| Failure Mode | Symptom | Likely Root Cause | Error Code (Device Manager) | |--------------|---------|-------------------|------------------------------| | | Touchpad not listed in Settings | Windows Update disabled or missing PTP firmware | Code 28 (No drivers installed) | | Driver Conflict | Cursor jumps erratically | Conflicting OEM and Microsoft drivers simultaneously active | Code 31 (Device not working) | | Registry Corruption | Gestures revert to basic mode | Corrupted HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PrecisionTouchpad | None; behavior change only | | Firmware Incompatibility | Touchpad freezes after sleep | I2C power management conflict | Code 43 (Reported problem) | 5. Troubleshooting Protocol Based on Microsoft Support documentation and field analysis, the following tiered procedure resolves >90% of touchpad driver issues:
Physical Touchpad → I2C/USB → HID Minidriver (OEM) → HIDClass.sys (Microsoft) → Touchpad.sys → User Input System | Component | File Name | Source | Role | |-----------|-----------|--------|------| | Class Driver | HIDClass.sys | Microsoft | Enumerates HID collections | | Touchpad Driver | Touchpad.sys | Microsoft | Processes contacts into gestures | | OEM Miniport | SynTP.sys (Synaptics) | OEM | Converts hardware signals to HID | | User Service | TouchpadUserService.dll | Microsoft | UI for sensitivity/palm rejection | 4. Common Failure Modes & Diagnostic Methods Through analysis of Windows Event Viewer and Device Manager error codes, four dominant failure modes are identified:
