Synaptics Touchpad Driver Missing

[BrianMJ]

My Synaptics touchpad driver disappeared. Which is a pain, because I like the ability to toggle between the mouse and touchpad, but even better I like the feature of turning off the touchpad when a mouse connection is detected. So now I have a piece of paper taped over the touchpad because HP's fancy touchpad design, didn't include a hardware button to turn it off. Note that the double tap doesn't turn it off either (how could it, with the driver missing?).

Initially a major Win10 update overwrote my Synaptics TP driver. I was able to rollback the driver update, and Synaptics driver reappeared.  Next Win10 update same thing. This time when I tried to rollback the update the driver just disappeared. Now, I have no touchpad driver, not even the default MS driver. From my Device Manager:

I then tried to download and install the latest Synaptics Touchpad Driver from the HP driver area for my laptop model: sp8984.exe

But then I got an error message that a newer driver is installed(?):

Well that is weird, because there is no driver installed per Device Manager. So I went to Add/Remove and found the "Synaptics Clickpad Driver Driver", and tried to uninstall, and received this error message:

So Windows is not allowing me to uninstall the driver that it thinks is installed. And because of that, won't let me install the latest driver. 

If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. It's beyond ridiculous that I have a wad of paper taped over the touchpad.

[Echo_Lake]

@BrianMJ

Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.
 

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue:  

Firstly, perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant: (do not skip any troubleshooting steps if you feel steps are repeating) 

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool.

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the  My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

And, also BIOS Update: Follow steps from the link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00042629
 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[BrianMJ]

Hi EL,

I went through all the recommended steps, did the latest recommended Windows update. Checked Troubleshooting and updated the BIOS. I reviewed all the Yellow messages, which really were suggested HP features. But went through them all. Tried the Virtual Support assistant which didn't help, as it assumed the Synaptics driver was installed. Did the system test for the Mouse/Touchpad, but that is just a drag & drop test, which works fine, and is not the issue I am having. So after going through all this, I still don't have the right driver installed for my touchpad. (Setting/Devices/Touchpad/Additional Settings). I've been to Touchpad Troubleshooting, and I cannot install a new driver as recommended, because a corrupted driver is still there. 

[Echo_Lake · Accepted solution]

@BrianMJ

Thank you for posting back.

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue. I would suggest performing system factory reset will put the computer back to the original factory settings in this way all corrupted and outdated software will be removed. 

While doing the recovery there is an option to back up your personal files. If you have not previously done one now is a good time. 

Restoring Files that were Backed Up Using HP Recovery Manager (Windows)You can also contact HP support for assistance. They can remotely access your system to help alleviate difficulties: www.hp.com/contacthp/

The HP Cloud Recovery Tool allows you to download recovery software to a USB drive. You can use the downloaded recovery image file in order to install the Windows operating system. 

• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04758961#AbT3 to perform System Recovery (Windows 10)  and how to use the HP Cloud Recovery Tool (Windows 10)

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[BrianMJ]

Thanks for the recommendation. A factory reset is a big task to fix a small problem -- a lot of squeeze for not a lot of juice. Besides backing-up my documents/files, there are also the other programs and devices that have been installed. Can't I run the Reset with the Keep My Files option? Will this also work?

But the biggest problem is that it does not address the issue of MS overwriting existing drivers. This will happen again during the next big Win10 update. After doing a little research, there is a setting where you can turn off driver updates. Here is the article: https://petri.com/how-to-stop-windows-10-updating-device-drivers. Of course the problem is that this will wholesale prevent driver updates, some of which may be necessary for security or bug issues. Choose your poison. There's gotta be a better way.

Not a great solution, but I will accept it as a solution.

[Echo_Lake]

@BrianMJ

Thank you for posting back.

I would request you to contact our Support and our Support Engineers should be able to Remote into your computer and sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

[Peter2906]

all your support is useless!  I am disappointed  😞