My granddaughter has an Acer Travel Mate 4150. The O/S is Win XP Home SP2.

The touch pad and buttons are not working. They were OK until a few days ago.

If a USB mouse is connected it works without any problem.

Device manager states that “Synaptics Touch Pad v.5.8 PS/2 on Port 3” is installed and working properly. However it is obviously not working.

The laptop was bought only 8 weeks ago and is still under warranty. However before going through the hassle of returning it to Acer for their attention I was wondering if there may be a simple solution to the problem.

Thanks for any suggestions about the possible cause and remedy.

Call Acer tech support. Do you or did you recently plug in an external mouse? Have you done anything top the system right before the mouse stopped working? Install new hardware? Install software? Discover a virus or spyware?

Thanks for prompt reply.

An external mouse was not plugged in until after it became obvious that touchpad was not working. Apart from that item, no new software or hardware has been installed.

No sign of any virus or spyware.

I gather that my granddaughter has sent several e-mails to Acer Tech. Support but so far no reply from them. One of her fellow students said a new driver was needed but I advised her not to do anything at this stage until she had contacted Acer in case she violated warranty.

I think you need to call Acer Tech support and get the unit fixed ASAP. You need to make sure it is registered. So register the unit on line before calling for support.

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

That's another one to add to my arsenal of simple solutions. Glad it worked out. I assume Acer tech support would have solved the problem just as quickly. As for reading the manual, I don't think so.

i'm very glad till i registered an account to express it!

i was having the same problem, my touchpad was not working and it was really a pain for a university student like me...

i didn't have an internet access until i came home,

guess what? i have searched google"touchpad not working"and tried the trobleshoot and a lots of recommendations but all didn't work!


Then, i searched "touchpad not working on acer" and the first link(i'm feeling lucky) brought me here.





PROBLEM SOLVED! THANK YOU!

You are welcome.

Wow! thank you for the posting.. i have the same exact problem.. i've tried reinstall couple of times and all kinds of troubleshooting until i gave up and start carrying a mouse everywhere.. didnt know it's actually that simple.. really helpful!!

i've been checking everything to do with the device to see if something wasn't set-up properly. was going to take the thing back to the shop until i read this!!

thanks

Thanks a lot,
This thread has made my day, last night i too face the same issue with my acer aspire 5101, touchpad not working, (Fn+F7) brings all back to normal.
Thanks again...
Cheers
Sib

hi
me facing the same problems 2 days ago, tried Window help by searching "toupad no response", but found nothing.
Suddenly i remembered internet here may give solution, came here and solved the (Fn+F7)
So simple

THanks a million
p.s i had spent 3 hours for that......
thanks

Exellent tip. As no on ever reads the manual nice to know you can find someone who has and learns what their new tool can do.

THX

L

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

Woohoo! Thanks so much... I had the same problem on my new Acer Aspire 5630 and was about to make arrangements to send it back to Acer for repairs. Thanks to your tip, my touchpad is working again :)

Chris

The touchpad on my 5630 stopped working too - not just in windows xp, but also in Ubuntu (edgy & feisty) - There must be either a hardware switch involved, or the boot sector is written to, as the two OS's are on different partitions, neither of which is mounted when the other loads.

Pressing Fn-F7 works in Ubuntu, though, and the setting is remembered when windows loads.

[Edit]

And thanks for reading the manual - I'm glad somebody does.

Thanks!
Spread the word "Fn+F7" will restore your Acer Touchpad ... this was one of the greatest catch I got from you guys (Thanks a million times!) after spending 3 days and deeply searching for a solution including debug into the driver (...for sure M$ fault on this:mad: ).

The touchpad suddenly stop working on my "ACER TravelMate 4652LMi" notebook some days ago, and all happened after the Windows Automatic Update, no doubt on this ... what is strange is that restoring to previous checkpoint did not help solving the problem... looks like the flag is controlled directly by BIOS and somehow the last windows update has change it (I am wondering what other dirty things they do? Maybe install spyware into the BIOS...just speculating since I have no proof).

Again ... Million Thanks for this great quick fix!

Best Regards,
Kallla

thank you for the posting.. i have the same exact problem.. :)

nedah.
Thanks for that, I tried everything then googled it and found this thread....I’m also embarrassed that I didn't think of the help key.
I'm glad I found this site though,………. hello all.
oldgit.

Tried uninstalling the device, tried system restore. very annoing...

just had to thank you for this thread :)

/Johan

Another originally confused Acer user who now has his touchpad working again.

