There's a suggestion elsewhere, (link below), that this 'might' be caused by malware damage.
Does the touchpad work in Safe Mode? If so, that could point to some malware preventing the touchpad from working in normal mode
Are you using a USB mouse for the time being? If so, update and run your anti-virus scanner with a full scan. Then download the free versions of Malwarebytes Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware. Install them both then, one at a time, run them, update them, and then run full scans.
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=105691.0
Mark
Dell Inspiron 1545- Vista home basic 32 bit
The touchpad on my laptop has not only stopped working, but it's completely disappeared from any device list I can find. I downloaded and installed the drivers from the dell support site, restarted the computer multiple times, ran a virus scan, but nothing has worked. At one point, I did find the touchpad in the device manager- though it said I had the most current and correct driver and it still wouldn't work. (and now it's gone again from the device manager, even when showing hidden devices)
The computer is no longer under warranty and I'm broke enough that I really can't afford to have a tech look at this if it's a simple driver issue. I'm really not very savvy when it comes to this stuff- so I've exhausted all that I know to do, and even that I really only knew to do by googling my little heart out.
Anybody have any idea what's going on? Am I just being an idiot and doing something wrong? Any help is really appreciated.
Chowhound
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