When your Acer touchpad stops working, it can be difficult to navigate your PC. Advanced users may be able to work using quick keys and shortcuts a, but others may need to use an external mouse.
How Can You Update the Acer Touchpad?
It may indeed be more convenient to fix the Acer trackpad than to replace it entirely. Depending on the issue, there are various troubleshooting steps that can be taken to resolve the problem. While some problems are simple to fix, others could necessitate taking the PC to a service or repair facility.
- Check if the Acer Touchpad is Turned Off?
Many laptops come equipped with a shortcut or on/off switch to disable the touchpad when it’s not needed. This can be particularly helpful for users who prefer to use an external mouse or who find that the touchpad interferes with their typing.
You can use another laptop or a desktop to find the hotkey for the specific model you are using. That said, most of the newer Acer models use function keys for disabling the trackpad.
Look at the Function (FN) keys to check whether one of them has the trackpad look-alike icon. Before you try anything else, hit this key (or simultaneously press Function Key and related F-key) and check whether the trackpad is responding or not.
In case this doesn’t work, move on to the next step.
- Restart the Acer Laptop
Complicated software may limit functionality in case the drivers are old. There’s a chance that you are dealing with the “missing driver” issue if you’ve recently modified your software, formatted your system, or installed new software.
To resolve this issue, try restarting your PC first. This should reload all the necessary software for the trackpad to work. Most modern Acer computers have a “plug-n-play” Acer driver that should work to some degree, even if it limits functionality. Although rare, BIOS may revert to a safer configuration, and when it does that, the trackpad could get disabled. So boot into the BIOS (upon restart you will likely see a message stating “Press F9 for booting into BIOS”. Please note that the exact key that must be pressed to enter BIOS may vary from one model to another) and check whether trackapd is marked as disabled in the BIOS settings.
- Update the Acer Driver Automatically
Updating your device drivers is important to keep your PC running smoothly. Sometimes, a malfunctioning device could mean that unexpected changes have been made to its driver.
Drivers could stop working for various reasons, and it is even possible that Windows Security Updates might disable a driver, particularly if a new exploit or risk has been discovered in the code.
One easy way to keep your drivers up to date is to use a software program like DriverDownloader. This tool will inventory all downloads and hardware, besides installing the latest drivers.
If a driver for your trackpad is missing, DriverDownloader will locate the latest driver for it directly from the manufacturer’s site. This saves you the hassle of navigating through the Device Manager utility to manually uninstall the old driver, and then install the latest driver using the Add New Hardware Wizard.
There’s no device for which DriverDownloader doesn’t work. It works for all printers, devices, graphics cords, external hard drives and more. It’s a convenient and easy way to keep your PC running smoothly.
And the best part?
DriverDownloader comes with a no-questions-asked 30-day money back guarantee. Plus, all registered can rely on customer support (via email) if they find themselves in a situation where they need some expert help.
Here’s the link to download DriverDownloader
- Have a Technician Inspect Your Trackpad
Is the problem still persisting? If so, the trackpad might be broken. However, this is not something you can check yourself. Therefore, take your device to the nearest repair center. Alternatively, you can contact Acer. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to check this yourself.
In case the laptop is under warranty or some extended care plan, the cost of repairs might be covered fully or partially. However, if your touchpad is completely broken, you will likely find that using an external USB mouse is cheaper. Another option is to get a new wireless trackpad.
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