Touchpad Drivers

A touchpad is a pointing device on a specialized surface or pad that translates motion from the user’s fingers into a relative position on the monitor or a sound through the speaker. A touchpad driver is the software protocol responsible for translating each of the movements from the touchpad to the operating system into a language that is easily understood. Touchpads vary in size. They can be found on laptop computers as a substitute for a computer mouse, personal digital assistants (PDA), portable media players, the Zune MP3 player and drum simulators.

The touchpad driver translates the transference of energy or electrical pulse from the fingers into relative motion of the cursor on the monitor. The touchpad uses capacitive sensing and conductance sensing to detect motion of the finger .Capacitance, transfer of energy from a finger or the capacitance between sensors is the most popular of the two technologies. The device typically will not sense the tip of a pencil or glove fingers because the energy will not transfer through the objects.

The touchpad driver translates the motion to give the user an experience and capability analogous to using a mouse. The touchpad technology operates off sensing absolute positions, which transfer into relative motion of the cursor on the screen. Each manufacturer has chosen a certain finger motion combination to represent an action. The touchpad driver is responsible for telling the computer how the manufacturer intended for the motion to be interpreted. For example, for one manufacturer a graze on the side of the touchpad will represent a scrolling motion, while for another manufacturer the two finger dragging motion on the touchpad represents the scrolling motion. Without the touchpad driver, the computer will not respond, because it will not know how to interpret the action.

The touchpad was introduced by the Apple laptop computer in 1994. Touchpads are often used in projects where space conservation is important, such as the new NetBooks.

Touchpad drivers are also employed with drum simulators where the movements need translation to corresponding sounds based upon the tapping of the pad. Of course, the touchpad driver for this device contains significantly different commands from the touchpad of a laptop, Zune or PDA.

Problems with Touchpad Drivers

1) Conflicts with existing Touchpad drivers or other drivers

2) Missing Touchpad drivers

3) Corrupted Touchpad driver files

4) Poorly designed Touchpad drivers

5) Touchpad drivers incompatible with the operating system

6) Problems in the Windows Registry

Troubleshooting Touchpad Drivers

If the movement is not detected on the touchpad or the relative movement of the cursor on the screen is delayed, then there may be a problem with the touchpad driver. If no movement is detected at all, the driver is missing.

If the driver is corrupted or missing, find the original driver and reinstall it. As technology changes there may be some upgrades that may improve performance. Continue to check the manufacturer’s website for touchpad driver updates. Install an upgrade if one is available. Often times a problem can be resolved by reverting to a previous version of the touchpad driver. Consider this as a solution if the problem persists.