discs to Surface 2 playable video files. I’ve found the quality to be excellent, and see no difference when compared to playing the discs themselves. Meanwhile the audio/video synchronization is very good, the size of the subtitles too.

If you’re a Mac user, please turn to the equivalent Mac version – Surface 2 Blu-ray Ripper for Mac, which can transfer Blu-ray and DVD movies to Surface 2 tablet on Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks and Mountain Lion included).

Tips:

If you want to keep multiple audio tracks (language) and subtitles, do not miss this Blu-ray to Surface 2 Ripper Pro!

Tutorials: How to transfer Blu-ray to Surface 2?

Step 1. Run Blu-ray to Surface 2 Converter; load Blu-ray.

This converter does not only support Blu-ray disc/folder/ISO, but also able to convert DVD disc/folder/ISO/IFO files. Your ISO image file would be recognized automatically so there’s no need to run virtual drive to mount it any more.

Step 2. Choose format.

Click the drop-down list besides “Format” list, you can find many presets and columns for different devices and programs. Let’s switch to “Windows” column and select “Microsoft Surface Windows RT/Pro H.264 Video (*.mp4)” as the best preset for Surface 2.

Or you can enter “Surface” in the small search box at bottom right corner.



Step 3. Adjust specs or edit video before conversion (Optional).

If you want to customize output video size, bitrate, frame rate and others, just click “Settings” to enter profiles settings window.

And you can click the pencil-like icon on the top to crop, trim, edit audio/subtitles/ or add watermarks before conversion.

Step 4. Start conversion.

Now hit the big red “Convert” to start converting Blu-ray movies to MP4 with best settings for playback on Surface 2.

After the conversion, you can get the converted Blu-ray rips in .mp4 format by tapping the “Open” button. Now transfer video files to your Surface 2.

Related Articles:

Remove DRM from Amazon WMV Videos to Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2
How to Put 1080p Videos, DVD, Blu-ray movie to Surface 2 & Surface Pro 2
Watch DVD movies on Surface 2 in multi-track MP4
Play Digital Copy movies on Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2

Start and find Surface Apps for Trips

Here are recommended apps for trips with your Surface tablet.

If you’re planning a trip and you’re going to take your Surface, I have some recommendations for which travel apps you should take. I picked these apps for their entertainment and utility value, whether you are on a trip for business or pleasure.

All of these apps will work on either a Surface RT/2 or Surface Pro/Pro2.

 Skype: If you don’t want to blow your cell minutes checking in with the kids, you can always use Skype to connect anywhere you can get a network connection to any other computer in the world. Best thing is it’s free. And if you bought a Surface 2 tablet, you can turn to free Skype.


   Netflix, HuluPlus, Crackle: So long as you have WiFi in your hotel room or at the airport, it might be nice to watch some TV/Movies. If you have a Netflix/Hulu+ subscription, these apps are invaluable. Be aware, though, if you’re outside of the US/Canada, you may not be able to connect due to country restrictions. However, you can use a DNS Proxy (http://www.smartdnsproxy.com/, for example) to bypass those restrictions and stream your movies. There is a cost but it’s usually very inexpensive (around $5 USD/month.)

 Kindle: There’s few things better than reading a good book to relax. With Kindle, you can take a whole collection of books with you while avoiding the outrageous overweight baggage fee.

  Boingo: This app will help you find WiFi hot-spots. It’s not perfect and works best in the US/Canada, Europe and, Japan/China but if you don’t know the area you’re in, it might help. I’m hoping it will work in Panama.

 Flight Locator: This app will help you track your flights during the layovers or if you’re getting ready to head to the airport. In addition, you’ll need to know the flight numbers for the planes you want to track but it’s free and very handy at airports.

 Network Speed Test: This handy little app will test the speed of the WiFi you’re connecting to. This can save you a lot of frustration if you know your hotel connection isn’t quite fast enough to let you stream Netflix movies up front instead of having it stop to buffer every 12 seconds during a good scene.


