Replacing the whole "Precision Touchpad" module to make it compatible?

• So I've got an Acer Aspire A515-52G Laptop and I'm currently trying to main Windows 7 on it (It's a 2018 UEFI Class 3 Laptop (It has no Legacy/CSM)). I've successfully installed Windows 7 on it using 3rd party tools (UefiSeven) and the only driver that's missing is the touchpad. It's a "Precision Touchpad" which some people reffer to as the "Advanced" option is the BIOS. Sadly, my BIOS is very locked /doesn't have many options in it, which makes me mad because I can't get "Legacy OS' " to recognise my touchpad (It's the last thing I need to finally main Win7). The touchpad works on NT10.0 (Windows 10 and higher) ONLY, and on older OS' it's simply not being detected (It's not listed under Mices / HID Devices, even after enabling "View hidden devices" option). My laptop has an older brother Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G which has full unofficial support for Windows 7. These two are very similar to each other which got me thinking; can I possibly REPLACE THE WHOLE TOUCHPAD MODULE with the A515-51G one to make it compatible with older versions of Windows? Will the option to switch between Basic/Advanced touchpad appear in my BIOS or would I have to create a custom one? If it's not possible to replace it with this model, what touchpad can I replace it with to make it work under Windows 7? The price doesn't make a difference for me. I simply want to use Windows 7. Please, don't change this into a "Upgrade to Windows 10 because Windows 7 is out of support" thread. Thanks!

I agree with SIW2 - this is an interesting idea.

I looked at that possibility when addressing the touchpad issue installing Win7 on an HP15s i5-1021OU. My reference was an HP250 i5-8265U, which does have a fully useable touchpad with Win7.

In this case, the touchpad boards and cables are just chalk and cheese. No hope of substitution. I was able to use old Win7 drivers from HP to have the HP15s touchpad act like a simple mouse (no extended capabilities at all).

Trying to get the newer touchpads to work with Win7 has taxed much smarter hackers than I am - all still to no avail. The old Win-Raid site has a long thread on these attempts. HP and Intel have instilled this incompatibility deliberately of course, to prevent or at least make unpalatable using Win7 on the newer boards above Gen8. Their viewpoint is that most laptop users will not want a laptop without touchpad utility.

They're correct. A laptop without a touchpad isn't a laptop anymore (It almost made me downgrade to Windows 10). I'll order A515-51G's touchpad and try it out, and if it doesn't work, I'll simply refund it. The reason I'm scared to do it, is that A515-51G's touchpad only worked on Windows 7 with the "Basic" option enabled in the BIOS, and without it, it's Windows 10 - only.

@Anotyx

A laptop without a touchpad isn't a laptop anymore ...

Yeah, I guess ...

I've been using Windows laptops of varying progress for well over 30 years, but the thing is that I cut my teeth as it were on large-scale operational mining models, CAD, detailed map makes etc using a mouse (critical for fast precision work in those programs). For me, the touchpad was superfluous and still is to a very large degree. In fact, the only times I use it are when the mouse battery fails and I need to shut down. This is not typical for most users, I expect.

Consequently, the HP15s i5-1021OU I use now, although its' touchpad is barely useable (even almost unuseable), works perfectly under Win7 as the USB3.1 drivers allow the mouse to work without hindrance. I simply don't notice the lack of touchpad extensions.

Having said that, I don't intend to move past the HP15s i5-1021OU with Win7 until it breaks, or something. Too much hassle for greatly diminishing return ...

I actually use the touchpad quite a lot, that's why it's such a big issue for me. I use it every time I have to use my laptop outside my desk, which is actually quite a lot in the last few months. Using Windows 7 kinda "broke" my productivity, since I can't do much without a mouse. Navigating through the OS using the keyboard, spamming the Tab key 20 times to click on something is, believe me or not, hard, annoying and time consuming. I think I've finally made up my mind, and I'll order A515-51G's touchpad. I avoid looking at other laptops, since their touchpad may simply not fit.

Hi

Depending on which brand of touchpad you have, Synaptics/Elan, you will need to install its driver
A seperate driver will then appear under the Mouse/pointing device driver option
As they are not true OEM drivers, you should be able to find them

you didn't actually mention if there are any unknown/problem device drivers

Hello. Answering torchwood, my touchpad is listed under HID Devices as HID Compliant Touchpad, and even the drivers from my manufacturer don't install properly on (my Hardware ID isn't listed under the driver's inf, and it doesn't really change much anyways.) I'm not sure if I already said that, but my touchpad doesn't require any drivers other than Intel IO to work. Now, answering SIW2, pressing R+N on startup enabled some more tabs, but I haven't seen any touchpad related one. There's also no driver that'd make my touchpad list under Mice's. That's an option A515-51G had. After switching it to Basic in the BIOS, the touchpad would appear under Mice's and would require a driver to work, but after switching it to Advanced, it'd appear under HID Devices not requiring any drivers to work (Like the one I have right now) (It's called "Precision Touchpad", which means, that the touchpad communicates with Windows directly through the Intel IO bullshit.