Many thanks for the simple but effective advice.

hi all,
I have the touchpad problem still. Even after using Fn+f7, still my touch pad is not working..Can anyone please help me in sorting out this problem.. There are yellow color exclamation in the device manager...:confused:

rozarioanand

With the yellow exclamation point, it looks like you have a bigger problem than the Fn key...so start a new thread, giving all the details including what item/s. and the reason/error that Device Manager is saying you have...

hi all,
I have the touchpad problem still. Even after using Fn+f7, still my touch pad is not working..Can anyone please help me in sorting out this problem.. There are yellow color exclamation in the device manager...:confused:

what is the problem- right-click on the yellow exclimation piont and bring up the properties dialog - it will give you an error code- what is that error code?

Wow, thank you.
I have the same problem, although I'm using an Aspire one. Asked many ppl, installed new driver but no solution. And then google luckily gets me here.
Not sure if what caused that error or I pressed Fn + F7 by accident, lol.:D

Why do they even put these functions and buttons on laptops to begin with!?

Laptop designer: "Ooh, I got one! We'll put a slidey button that turns the wireless on and off right on the front bezel where people can accidently turn it off! Then we'll put the wireless symbol next to it so that only techies know what it's for or that it even exists! Then we'll further obfuscate the matter by not mentioning this button in the manual or even the quick-start poster!" :mad:

The wireless switch, the key combo for turning off the touchpad, the key combo for turning off the main LCD screen, the key combo for the uncomfortable NUM PAD alternate keys that turn the letter 'L' into the number '3'... The list goes on! WTF?? Who wants this cr@p? Why do I spend so much time with family members "fixing" these functions that no one ever uses!? :mad:

Thank you so much to the replies on these thread.
no one believe but from last 3days i have been actually in a big fuss about my laptop's touchpad, i tried all possible things, all cd's all drivers, i upgraded my system, then atlast i made cd's of data and formatted my system and made new partition and installed newly operating system, BUT STILL MY TOUCHPAD WAS NOT WORKING..
somehow i used my keyboard to go to google, made search of troubleshoot, got pcguide link and i came to know that it is only fn+f7 key that was pressed, i dont even remember when i pressed this key by mistake.
BUT I WANT TO SAY THAT ACER PEOPLE MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, A RESTART OR A UPGRADATION OR A NEW INSTALLATION MUST BRING THE TOUCHPAD TO DEFAULT.

ONCE AGAIN THANKS

thank you so much Ms. Grandmother of Student...I was soo afraid I broke the thing..I just bought the laptop less thn a month ago after I "accidently" dropped the previous one.. I really dd not need this!!! I am proud to join this group of touch pad users!!

Abby

I was as happy as you were when I found out that Fn+F7 DOES THE MAGIC.

Apparently, I have experisnced another strange behaviour of the touch pad.The pointer moves but I can't select using the touchpad only the left and right buttons work when I try to select. Even stranger before I log in I can select the user using the touchpad.

I am using an Acer Aspire 5570z.

Any ideas?

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

Ngara, Glad to hear that you now have your Touchpad enabled.

I no longer have access to an Acer laptop but on my HP laptop the "tapping" function of the Touchpad is enabled/disabled via the Control Panel/Mouse/Settings.

I can only suggest that there may be a similar setting on your Acer which allows tapping upon booting up but after you log in the tapping function is disabled.

Hope you manage to get it sorted.

nedah

Thank you so much for this bit of info about the touchpad. It's had me baffled for weeks!

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

hello i would just like to thank you for making this post
i have a toshiba satellite and i had the same problem except for mine it was <shift ,fn, F9> i basicaly did different combination till i found that out hope i helped satellite users

bye

-kt

whew!!! i was trying to connect my laptop to tv.. and suddenly... touchpad stopped working!!!

I reinstalled xp.. still doesn work... but in redhat it works... so formatted the whole thing... and reinstalled... still nope....

after 3 hours... with least hope tried searching the internet... and within 3 mins had my touchpad working... but feeling very foolish for wasting a complete day!!!


THANKS!!!

Since this seems to be one of the more popular and useful notebook threads...I'm going to make it a sticky.

