Display hotkeys stopped working

[Kage4]

Hi fellow HP-community members,

UPDATE (2023-11-10): I've found a solution that worked for me. The method is a bit cumbersome, but it does the trick for me. The instructions are given in a reply somewhere under the post and I will tag it as the solution.

UPDATE (2023-11-08): The problem is caused as I suspected by the update: HP Development Company, L.P. - SoftwareComponent - 8.10.28.1. Yesterday I installed an older version of the HP Hotkey Support - UWP (I believe from 2019) and the hotkeys worked again. Sadly Windows Update decided to download and install the latest version of HP Hotkey Support - UWP again which resulted in the hotkeys not working again. Does anyone know how I can prevent that only this exact update is installed? Thanks in advance!

Since a few days the hotkey combinations for the display brightness (fn+f5, fn+f6) and display selection (fn+f4) no longer work on my laptop (ZBook Studio G3). The other hotkeys (e.g. volumecontrol) work as they should. I have installed the latest drivers for the graphics card (Nvidia Quadro M1000M) as well as the HP hotkey support. This was the suggested solution for similar, but older cases, however it sadly didn't do the trick in my case. I also used the Intel chipsset installation utility software and updated the BIOS to the latest available version.

I think the problem started since an automatic Windows update so maybe there are more people who experience the same issue and might have found a solution. If I look at the history of updates I see two updates that have been installed around the time the issue with the hotkeys started. Both are by the HP Development Company L.P.
- SoftwareComponent - 8.10.28.1
- Keyboard - 11.1.8.1

I would be great if anyone can help me solve the problem. All the help is appreciated.

[onthelam]

Same prob here. Probook 450, Win10. F3 & F4 were dimming/brightening for me until the Win10 update 2023 11 07. The forum solutions from Sept 2023 and older aren't helping.

[Kage4 · Accepted solution]

Hi Onthelam,

Thank you for replying and indicating that you experience the same problem. As stated in my original post I found that the specific update by the HP Development Company, L.P. - SoftwareComponent - 8.10.28.1 that got installed by the Windows update of 2023-11-07 that you mention caused the problem.

My method to make the hotkeys work again:

- First you need to search the internet for a program that lets you select updates that Windows shouldn't install. It's called 'Show/hide updates' and apparently it was an official Microsoft program which they discontinued and can no longer be downloaded from their website. After some search I was able to find it, although not sure where exactly anymore. The name of the file is 'wushowhide' which hopefully makes the search easier. The file doesn't need to be opened yet.

- At the HP support website download an older version of the 'HP Hotkey Support - UWP' driver and install it.

- From the Device Manager in Windows uninstall two devices and their drivers. I included a screenshot with two blue arrows showing which devices I mean. Though my Windows is set up in Dutch, I assume the devices names won't be different as those are in English.

- After the uninstall of both devices and their drivers, restart your computer.

- Immediately after the login open the 'wushowhide' file. After clicking 'next' the program searches for updates. It then gives two options: Hide updates or Show hidden updates. Click the first and it should show a list with updates. Select the mentioned update that causes the problem (HP Development Company, L.P. - SoftwareComponent - 8.10.28.1).

If correctly executed Windows Update should no longer install the buggy update.
- Test if your hotkeys for controlling the display brightness work again.

It's a bit cumbersome, but for me this method worked. Hopefully HP fixes the bug in the update which makes is a lot easier for everyone. Good luck and Let me know if my method worked out for you as well.