Urgent Assistance Needed: Touchpad Unresponsive Issue

[EWS_]

Hello,

Following an extended period of laptop usage, the touchpad unexpectedly ceases to function. The only effective solution I have found is to restart the laptop, after which the touchpad resumes normal operation. In situations where I am in the midst of unsaved work, I have resorted to connecting a wireless or wired mouse to continue seamlessly.

I am uncertain whether the root cause lies in a hardware malfunction, a driver issue, or a software glitch. Notably, the keyboard and the laptop itself remain functional; it is solely the touchpad that experiences a freeze.

Any guidance or assistance you can provide to diagnose and address this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this concern.

Best Regards,
EWS

[Jupitero]

Hello.

When the touchpad stops working, does the touchstick in the keyboard still work? Check also the Synaptics control panel (if available in mouse properties) whether you can re-enable the touchpad without rebooting the laptop. If your laptop has an action key to disable the touchpad, can you use it also for re-enabling?

You could try to upgrading (or downgrading) the Synaptics touchpad driver. Your laptop model's download page contains the current and earlier drivers, although Windows 11 may still update the driver to latest version automatically.

The Synaptics driver is not necessary for using the touchpad, so you could also try a complete uninstall of the software and driver. Without the drivers you will lose finger gestures, sensitivity controls and such, but if this is a ~daily occurrence, you could use this to troubleshoot and exclude the software portion. If the problem still happens, I would say this is a hardware problem. Re-installation of Windows (perhaps on a temporary storage drive) would be ideal to exclude software glitches, but is a bit more arduous task.

If this is a hardware problem, replacing the touchpad would be the next step then.

NB. I have an older HP 840 G1 laptop that loses the touchpad functionality until reboot, perhaps couple times a year (on almost daily use). The touchstick still works but only a shutdown and restart helps.

[EWS_]

Hello Jupitero,

Thank you for your prompt response. In response to your inquiry, the touchstick has been previously tested and does not appear to be working too. Notably, my touchpad lacks an action key for toggling its functionality, and Synaptics is not listed in the mouse properties.

Following your recommendation, I plan to install the Synaptics driver, as it seems to be absent on my system. The issue does not manifest daily but tends to occur approximately once a week, particularly after extended periods of PC activity with numerous open applications and files. While considering a Windows reinstallation, I encountered a concern with the provided link for my laptop model, which indicated BIOS errors related to Microsoft Cumulative updates. Unfortunately, I currently face a BIOS password challenge, as I have forgotten it, preventing me from updating to the latest BIOS version. Resolving the BIOS password issue is a prerequisite before contemplating a Windows reinstallation.

Although a hardware problem seems unlikely, I inspected the internal components a few weeks ago and found nothing suspicious or amiss.

Your assistance is appreciated, and I will explore the Synaptics driver installation. If you have additional suggestions, please feel free to share.

Best Regards,
EWS