Thank you soooo muuuchh for this tip. I have just spent four hours trying to get the touchpad working on my OH laptop. He is not techie at all and left it for me to sort out today. I probably know less than him!
How come the acer tech guys don't seem to know about this key. They told me to return the laptop!!
My OH is going to be so impressed with my 'computer knowlege' (wink wink)
Thanks guys

Thanks so much for the <Fn> <F7> touch pad toggle. We have an Acer Aspire and now that I know, I can make out what the Fn icon is on the F7 key! It shows a square with a finger touching it. (it's really not an obvious icon to recognize)

We just got this laptop about 2 months ago and I've been meaning to pull the manual to see what all the function icons stand for but haven't gotten around to it. I will be opening that manual right away now!

Thanks again!

:) THANK YOU for this thread. It solved my problem.
I have been doing all sorts of things on my acer since last night.

I have another problem though. I changed my OS from Vista to XP since I like working with XP. I was able to download all the drivers for XP from the Acer website andwas able to fix most of the things except the sound card. I installed the Realtek sound driver but my laptop could not detect any sound device.

Can somebody help me??
thanks in advance.

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

Thanks a bunch for this tip. I was at my wit's end as to why the touchpad on my new Acer Aspire laptop stopped working all of a sudden and googling led me to this forum. Now things are back to normal. Thanks again.

i registered just to thank nedah for taking the time to explore and post the fn+f7 magic spell! i got up to find that after having used the mouse (pluged to the usb) the touchpad isnt working anymore. my 2 weeks old acer aspire 4930 didnt read any touchpad device under device manager, while in my old hp, the mousepad detection was so easy and handy even while having a mouse plugged. i also wanted to take the laptop to the shop. i went through help and troublshooting, but the mouse pad just doesnt seem to exist and since i havent disabled anything, how cuold i have think of using the combination keys. i used my recovery cd hoping there was an easy access to the solution, but nah..this is not how recovery drives work..i have to restart everything and start from the black screen!!
anyway, it is nice to disable the mouse pad while typing, if u type while its working, it will take u places around the page!

[
i could kiss u for the information u have just given you dont know how much money u have just saved me my son had pulled of all the buttons of my acer and i left it in to be fixed when i went to collect it the man told me the touch pad was not working but did tell me i could use a mouse i had just gone on the internet and the history of the sites scrolled down and half way down it said acer touchpad not working i knew i hadnt typed this in and the only other person to have the computer was the men in the shop i clicked on it and it brought me to this site so now i belive ur man know all along how simple it was to fix and was trying to make some more money from me so thank u very much u have saved me money i had not got:) :) :)

yeah, just do the code that o got you above, works on mine machine, i don`t know why but after bootup i had to reload these modules by hand to get touchpad working, since it`s synaptics you shouldn`t have much problem.

Press Ctrl+Fn+F7 (at the same time) to enable the touchpad if Fn+F7 doesn't work.

I had exactly the same prob. Acer Aspire 5630 touchpad not working. Following my reading the above notes I did the 'Fn-F7' route and guess what----it now works. i can't thank you enough NEDAH. I've now joined this forum. Thanks

i have a 5920g laptop for a year now, the tuchpad does not work i have tried fn-f7 its not working ,There are no yellow or red color exclamation in the device manager ,i went in to control panel theres nothing a miss there ,so not shure what to do as it could be something silly that acer mite chare me for, as solftware is not coverd under the warrantee .

i have a 5920g laptop for a year now, the tuchpad does not work i have tried fn-f7 its not working ,There are no yellow or red color exclamation in the device manager ,i went in to control panel theres nothing a miss there ,so not shure what to do as it could be something silly that acer mite chare me for, as solftware is not coverd under the warrantee .

The touch pad is hardware and they cannot charge you for that....

thanks for you,re input,i just was thinking that it got its nickers in a twist with the software ,anyway i will send it back to acer.

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.

The same thing happened on my ACER, aspire one.. but thx to u ...it became alright now

Thank you soo much for posting this :) I was getting really pissed because I hate using a computer mouse! Thank you :)

i had just assumed it was a hardware failure & before dissecting it thought I,d better be 100% certain, glad I did "fn F7" indeed, boy do I feel stoopid.

Yes hello. I'm have the same problem and am trying what is suggested but it's still not working. What am I doing wrong? I tried the Fn F7, no go...tried the Ctrl Fn F7...nothing...I just can't get the damn thing to work

I too have tried Fn + F7 and Ctrl + Fn + F7.. The green writing comes up saying it is enabled but it does not work. now, I used to get a little sys tray icon, and when you touched it, a tiny finger appeared moving on the icon. this no longer appears. It device mgr items are listed as user interfaces but nospecific names, so you can not tll which is a touchpad.