Hopefully, you found this list handy. I know this isn’t a super advanced topic and that you probably already had some of these apps installed but, maybe, I gave you an idea or two on how to make your next trip a little easier or more fun.

Oh yeah, one very important non-app item. Before you head out on your trip….. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR CHARGER. Unlike the iPad/iPhone chargers, there aren’t a million knock-offs that you can buy at any corner gas station (at least not yet).

If you have any apps you think I missed, please let me know.

Transfer DVD to Surface 2 in multitracks MP4 format

This tutorial shows you an easy way to convert DVD movies on Surface 2 in multi-track MP4 format so you can switch to the desired language during playback.

I'm about to take a long plane trip with a toddler, and I think converting some of the DVDs I have to some type of digital format we can watch on the Surface 2 would be helpful. The problem is I'm not totally sure what I'm doing. From what I can tell there is basically 2 steps:

1) Convert to digital file (I'm using a Win7 PC for this).
2) View video file on Surface 2

What do I need for each of the steps? I know there are various programs for transferring DVDs to digital formats, but I'm not sure what format I should be choosing (if I can pick one that will allow the video file to play on both my Surface 2 and my wife's iPad that would be great). Also not sure what is a good program.

 

To get your favorite DVD movies into Surface 2 for amusement, you need to convert DVD to Surface 2 supported video format first and then transfer the result videos to the Windows 8.1 RT tablet. Here Pavtube DVDAid (30% off now) is an easy-to-use program for editing and conversion and makes great quality copies of my DVDs. It works well in putting DVD movies onto Surface 2.

Generally, a DVD movie will contain multiple tracks and subtitles, that will give us wonderful audio enjoyment and allows us the select the language we need. Then how to keep multi-tracks and subtitles when converting? This tutorial is about how to convert DVD to Surface 2 in multitracks MP4 format easily and fast so that you can watch DVD movies on Microsoft Surface 2 with any language by switching to the desired one.

At first Pavtube ByteCopy is your great choice to rip DVD disc to Surface 2 compatible MP4 format as well as multiple audio tracks saved for Surface 2 playback.

How to Rip DVD to Multi-track MP4 for watching on Surface 2?

Part One. Convert DVD to Multi-track MP4 for Surface 2

Step 1. Free download the Multi-track DVD Converter (Mac users can download here), install and launch it. Click the “Load files” button to import source DVD disc.



Step 2. Choose “Multi-track Video > Multi-track MP4 (*.mp4)” from the “Format” drop-down list as output format.



Tip: This profile extracts more than one audio track from source DVD movies in saved MP4 files. And you are allowed to remove unwanted audio track by unchecking the “Check” box in front of each audio source.



Step 3. Hit the “Convert” button on Pavtube ByteCopy main UI to start ripping DVD to Multi-track MP4 for Surface 2. Once the conversion process finishes, open output folder and locate the created multi-track MP4 movie.

How to transfer media files to Surface 2?

You can pick using one of the following methods to transfer video to Surface 2

-Connect to a networked computer
-Use a USB flash drive or a memory card -- microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface.

Connect to a network computer

Surface 2 can access music, pictures, videos, and documents on computers that are part of your home network. To see the files and folders that have been shared on your network, go to the Start screen and open File Explorer. Shared items appear under HomeGroup or Network.

Use a USB flash drive or memory card

You can also move files to Surface 2, by copying them to a USB flash drive or memory card (microSD, microSDHC, or micro SDXC cards all work with Surface 2) and then adding the files to Surface 2. Here’s how:

1. Copy files onto a USB flash drive or memory card on your other computer.
2. Insert the USB flash drive or memory card into Surface 2.
3. Tap or click the notification that appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.
4. Tap or click Open folder to view files. File Explorer opens.
5. Select the files or folders you want to add to Surface, tap or click Home, and then tap or click Copy to.
6. Select a location. For example, choose Documents if the flash drive or memory card contains documents.

