X5P15AV lost it's Synaptics touch pad driver after creators update

[Foolth]

After installing the fall creators update, I noticed that the synaptics driver is missing from the sys tray. 

I was using this driver to toggle the touch pad on and off when I was typing for long stretches, and now it's gone. 

The HP Support Assistant insists I am 100% up to date. 

Do I reinstall the driver from August found here on the HP site? Is that even compatible with the Creators update? It doesn't say.

Side note/rant: And by the way, it still sucks that you can't get an official HP power adapter for this laptop here in the united states that works, and the crappy travel port relicator broke after a few months because of the lousy flat cable design, as expected.  

[Flower_Bud]

Hi @Foolth,

Thank you for posting on HP Forums,

Flower_Bud is at your service.

As I understand, touchpad drivers are missing after install Windows update. 

No worries, as I'll be glad to help you, that said, I'll need a few more details to dissect your concern & provide an accurate solution:

Were there any hardware changes made?

You could install Touchpad drivers from HP Website: Click Here

Or 

Follow these steps to install drivers from HP Recovery Manager: 

1. In Windows, search for and open HP Recovery Manager. If prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. If prompted by User Account Control to allow the program to make changes to the computer, click Yes.
2. Under Help, click Reinstall drivers and/or applications and wait for Recovery Manager to generate a list. A combined list of applications and drivers to reinstall appears, with the drivers listed first.
3. Select the checkbox next to the Touchpad drivers to reinstall.
4. When the Installation is completed message displays, click OK.
5. Restart your notebook.

Let me know how that pans out

You could contact our phone support to check for available options to replace the charger. I suggest you contact our phone support. Use this link www.hp.com/contacthp and fill in the details. It will generate a case number and phone number to contact our phone support team.

I hope you have a good day ahead,

And feel free to ask any other queries as well.

[Foolth]

I don't know about simply installing the drivers again. 

First, did Windows 10 Creators remove them because the drivers are in need of an update? If I install the old driver, so I can access all of the palm-rejection settings etc. will it be compatible with the Creators update?

Second, apparently there is a huge security flaw with your laptops and the Synaptics driver.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/11/keyloggers-preinstalled-on-man.html

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05827409

so I installed the "patch" and nothing happened, presumably because the driver was already missing? So am I supposed to go to your recovery page, install the old security-flawed driver then install the path?

Also - why did I hear about this on Facebook via BoingBoing rather than through your HP Support Assistant? Isn't that the whole reason for letting you launch that piece of software every day? so I get security notifications and updates in a timeley manner?

[Riddle_Decipher · Accepted solution]

@Foolth

It looks like you were interacting with @Flower_Bud, but he is out for the day & I'll be glad to help you out, 

I'm the Riddle_Decipher & I'm at your service. 

I reviewed your concern and the entire conversation, did some research and here's what I recommend:

Once you reinstall the drivers and restart the computer, you should be install the security patch (Normally appears on HPSA, if it didn't, you may reinstall it as well), If that doesn't work, you may need to run a quick test on the hardware component using the below steps:

Use the following steps to open the Component Tests menu.

1. Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.

2. Turn on the computer and immediately press Esc repeatedly, about once every second. When the menu appears, press the F2 key.

3. On the main menu, click Component Tests.

   Figure : Selecting Component Tests from the main menu

   

4. The Component Tests menu displays.

   Your Component Tests menu might be different, depending on the components installed on your computer.

   Figure : Sample list of Component Tests

   

Mouse/Touchpad Tests - There are two mouse tests to determine if the mouse is functioning correctly - the Pointer Test and the Drag and Drop Test.

To run the tests, click Mouse/Touch-pad. Select the test you want to run, and then click Run once. Follow the instructions to complete the test.

If any component fails a test, write down the failure ID (24-digit code) before you contact HP Customer Support. 

HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link:  

* Open link:  www.hp.com/contacthp/

* Enter Product number or select to auto detect

* Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"

* Scroll down and click on HP contact options - click on Get a Case & phone number.

They will be happy to assist you immediately. 

If the unit is under warranty repair services under the manufacturer's warranty will be free of charge.

If you would like to thank me for my efforts to help you, 

feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below, 

Followed by clicking on the "Accept as solution".

Have a great day!

[Foolth]

Thanks Riddle,

I actually discovered that the driver is there. I'm not sure if it was there prior to the patch or not, but what the Creators Update did was to toggle the "view in taskbar" setting so the driver settings were hidden. To get to it, you have to go to the touchpad settings, and click the line that says "additional settings" way on the right side of the window. I hadn't tried it because that link was buried with all the links that usually launch support forums in a browser. 

So - all good now. 

[Barachiel]

Hi @Foolth ,

Thank you for the update,

I appreciate your time and efforts,

I'm glad you found the solution for this concern.

You've been great to work with and it has been a genuine pleasure interacting with you.

I hope both you and your product works great and remain healthy for a long time 😉

To simply say thanks for my efforts to assist you, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos.

And select Accepted as solution to help others find the same solution as you have.

Take care now and do have a fabulous week ahead. 🙂