So does anyone know what process should be running for this, or wha process relates to the sys tray icon ? I don't think the touch pad has died, I think the driver is no longer being loaded but I have no idea what it is.

Thanks.

uhh well I either do not understand what exactly I'm supposed to do or my problem is worse but mine doesn't work, I tried the f1 and nothing happened and f7 both with fn. neither my mouse or keyboard work, I'm typing with the on screen keyboard and a plugged inn mouse.

Nevermind, I fixed it by redownloading the driver and it worked, just now it starts going real slow from time to time.

Thanks for posting everything you did. My girlfriends Acer touchpad stopped working just a few days ago. I have been using a wireless usb mouse for a temporary replacement because the pad wasn't working. I'm going to try and fix it when I get home today. Thanks allot.

Maybe try a nvidia sound driver...? idk.

Hi Ya'll,

I've read your fixes with great interest; I purchased my first Acer laptop for a very clear reason; for the bucks and the AMD duron processor, the graphics it was a steal; not to mention coming in a 3 gigs as a secondary laptop "in my life.."

However, this baby is a few days old and noted unlike my Toshiba's, SONY's, and overpriced HP's (never again history) this pointer issue with mouse was evident day 1 or 2. It really upset me. I consider myself more than qualified; I've even replaced a keyboard on a SONY laptop and anyone here can testify that is no fun even for those who do it for a living.

Now this is a very inexpensive "not a netbook" because for $369 at Best Buy here is a spiffy processor I've never liked Intel they are just butt end slow, and decent graphics with a DVD drive and 3 gigs for under $400. Again if I compare it to the Toshiba I am using as my primary the keyboard is a little more gentle this one is tippy tappy; and of course when the pointer got stuck in a very lengthy email to one of my support groups I had to reboot due to it on a brand new laptop; I became concerned.

If you go the old school route (Control Panel) which allows you mouse and pointer options I guarantee you there are too many options for a novice to this brand laptop, and why would you mess with a new laptop with so many options. As someone else pointed out with updates just going to system restore may not help but the physical default may.

I just went to "Acer" on the menu they have two PDF files one is a quicker version the other lengthier and my laptop did not come with the "retard proof picture with numbers and buttons the duh set up file" so here it was right on the first page. My on button clearly has 3 functions; one of which is "on and off" for internal touch pad, the other is "on and off for wi fi" and of course the regular "oh my turn the computer on."

Now I believe many of us look for this to work and may I be as stupid as to ask where the h is the fn button or do you mean use your letters (fn) and then hit the F1 then F7? Just curious I can be blonde!

Oh my Acer is Aspire 5532 it that helps or means anything also am entirely new to your board so hope I am saying, asking or doing this properly....

Karen B.

i have a acer 5532 and the mouse pad aint working either. but i tried pressing fn f7 and nothing the left and right click won't work either. any other ideas? or if i am pressing it wrong. any help would be great. i am using a wireless mouse right now and it sucks.

I have just had the same problem, Fn-F7 doesn't work, there is no Fn function hotkey for the mousepad on my laptop, the Acer 5732z

IF YOU HAVE A NEW ACER LAPTOP READ THIS

The toggle mousepad on/off button is located NEXT TO THE POWER BUTTON. If it is lit up with an orange dot the mousepad is turned off. Press it again.

The button is very easy to press when you are trying to turn off your laptop, and the picture on it doesn't really resemble a mousepad. What a great idea Acer. Surely it would have been better to make some software to disable the mousepad, hidden away in several menus for people who need it, rather than NEXT TO THE POWER BUTTON. What's next? Format HD button next to the spacebar?

I'm not really an expert but in my experience, when a mousepad breaks from wear and tear, the buttons still work, and the actual pad is the first thing to go.

Hope this saves someone throwing a laptop out of the window in frustration.

Hi all, i have an acer aspire 5732Z and suddenly the touchpad stopped working. I tried Fn F7 but this didn't work for me :confused: i then found another site which suggested a different button...

Either side of the power button is a small button the 1 to the left disables the touchpad. Literally pressed 1 button and it worked again!!! :)

Problem solved

This evening my granddaughter brought the notebook to me so that I could assess the situation at first hand – previous information was from telephone conversations.

Looking at the keyboard I found a help key combination Fn-F1 which produced a menu listing several hot key combinations. One such combination was Fn-F7 which toggled the touchpad enabled/disabled.