Part Two. Stream and watch Multi-track MP4 movies on Surface 2

Step 1. Install multi-track player on Surface 2. When typing in the keyword “multitrack player” in Windows Store, many free or charged apps would show up, choose one and install on your Surface 2.



Step 2. Then add created multi-track MP4 movie to this multi-track player.

Step 3. Open this multi-track player, open the source multi-track MP4, and choose wanted language during movie playback.



Surface 2 related articles:

Get your movies off of your Blu-ray discs onto your Surface 2 & Surface Pro 2
Playing Blu-ray movies to Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 
How to view DVD movies on Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2? 
Watch DVD ISO/IFO images on Surface 2 & Pro 2 with multi-track MP4 

How to get DVD/CD disc to Surface Pro for playback

Ever tried to play DVDs or CD discs on a Surface Pro? Obviously, you need attached hardware or turn to some software for help. This article will provide two method for you to get DVD/CD playback on your Surface Pro.

Since the Windows 8 and 8.1 released, Microsoft has made its decision to remove the ability of playing DVD and CD discs. Without the function built into it, you have to ask for the third party software and additional hardware to accomplish it. 

Obviously, the Surface Pro does not have the specific hardware needed to insert DVDs or CD discs, and this is reportedly one of the reasons why Microsoft didn’t include software to play physical media discs in Windows 8.

Below I will show you the way to enjoy DVD/CD on Surface Pro with Win 8.1 Pro OS.

The Hardware

The Surface Pro only has a single USB port. So, if you want to utilize more than one USB device you’ll need a good USB hub. Here we choose the Satechi 4-port USB 3.0 hub. The Satechi includes enough port access to provide multiple options for additional devices attached to the Surface Pro. With it, you can easily plug the external USE DVD/CD drives, mouse, etc. as you like.

 

For DVD/CD playback, you also need a good external DVD drive. Portable USB ones are recommended due to their easy to transport. The 6X read speed is necessary for DVD playback and the higher the better. You can choose from amazon.com like LG, Samsung, Pioneer, etc. You can also do your own research on the proper DVD/CD device to fit your lifestyle, or you can take my word for it and grab it from Amazon.com. Below is an example for you.

Surface tablets are really convenient and you can download or install 99% of what you need right from the network. However there are times where you might need to access data or install software from DVD/CD to your Surface tablet.

The most obvious way to do this is with a Portable DVD/RW External Drive. You can just plug it into the handy USB port and as long as it’s on the supported hardware list, you will see it pop up in Explorer on the desktop as a drive. This will work for Surface RT/2 or Surface Pro/Pro2 tablets just like from any other Windows computer. Though, you will only be able to actually install software if you have a Surface Pro/Pro2.

On Surface RT/2, you can not install software without going through the Windows Store.

What if you don’t have a Portable DVD/RW External Drive? No problem, we have a method to get the data to your Surface tablet without a USB DVD/CD drive.

This method does require access to a computer with a DVD/CD drive (I’m good but not so good I can teach you how to magic the data off of the disc without a drive). I’m assuming that it will be a Windows machine but even if it’s not, the ideas will carry over, although the steps will be different.Access data or install from DVD/CD to Surface

This method involves using software on a desktop or laptop with a DVD/CD drive to create an ISO file. An ISO file is essentially a copy of a whole CD or DVD without the disc. Your Surface can then mount the ISO file as if it were reading a real disc.

On a Surface RT/2 this means you can read files or play MP3s and on a Surface Pro/Pro2 you can also install programs. I’ve been using this technique to install some of my old games on my Surface Pro 2 (Evil Genius, for example) that I can’t get on Steam.

To do this, you will need to download some ISO creation software. I’m using ISO Toolkit from www.AskVG.com in this post for a few reasons…

• It’s free.
• It’s pretty simple to use.
• It’s portable (doesn’t need to be installed on a machine, just run the .exe)
• It doesn’t try to trick you into installing extras like toolbars.

