Random touchpad pointer slowdown

[gl1000007]

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that the mouse cursor randomly slows down and then returns to its normal speed when I use the built-in touchpad. This frequent change in speed is annoying and distracting. I haven’t yet identified a pattern that explains how to reproduce the issue. for now, it’s just a matter of trial and error.

Issue description:
- The cursor slows down suddenly and unexpectedly, sometimes for a few seconds, other times for several minutes.
- During these slowdowns, the cursor moves slower than usual and is difficult to control when trying to place it at a specific spot.
- The phenomenon appears and disappears intermittently, with no clear link to opening or closing specific programs.
- The slowdown has even occurred just seconds after logging into Windows following a full restart (not hibernation).

There are also occasional display-related symptoms:
- Microsoft Word sometimes flickers and becomes sluggish with very long documents, when using in Web Layout view. Switching to Print Layout significantly reduced the problem.
- On one occasion, Task Manager displayed partially missing or incorrectly rendered content for approximately 5–10 seconds, then recovered on its own.

What I’ve tried:
- Two-finger scrolling appears to work normally, even when the cursor is slowing down.
- Adjusted the cursor speed in Windows settings - mouse and touchpad setting.
- Toggled the "Enhance pointer precision" setting off and on again. The first time I did this, there was a temporary improvement, but subsequent attempts had no effect.
- Pressed the Caps Lock key several times while the cursor was lagging; the indicator light on the key responded immediately (functioning correctly).
- Using Windows Task Manager, monitored CPU, memory and disk usage when the issue occurred; I did not observe any abnormal load during the cursor lag.
- Ran updates via myHP and Windows Update, followed by a full system restart (not hibernation). Both utilities now indicate that no further updates are currently available.
- Tested the keyboard shortcut Win + Ctrl + Shift + B to reset the graphics driver; this did not result in any consistent improvement.

List of updates installed via myHP today:
- HP Connection Optimizer
- HP Notifications
- HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI
- HP Universal Camera Driver
- Intel Bluetooth Driver
- Intel Chipset Installation Utility Driver
- Intel Management Engine Driver
- Intel Platform Monitoring Technology
- Intel Video Driver and Control Panel
- Intel WLAN Driver

The laptop is still under HP warranty, but posting on this forum was the ONLY ASYNC METHOD I found active in my area.

Before starting this thread, I
- Ran both the "Quick" and "Comprehensive" tests using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics 3.3.3.0. Both tests displayed a battery calibration warning after I had selected "Maximize My Battery Health" in BIOS. However, the battery test result was still "Passed". No error codes were returned by any of the tests. This BIOS setting had already been enabled before the pointer issue started.
- Searched the forum for 'slow pointer' and 'slow mouse'. Found the following threads:
REMOVED THE LINKS to avoid auto flagging my message as spam.
- Found versions of Intel software referred to in those threads:
intel graphics software, 26.36.2702.0, 2026-10-17
intel graphics command center, 1.100.5688.0, 2025-03-17
Intel Graphics Driver, supplied by Intel Corporation, 32.0.101.9028, 2026-09-11
- Found BIOS‏ version and date: HP W70 Ver. 01.10.00, 2026-06-12

Thanks in advance 💯

[gl1000007]

Update: Reinstalling the touchpad driver (HID-compliant touch pad)

DID NOT work. Uninstalled the driver, performed a full restart, then got a cursor delay right after login.

DO NOT MARK THIS REPLY AS AN ACCEPTED SOLUTION ON MY BEHALF.

[gl1000007]

I noticed another occurrence of the pointer slowdown immediately after moving the cursor to close a screensaver that had been active for at least 15 minutes. There were no resource-intensive background processes running at the time.

[Meghana_10]

Hello @gl1000007, Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding the HP EliteBook 840 14-inch G11 Notebook PC (8M4X3AV).

We appreciate the opportunity to assist you and are glad we could help work toward a resolution. We hope our support has been valuable.