Thanks again for your interest. Just glad the solution was so simple. Hopefully(!) my granddaughter will now read the manual when she gets back to University to-morrow.
Thanks nedah I am really happy to be here I also had come across the same problem then google brought me here. The solution is so simple thanks again.

Was reading this thread because, it was quite a long time I had to use
an external mouse on my ACER 5541 becausqe suddenly the touchpad
stopped working and I didn't know if it was due to a failing driver a defective
hardware part of something else... :mad:

Anyway one day, before calling some service or hotline, I decided to try
a little more... and found this thread... but the sequence F1-F7 didn't
work. I had also reinstalled some drivers and also rebooted in "Safe Mode",
I was even planning to try a Linux boot CD, and then I found
the button.... or thinking that some connector had been out of
some internal socket when travelling : THIS IS NOT THE CASE,
please READ FURTHER !! :confused:

PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE FROM "Just_to_inform_you"
if you have a new ACER LAPTOP and your touchpad suddenly
stopped working.... :eek:

ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE POWER SUPPLY BUTTON,
the OPPOSITE side of the NET ON/OFF BUTTON
there is also another button with a small draw of
a hand over some square surface...

IF YOUR TOUCHPAD DOES NOT WORK,
AND THE LIGHT ON THE LEFT HANDSIDE OF THE ON/OFF BUTTON
OF YOUR ACER LAPTOP IS ON, IT MEANS YOU HAVE ACCIDENTALLY
PUSHED THE TOUCHPAD OFF BUTTON, JUST PUSH THIS BUTTON
AGAIN ONCE (the one on the left of the PC ON/OFF button)
IN ORDER TO MAKE THE LIGHT OFF, AND YOUR TOUCHPAD
WILL SUDDENLY REVIVE.

:p


Thanks to "Just_to_inform_you" but I think it was worth to
insist on this as this could help A LOT OF PEOPLE
looking long time for a solution....

Feedback welcome of your experience....

Pour les francophones et les moteurs de recherche avec mot-clefs
en français....

Si votre touchpad de notebook ACER s'est mis soudainement
à ne plus fonctionner, regardez le bouton situé à gauche
de votre bouton d'allumage de votre laptop, il y a l'icône d'un
doigt au-dessus d'une surface carrée. C'est le bouton TOUCHPAD ON/OFF.
Si la lumière est allumée votre TOUCHPAD est OFF.
Il suffit de réappuyer sur le bouton pour que votre TOUCHPAD soit
de nouveau ON. Ceci devrait résoudre votre problème.
Je crois ne pas avoir été le seul à utiliser pendant plusieurs semaines
mon PC avec une souris externe.

Feedback bienvenu.

Cordialement,

bz438

Thanks for adding the French translation.

@just_2_inform_u.... Thanks a lot lot bro..I was almost throwing ma laptop outside the window...tried everything fn-f7 and all other ****in stuffs bt nothng got solved.... I really cant believe the solution was infront of me---the great toggle mousepad button beside the power button nd i searchd the whole ****in world....lol...Thanks once again bro....

I'm a teacher and long-long-time programmer, so I know my way around. I don't have fn+f1 help option--that keypress combo makes my laptop sleep. I tried fn+f7 and ctrl+fn+f7. Need I say nothing good happened?

It might be an Acer laptop. On bottom model is said to be EL81. It has Elantech touchpad and KTP ware drivers for it. This happened before [over a year ago] but I found updated KTP drivers, installed them: no problem! Until 2 days ago. Downloaded updated drivers again and installed: no luck.

Buttons to left of power from right to left take me to email [outlook] and a new IE page. Two more are marked with 2 and, furthest left, 1. Those last 2 do nothing visible. The icon both look like a dog-eared sheet of paper with an arrow pointing to the right.

I was typing away on Labor Day, going strong, and suddenly: no pointer. And nasty random problem-sounding beeps from the speaker.

What do I do?

If there IS a manual, I doubt I ever got one. Nobody else seems to know where one is. I don't know where to go to download one, but at this point I figure I'm out of luck.

But others have felt that and then found the magic keypress here.

I type so fast and use so many ctrl and alt keypresses that I could easily have hit "that button" but I can't "un-hit" it.

Help?

P.S. In editing before posting I left out important info: outside company [over]manages our computers. They've taken off all identification about manufacturer. Previous laptop [notebook] was an Acer.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/34344-ms-1029-elantech-touchpad.html

An outside company manages all my school's laptops, so although I CAN get into Control Panel and System Properties, I can't access the Device Manager [MMC's snapin is disabled by policy settings:mad: ].