OK, let’s get started…

Create an ISO File

From the desktop/laptop computer with a DVD/CD drive, download ISO Toolkit.
Open the zipfile and copy the ISOToolkit.exe file to the desktop.
Make sure the DVD/CD you want to copy is in the drive.
Run it. You may get some security alerts as the program needs to access the DVD/CD drive.

• Select the Copy Image tab.
• Make sure the DVD/CD drive is selected.
• Tap or click the Select button to pick the location where the ISO file will be created as well as it’s name.
• Tap or click the Copy Image button to start the ISO creation process.
• Wait until the copy is complete. It can take a while (especially for a DVD) so be patient.

That’s it. You’ve created your ISO file. Now you can get the file to your Surface tablet with SkyDrive or a USB stick, then do the procedure below to access it. Be aware that you can’t use SkyDrive to transfer the ISO file if it’s over 2GB in size.

For the next part, I’m going to assume you used a USB stick to copy the file over to your Surface.

Mount an ISO on your Surface

• Go to desktop mode.
• Plug in the USB key with the ISO file on it.
• From Explorer, browse to and then tap and hold on the ISO file (right click).
• When the right-click menu appears, tap Mount.

Your Surface will mount the ISO file as if it were a DVD/CD in a drive. In fact, if you look at the screen shot below, you’ll see it even labels it “DVD Drive”



That’s pretty much it, at this point, you can treat it as if it were a real DVD/CD drive. When you’re ready to eject the ISO, just tap and hold on the drive in explorer and you’ll get a menu like the one to the right. Just tap on Eject and the drive will vanish.



I hope you found this post helpful.

I know it’s kind of an esoteric thing but, I had someone ask me how to get data from old discs to be accessible from their Surface and I thought others might appreciate it as well. Oh, and in case you’re wondering if I was able to get Evil Genius to work this way…

The Software

The last piece of getting your Surface Pro to actually play DVD/CD discs is to install software that will actually perform the function that Microsoft left out of Windows 8.1. In this case, there's only one thing you need - a DVD to Surface Pro Ripper to remove disc encryption, to transcode DVD to Surface Pro friendly format. Pavtube DVD Ripper is just such kind of easy-to-use program to help you do the conversion in a few clicks.

Why we choose Pavtube DVD Ripper? Pavtube DVD Ripper is a professional Blu-ray/DVD ripping, converting and backing up tool that works on Windows. it can rip and convert latest DVD movies to iPad Air supported MP4/M4V/MOV and other popular video formats like AVI, WMV, MKV, FLV, SWF, 3GP, etc. for playback anywhere. Also, it comes with a built-in editor that allow you to edit your Blu-ray movies by trimming, cropping, adjusting video effects, adding srt/ass/ssa subtitles etc. What’s more, its high conversion speed and easy-to-use features have won much Windows users praise. (See Top 5 DVD Ripper Reviews)

Good news: just found it’s on 30% OFF Summer Holiday promotion sales; don’t miss it!

No need to set the specs manually, no need to figure out which bitrate/framerate/resolution is best for Surface Pro. DVD to Surface Pro Converter integrates the best presets for Surface Pro for you. All you need to do is:

• Import
• Choose preset
• Click and go! It’s just as simple as that.

Tips:

• Reach the Mac version of Surface Pro Converter;
• Pavtube offers an excellent BDMagic for dealing with lastest Blu-ray and DVD discs.
• If you have any requirements of keeping multiple audio tracks/subtitles, you are suggested to try this Blu-ray/DVD to Surface Pro Converter Pro.

Here is a tutorial to rip & convert Blu-ray to Surface Pro 2, just take it as reference.

Related Articles:

Microsoft Surface Videos and Movies Playback Tips
Transfer MKV, AVI, VOB, Tivo, WMV, MPG, MTS, FLV/F4V videos to Surface 2
MKV to Surface- Play MKV files on Surface Pro 3 
Enjoy Blu-ray to Surface 2 for watching 
Convert/Rip and Play Blu-ray movies on Surface Pro 3