Touchpad scrolling - weird things happen

[kiziu]

I had a problem with choosing the right category for my topic, because I don't really know whether is something wrong with my touchpad or is the driver broken or maybe something else entirely. Let me start by saying, that I updated the driver for my touchpad using the newest one from Synaptics (old one on the support page for my laptop). I didn't really notice when it started happening, but now, it is really annoying. The thing is, when I scroll something, weird things happen, e.g. when I scroll a page in Opera, menu bar and top of the window changes to transparent and it simply falls apart; when I scroll a document in Notepad++, it doesn't recognize changes in files and I cannot save them; even when I "practice" scrolling in "Device properties", I get an error "an invalid argument was encountered". Seems, that bad value is sent when I scroll, but I didn't find anything solid about that. Did anyone of You ever came across something similar?

EDIT: What is more, problem doesn't occur when I scroll with USB mouse.

 

[Anak]

Hi kiziu, welcome to 7F

This link may offer some insight:
Firefox 4 touchpad scrolling iissues
It references to a problem with the registry settings with the Synaptic driver, but unfortunately does not explain in detail how the values need modified.

Do you have other browsers that you can check to see if it happens in them?

 

[kiziu]

Of course. After a few reboots, problem seems to be intermittent. Right now, Firefox is handling it well, nothing is affected (at least nothing visible), Opera still falls apart, Chrome seems OK, but I can't use buttons in the upper right corner (as if the window had no focus). Funny thing is, I own Gateway P7811FX, same as the author of the topic You mentioned, wonder, if it's relevant... Still, topic, I think, is more related to Firefox itself, while my problem seems to be more about device and drivers. Maybe later I'll try manually delete anything referencing Synaptics from the registry and system folders, maybe some config file got damaged.

 

[Anak]

You could try running http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html to see if anything is corrupted, try running it more than once.

From the Synaptics site, see #2

My cursor is behaving erratically. There are two possible solutions to this problem:

1. If your TouchPad is dirty, use a small amount of ammonia-based window cleaner on a clean cloth and gently wipe the surface of the TouchPad to remove any dirt or grime. Having a clean TouchPad surface usually eliminates erratic pointer movement.
2. The TouchPad driver may need to be updated. Download the appropriate Synaptics driver from the manufacturer's support site. Uninstall the driver that is not working and then install the downloaded driver.

Source: FAQs and Troubleshooting | Synaptics

Maybe later I'll try manually delete anything referencing Synaptics from the registry and system folders, maybe some config file got damaged.

Would it not be better to run a Synaptics un-installer if they have one?

Otherwise you will have to use Add/Remove Programs then hunt in the registry, and the C:\ drive for leftovers. Something like Ccleaner or Revo uninstaller would help.

And check that Nividia Graphics Card Driver to make sure it is up to date.

 

[kiziu]

Well, full reinstall was the first thing I did. I tried newest one from Synaptics and a bit older from Gateway's support page, both seem to be affected. Of course it would be better, but I don't see any uninstaller. CCleaner throws an error when I try to uninstall the drivers, "Programs and features" is the last resort. Graphic driver is up to date, checks itself daily + I check sometimes manually. What bothers me most is the intermittence. Right now, it seems there is nothing wrong with scrolling, the weirdest thing...

 

[Anak]

Was this problem happening before you updated the driver? If not, try rolling back to a restore point before you updated.

If that is not viable, the error "an invalid argument was encountered" might mean a compatibility issue. Try re-installing the driver in a different compatibility mode.