Yesterday, one of their techs "tried" to fix the problem, but I wasn't able to watch since I was with a student. I had told him earlier that I had new KTP ware drivers for Elantech, but he didn't ask for them. I had also told him about the remedies I found at the link from WhyzMan:

Uninstall KTP Ware and let Windows provide drivers
or
Install //www.synaptics.com/ drivers over Elantech [what I found, by the way, was for Asus, not Acer, which the tech confirmed was the maker and model EL81].

Tech guy just laughed. If he even tried anything, it was no more than to uninstall KTP and go with Windows drivers, but by the time we were both finished, he said, "Need new computer". I had another class and then school was out so I bolted. Messed up week; needed air.

Why turn down a new computer:confused: , you ask? Joe, the previous tech, [finally:D ] gave me drive C: privileges and the plethora of advantages that brings [try working without them!! :eek: Too numerous to mention]. New computer: need privileges again.:rolleyes: I don't think the Grandfathering argument will get me these privileges and I'll be more screwed than I am now. I'd much rather use USB mouse than face the hamstrung alternative. But I'd rather the pad worked.

Is there any way to remove old KTP drivers and hope Windows can make pad work without using Device Mgr? Or to install new KTP or Synaptics drivers? Seems like it would take more than just copying a few files to Win\sys32 or wherever.

I'm comfortable editing the Registry [and have, thanks to the privileges, to fix, among other things, a broken file association that I couldn't fix any other way... good ol' Joe...].

So ... any other HELP would be appreciated.

[I just remembered: Tech suggested replacement keyboard/touchpad. I just think it's software since it was working fine and then not at all. Wouldn't there be a time of declining 'health' vs. sudden death?]

I have an Acer Aspire 5741-5763.
SAME PROBLEM :(
Touch pad freezes, and unnecessarily starts ZOOMING the page as I try to move pointer.
Anyone has any idea to fix this.
Thanks

I'd go in both cases for a removal and reinstallation of the drivers. In both cases they sound corrupt...

Back to my Acer EL81... With no USB mouse installed, the cursor appears briefly when Windows starts then disappears immediately. I have seen it at the network [domain] login screen where it of course doesn't work.

If the touchpad were bad, wouldn't I see a cursor that just doesn't move when I try?

Seems like seeing no cursor at all more likely suggests software problem. Your thoughts?

I'm asking because I'd like to confidently tell the tech that it's more likely software [which I'm pretty sure it is] and insist/suggest trying removing, installing updated, or installing Synaptics drives. But I can only do this if Whyzman or anybody else has reason to think it is software. Since I've never had a bad touchpad, I have no idea. Touchpad once before didn't work and merely copying new drivers [and maybe DLLs--over a year ago] worked.

Or should I just go with tech's suggested replacement keyboard/touchpad. But wouldn't there be a time of declining 'health' vs. sudden death if it were hardware?

P.S. Heeeeeyyyyyy... why I gotta be a "Neophyte Geek"? I ain't no neophyte!

Are you locked out of the BIOS/setup as part of the security? Do you have a CD/DVD drive on these?

I'm wondering if you'd be able to try a Linux install to see if it's hardware or software related??

PM from Whyzman, so here I am. :)

I'm no expert, but...
To see if [Puppy] Linux operates all of the hardware OK [therefore it's a Windows software problem?]

1. If you use a Puppy Linux optical disk [CD-RW?]...
[They're all smaller (more or less)=(100MB about) than the typical ISO]
Depending on which Puppy version you use...
The Linux kernel used may be older or newer, and include more/less newer/older drivers for items of hardware.
Hence you should try to pick a sensible Puppy to match the age of the hardware.
Or else make various Puppies/puplets and try them one ofter the other to see which do the necessary.

2. As the Puppy is loaded from the optical disk...
It detects the connected hardware...
Then displays to the user a list of items [mouse/trackpad], with what it thinks is connected displayed highlighted at the top of the list.
If you agree, you click OK and proceed to the next item.
Items to be configured include mouse, keyboard, video [screen-size, color-depth], language, geographic-region.
Having made these config choices, you are taken to the Puppy desktop, where hopefully all of your hardware will be functioning.