Thank you for documenting your observations and troubleshooting results in such detail. I also noted your request not to mark your update as an accepted solution.

Could you please try one additional test?

Test using an external mouse

1. Connect a USB mouse and use it alongside the built-in touchpad. When the touchpad pointer slows down, check whether the external mouse also becomes sluggish.
2. If the external mouse remains responsive, this points more toward the built-in touchpad or its driver/firmware.
3. If both pointers slow down together, we should investigate Windows or broader system responsiveness.

Please also check the following:

1. Open Device Manager and expand Human Interface Devices.
   Open the properties of HID-compliant touch pad.
   Under the Driver tab, note the provider, version, and date.
    
2. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad and confirm whether the pointer speed changes when the slowdown occurs.
3. You can find the model-specific drivers and BIOS updates through HP EliteBook 840 14-inch G11 Notebook PC (8M4X3AV). Select the operating system and exact product before installing anything

Please perform UEFI Touchpad Test
 

Steps to Run the UEFI Touchpad Test
 

1. Shut down the laptop completely.
2. Turn on the computer and immediately start tapping the Esc key repeatedly (about once every second) until the startup menu appears.
3. Press  F2 to open HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI.
4. Use the arrow keys (or a plugged-in USB mouse/keyboard) to select Component Tests (or System Tests depending on your version).
5. Select  Mouse / Touchpad (or Input Devices / Pointer Devices).
6. Choose  Touchpad Test (or Pointer Test) and select Run once.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to move the pointer, click, or drag across the touchpad. 

Please let us know the external-mouse test result. That will help determine the most appropriate next step.

Have a great day!

[gl1000007]

Hi 😊

Per my preference of ASYNC support,

• After I found out that the only support options in my area included phone calls and/or physically bringing the machine to a service center and that the callback option only let me type 300 characters, I turned to the chat.
• The first message on the thread is a dump of all the tests I have performed with the chat, in addition to manual edits of course.
• I would appreciate letting the callback textbox receive more than mere 300 characters, for users such as me who try to solve a problem themselves before calling support, to share their results, which could save time. Maybe also make the callback an email rather than a phone call to match the fast paced, ASYNC world we live in.

A Bluetooth external mouse worked perfectly fine during a touchpad slowdown. My method was: use touchpad, external mouse connected and on, when recognizing a slowdown immediately try the external mouse. When used interchangeably, the touchpad produced an extensive lag in cursor movement, while the external mouse produced fast and sharp movements.

HID-compliant touch pad:

• Supplier: Microsoft
• Date: 2006-06-21
• Driver Version: 10.0.26100.9711,

The pointer speed in the 'touchpad' page does not change on a slowdown.

Regarding model-specific drivers and BIOS updates, Is this paragraph supposed to include a link?

UEFI Touchpad test:

• Performed the Drag and Drop test 5 times in a row, then I noticed a slowdown which lasted for about 30-60 seconds. While the cursor was slow, I had a hard time dragging the rectangle to the precise target, requiring multiple back and forth tiny movements.
• Even in UEFI, I couldn't tie the slowdown to a certain event in a way I can reproduce.

[Meghana_10]

Thank you for your response. @gl1000007 

Thank you for running these additional tests and sharing such detailed results. Your findings are very helpful in narrowing this down.

There are two particularly important observations:

The external Bluetooth mouse works normally while the built-in touchpad experiences significant lag. This makes a general Windows or system-wide performance issue less likely.

The slowdown also occurs during the UEFI Touchpad test. Since this test runs outside the normal Windows environment, the result makes a Windows application or standard touchpad driver issue less likely.

A note about the driver information: the Microsoft HID-compliant touchpad driver showing a 2006 date does not necessarily indicate that it is outdated. Windows commonly uses this date for inbox drivers, so I would not recommend changing it based on the date alone.

