There is no way to turn the Touchpad OFF

[Woody615]

I want to turn OFF the touch pad. I've gone to Settings -- Devices -- Touchpad. There used to be a switch to turn the pad on/off. There is NO SUCH switch.
I go to Additional Settings and up pops the Mouse Properties window. It has Buttons, Pointers, Pointer Options, Wheels, Hardware tab, but nothing else. There is no switch under any of these tabs.

I've gone to the Control Panel and gone that route. Still nothing. 

These are screen shots of what I see. Usually under the Touchpad (second image) it has How to disable the touchpad. Nope. Nada. Doesn't exist.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@Woody615 You may want to get into the device manager and identify if that's either a synaptics or an elan touchpad driver, the steps to disable it will work, accordingly.

That said, is there any specific reason you want to turn it off? Perhaps, I can help you resolve any issues with the touchpad!

If that's an Elan touchpad, try the below steps:

1. Press Windows Key + X to open Win + X menu and select Control Panel from the list.
2. When Control Panel opens, go to Hardware and Soundsection and select Mouse.
3. When Mouse settings window opens, you should see ELANor Device Settings tab. Switch to it.
4. Locate Disable internal pointing device when external USB pointing device is attached option and enable it.
5. Click Apply and OK to save changes.

If that doesn't work or isn't available, a registry edit should be the solution for us, I'd personally suggest a registry backup by clicking on file and export before performing the below steps, to be on a safer side:

1. Open Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Elantech/Othersetting/DisableWhenDetectUSBMousekey in the left pane.
2. Change the value from 0 to 1 and close Registry Editor.

After making those changes your touchpad will now be disabled every time you connect a mouse to your laptop. As you can see, even though this option isn’t available, you can still enable it by following these steps. We have to mention that this solution applies only if you’re using ELAN touchpad.

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Keep me posted, as I (Or a trusted colleague) shall follow-up on this case to ensure the concern has been addressed, 

And your device is up and running again, only in case you don't get back to us, first! 

That said, If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, 

That'll help us, and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.