3. VARIOUS PUPPIES:
For newer hardware:
Lupu-511
Recently released. Based on Ubuntu Lucid.
Got on Tue 7th Sept 2010 from:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58978
md5sum = 6e34d1bcdad74df7d6352a6d672522ec lupu-511.iso

Mid-range?
Boxpup-431
My favourite.
Minimalist [e.g. doesn't include a driver for my printer!]
Elegant, stylish, beautifully made, nice touches.
Got on 2009 Nov 29th from:
http://www.puppylinux.asia/tpp/NOP/puppy-431-boxpup.iso
File got here:
http://www.puppylinux.asia/tpp/NOP/
Original thread is here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=49468
md5sum = 30cc7611479877a9c0317477764acaa7 puppy-431-boxpup.iso
Got from here:
http://www.puppylinux.asia/tpp/NOP/puppy-431-boxpup_md5sum.txt

For older hardware:
Legacy OS
NEW = Recently released, 2010 Sept 2nd:
http://linux.softpedia.com/progDownload/Legacy-OS-Download-31563.html
Which page was got to from here:
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Systems/Linux-Distributions/Legacy-OS-31563.shtml
Which was got to from here [the thread]:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=59463
Here's the ISO:
http://download2us.softpedia.com/dl/b6936a3370e3b9777db82b052bae60be/4c7fa867/500031563/linux/legacyos.iso
And the file holding the md5sum:
http://download2us.softpedia.com/dl/3d4b7d9090c72a78ae7c9bba29d1a5cb/4c7fa867/500031563/linux/legacyos%20md5sum

4. The 1st time you run Puppy [from the optical disk alone] it is running totally in RAM [if there's enough to hold the contents of the ISO = 150MB?], so if you shut down without making a pupsave file [no efffect upon any storage (internal HDD?)], there will be no trace that you ever ran it.

5. EL81 Notepad. (http://www.asimobile.com/notebook_specs_el81.htm)

Sylvander...

No expert either...

If the touchpad drivers are not found on the Linux version chosen, can you add them if they are available? You mentioned that the drivers for your printer are not on the version you have...are they simply not available for Linux?

Thanks for taking a look! ;)

[edit] If drivers for a particular hardware item are not discovered, will you be notified by the Linux version that no drivers for a selected item were found??

DaveSlomer...

I'm not sure if your tech is aware of the advantages of running a Linux distro to help isolate hardware/software problems.

My research after Sylvander posted was that the latest versions of Puppy Linux appear to include drivers for both the Elantech and Synaptic touchpads.

In the event that security blocks BIOS/setup access, you could consider having a Puppy Linux disc ready for the tech to try out.

You had a number of questions regarding diagnostics for what might or might not be a hardware vs software problem. My answer is that these are computers...need I say more? :D

In a perfect world, logic and mathematics would more than likely have a forum to display their wares. Since, however, we live in an entropic world we are beset with variables that constantly keep screwing things up...you can quote me on that! ;)

Back to topic... As Sylvander said above, Linux runs in RAM and does not need the harddrive, and thus any portion of Windows and its ilk to mess with the equation. Theoretically, a viable version of Linux that matches your hardware could help to isolate a hardware problem currently complicated by Windows and supporting drivers.

1. "If the touchpad drivers are not found on the Linux version chosen, can you add them if they are available?"
I believe so, but I don't know how.
The Puppy experts do know how.

2. "You mentioned that the drivers for your printer are not on the version you have...are they simply not available for Linux?"
(a) They most certainly are available.
They are included in the kernel used in certain other Puppies.
e.g. Included in the Lupu-511 kernel, which I have in use, with print capability enabled.
I made a paper chart for the 6 Puppies I have in use, showing which features/programs are functional for each.
This is instead of concentrating all my efforts on one Puppy.
When I know I'm about to do a particular job, I look at the chart, and boot the CD for the Puppy that is best for that job.
e.g. winefile works in ALL.

(b) It was suggested to me in a thread at the Puppy forums, to contact Gray, who made Boxpup, to ask that the necessary might be done to accomodate me.
[Don't know if it's worth the hassle for him or me]
Something about altering/editing the kernel to include the necessary printer driver.
Or swapping in [to the ISO] the kernel from another Puppy ISO that includes the driver.
A recent development introduced by Barry Kauler [can't remember it's name] is to allow the user to CHOOSE which kernel to use with a Puppy.

(c) But I believe I've seen people say that a driver can be installed...
By simply using a "pet" file I think.
Perhaps I'm wrong there.