Regarding your question about the model-specific drivers, yes, a direct link should have been included. You can access the official driver page here:

https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers

Enter your product number 8M4X3AV and select the appropriate operating system to view the available updates. However, I would avoid installing unrelated drivers or BIOS updates simply as an experiment.

This may necessitate a one-on-one conversation to resolve the issue via remote assistance.

We recommend taking the conversation to our phone support team. They'll work with you one-on-one to get the issue sorted, possibly with some remote assistance magic.

1) Click on this link-https://support.hp.com/contact

2) Add or select the product, and change/select your region.

3) Enter the serial number of your device or select Let HP detect your product option.

4) Choose "other" option from the list

5) Select the "continue to contact" option.

You should see the HP phone support number or chat option listed.

They will guide you further.

Or, you may also visit the nearest HP authorized service center; the service team will check and assist you.

Kindly follow this link to locate the nearest HP service center: https://support.hp.com/us-en/help/service-center

(Select the country from the dropdown menu and enter the city name or pin-code.)

Have a wonderful day!

[gl1000007]

Thanks for the help and for trying to solve this issue asynchronously 🙏🏻

I'll try a callback. Now, instead of writing the long list of tests I already did, I'll just paste a link to this thread.

I clicked the 'helpful' button for all of your messages, but this extended test battery does not count as a solution.

Thanks again 💯

[gl1000007]

I think I've managed to reproduce the issue:

After a full restart or hibernation, I get a slowdown during the first 5 minutes of the session (after logging in), sometimes even at the lock screen itself. This happens in addition to the seemingly random times during regular work.

After 3 restarts and 3 hibernations, I can say that it's quite consistent.

What now?

[Meghana_10]

Thank you so much for your response @gl1000007 

Thank you for continuing the extended testing and for identifying a much more repeatable pattern. The new finding is important: the touchpad pointer slowdown occurs consistently within roughly the first five minutes after a full restart or resume from hibernation, sometimes even at the Windows lock screen, in addition to the less predictable slowdowns during normal use.

1. Run the touchpad test outside Windows

After shutting down:

1. Turn on the notebook and immediately tap Esc repeatedly.
2. Press F2 for HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI.
3. Select Component Tests > Mouse/Touchpad.
4. Run the available test and note any Failure ID.

HP Notebook PCs - Troubleshoot the touchpad | HP® Support

2. Compare Restart against Shutdown

You have already established the behavior after Restart and Hibernate. Please add one controlled comparison:

• Restart → log in → observe for 5 minutes
• Hibernate → resume → observe for 5 minutes
• Full shutdown → power on → observe for 5 minutes

Record approximately how many seconds or minutes after sign-in the slowdown begins and how long it lasts.

A consistent difference between these states can help isolate Windows power-management and device reinitialization behavior.

3. Test immediately after login with background applications disabled

Perform a Windows clean boot so only Microsoft services are running, then reproduce the restart/hibernate test.

If the first-five-minute slowdown disappears during a clean boot, a startup utility or third-party service is likely interfering with pointer/touchpad responsiveness.

4. Check Device Manager while the slowdown is happening

During the five-minute window, open:

Device Manager > Human Interface Devices / Mice and other pointing devices

Check whether the touchpad is represented as an HID-compliant touch pad, Synaptics, ELAN, or another device.

Look for any device refresh, warning symbol, disappearance/reappearance, or driver event around the slowdown.

Also open:

Touchpad > Properties > Events

and compare event timestamps with the restart/hibernate time.

5. Check Windows Optional Updates

Go to:

Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates

Install any applicable:

• Touchpad/HID driver
• Chipset driver
• Intel/AMD Serial IO or GPIO driver
• System firmware update

6. Perform a power reset if it was not part of the earlier test set

If this specific procedure has not already been completed:

• Shut down the notebook.
• Disconnect the AC adapter and nonessential peripherals.
• Hold the Power button for approximately 15 seconds.
• Reconnect AC power and start the notebook.

Have a great day!