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Weird Windows 7 touchpad problem Acer

  • 02-12-2009 10:28pm
    #1
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭


    My laptop has a strange problem in Windows 7 which is making things difficult for me. The laptop's an Acer Aspire 7730 by the way.

    Under XP, the touchpad motion is as smooth as silk, everything just works. But in Windows 7, when the system is idle the motion is very jerky and unresponsive. I instinctively know how far to move my finger to get to whatever part of the screen I need but when the touchpad is acting like this I always seem to overshoot or undershoot my target. The thing is that if I open something which puts a load on the CPU, open iTunes and play music, or open a video file, the touchpad goes back to normal and everything is perfect. As a result, the mouse motion is perfect when the machine is booting up but once everything is loaded it goes back to the jerky, unpredictable movement. It's really weird.

    Acer don't have a touchpad driver for Windows 7 for this model so I've been using the Vista driver. I also tried the generic Synaptics driver from their website and that was exactly the same. Using the generic PS/2 mouse driver is a little better (though not as good as it is in XP) but it enables tapping with no way to disable it.

    Has anyone any idea what could be going on here? This, combined with the wireless signal problems I'm having, is nearly making Windows 7 unusable for me.


Comments

  • #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 93,562 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    not too sure but it is defo a driver issue

    try removing the driver

    in the generic driver , try adjusting the settings

    try adjusting mouse settings in control panel for speed

    one feature I truly hate on touch pads is the way they detect slight changes in pressure as a click :(

    moving to laptops in case more suggestions there


  • #3
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I've now identified the problem, just not sure what to do about it.

    It's the Intel speedstep driver (intelppm.sys). If I disable this then the touchpad motion is perfect again. That seems to explain why the motion is fine when the CPU is under load. But of course, permanently disabling this will kill my battery life.


  • #4
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    It's been ages but I thought I'd update this.

    I noticed in AIDA64 with intelppm.sys enabled that the CPU clock speed was listed as 2526 MHz at times (5% faster than it should be). Disabling the driver, as expected, prevents the speed from changing above or below the default 2400. I was surprised that the processor was apparently being overclocked at times.

    Today I unintentionally stumbled across a modified BIOS for this laptop where hidden options had been unlocked - an Acer BIOS is normally extremely crippled. I gave it a go and tested the unlocked CPU power management options. If I disable the CPU C-states it resolves the problem but still allows the clock speed and core voltage to vary with use. I'm guessing a buggy BIOS or SSDT, maybe XP doesn't support the C-states in the same way Windows 7 does.


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