3. A Puppy forums Google search (http://wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html)-> brought up lots of hits for [B]Elantech.
e.g. Here's the list. (http://www.google.com/cse?cx=015995643981050743583%3Aabvzbibgzxo&q=Elantech&sa=Search&cof=FORID%3A0&siteurl=wellminded.com%2Fpuppy%2Fpupsearch.html)
And here's one of those...
The Puppeee 4.3x thread. (http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=48288)

Yes, it was the Puppeee 4.3x thread where I saw the Elantech and Synaptic drivers for the touchpads had been included.

That would be interesting to know the procedure for adding appropriate drivers for personal needs such as your printer driver...

"A recent development introduced by Barry Kauler [can't remember it's name] is to allow the user to CHOOSE which kernel to use with a Puppy."
Here it is: "Wary 0.7 mix-n-match". (http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=01792)

And his thread on the topic. (http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=59514)

Thanks, Whyzman, for the help. Rather than mess with drivers, "Mac" [tech guy] gave me a new pc and merely swapped hard drives. Happy camper. Very.

P.S. If I didn't mention it, when Mac got into Device Manager and looked at [for] mouse driver, he said there was none listed, and he said it wouldn't let him even try to install one--like the pc was saying, "Mouse? Touchpad? Not installed in THIS pc. Watchoo doin' here?" So maybe it really was hardware after all. Don't care. Keyboard has all keys [only the Alt Gr was missing from the old, innards scavenged to fix down arrow key, slightly more important], and he let me keep the old battery, so now I even have a backup battery!

Now having issues with sensitivity of touchpad, but BTDT; just have to find the 'adjuster' [used to be in systray] and the time.

I know where to go now for future help. Nice forum.

Glad to know all is well in DaveSlomerVille!!

Yes, we do have a great group of willing to help folks here. To try and know everything about these dratted digital devices is a difficult task. I'd like to toss a special thanks to Sylvander for responding so quickly to my backdoor request for Linux info... ;)

Well, don't be a stranger...we get a lot of questions regarding laptops. :)

I have the same problem with my acer aspire 7530. The curse point on the dialog box or anyway but I can't use my touch pad to make any selection or click on it.

The pointer move anywhere I move it bt if I tab the touch pad nothing happens I use clicking button left and right to click.

Pls pls people help me, I have serious deadline at work I could be fired for It.






I was as happy as you were when I found out that Fn+F7 DOES THE MAGIC.

Apparently, I have experisnced another strange behaviour of the touch pad.The pointer moves but I can't select using the touchpad only the left and right buttons work when I try to select. Even stranger before I log in I can select the user using the touchpad.

I am using an Acer Aspire 5570z.

Any ideas?

I have the same problem with my acer aspire 7530. The curse point on the dialog box or anyway but I can't use my touch pad to make any selection or click on it.

The pointer move anywhere I move it bt if I tab the touch pad nothing happens I use clicking button left and right to click.

Pls pls people help me, I have serious deadline at work I could be fired for It.

Go out and get a USB mouse and get your work done today. Figure out the problem after the deadline.

Thanks I did that but how am I going to solve this problem cos I tried every I could and am not anyway that good with computers.

Any1 there please help me.

Ppl any1 who can help me?????





I have the same problem with my acer aspire 7530. The curse point on the dialog box or anyway but I can't use my touch pad to make any selection or click on it.

The pointer move anywhere I move it bt if I tab the touch pad nothing happens I use clicking button left and right to click.

Pls pls people help me, I have serious deadline at work I could be fired for It.

You can try getting the drivers from here (http://www.driver7vista.com/laptop/acer-aspire-7530-laptop-drivers).

Hi I would like to thank all those who posted solutions to the non functioning acer touchpad issue. Tried all the various solutions mentioned, one after the other, till I got to the post where I found out about the small button with the orange light next to the power button!! Real cool way to make people go nuts.

Thanks again to PC guide and all those who offered the solutions.

Thanks a Million for the solution...... I too have been breaking my head on getting my touchpad back to work. I thought a virus crashed it all :)

Thanks a Lot.... I have decided to post my issues and solution on this forum in future, seeing so many that benefited from this one small tip.

I have been struggling with this bug for last six months. The soln of Fn + F7 was so simple. thanx a ton

I can't believe how easy it was too solve. I have literally been using a usb mouse with my laptop for months until I finally decided to have a proper look on the internet to as why it wasn't working. I assumed it was because I spilt a drink on it so didn't bother looking for a solution!

Thanks again. :)