Dave-H

I've now tried replicating the 8.1 installation on XP, copied all the files and registry entries. Also manually updated the mouse driver, which is now an "ASUS Touchpad", using AsusTP.sys in addition to the normal MS files. I used the INF file in the Windows 7 x86 folder. I now even have an icon in the system tray for Asus Smart Gesture, but it's inactive. Trying to run the control panel fails unfortunately, because virtually every executable file says it's not a valid win32 application. Surprisingly, not all though. AsusTPLoader.exe, which is presumably producing the system tray icon, is running quite happily! So, should I try CFF explorer on all the executable files? The registry settings are all as they are on 8.1, but of course they're not doing anything!

This is the version I have installed on Windows 8.1 - http://freedriver.org/drivers/notebook.php?n_firm=Asus&driver=008259.rar&n_model=X102BA The file that's apparently failing is called "getmytouch.exe". If I let it install until the error comes up, and then look in the installation folder, that file is in the Program Files\Asus\Asus Smart Gesture\Install\x86 folder. If I try to run it I get the "not a valid win32 application" error, so a non-XP compatible file I assume. When I tried once before I actually got more detailed error messages from the installer, which don't seem to be happening now. I'm pretty sure one of them was indeed for getmytouch.exe, and I suspect that the other was for "check_hwid.exe" which resides in Program Files\Asus\Asus Smart Gesture\<OS name>\AsusTPDrv\x86.

Like you, I do of course use a mouse rather than the touchpad whenever possible, and I still can, but there are times when I have to use the touchpad as there's nothing to put the mouse on! I'm wondering now if it might be possible to get Asus Smart Gesture (which works fine with the touchpad on 8.1) working on XP. The installer (it uses the Windows Installer mechanism) doesn't immediately croak on XP, in fact it appears to install right up until the last moment, when it says "A program required for this install could not be run". After that it rolls back. Maybe I could try transplanting its files and registry entries from the 8.1 installation, you never know!

I thought I would try on 8.1 the version 11 driver mentioned in that Superuser post, but unfortunately it's 64 bit, and I cannot find a 32 bit version of it. I also tried version 8.0.7.0 on 8.1 as well. Like version 10.4.3.5 it did exactly the same thing on 8.1 as it had on XP. This version does produce a "Multi-finger" icon in the Windows Control Panel, unlike version 10.4.3.5, but it just produces a blank window with no settings in it. I am getting a horrible feeling that the touchpad hardware in my notebook, although fundamentally an Elan unit, may have been customised in some way by Asus, and may therefore only work properly with their software, not the standard Elan software. I guess that finding a 32 bit version of an 11.xx version of the Elan software, which will install on 8.1, is the only way of proving that. If that won't work properly on 8.1 either, that could well be the answer, and if it is I don't know where we can go from there. There's no guarantee in that case that I would even be able to get the touchpad to work properly on 32 bit Windows 7!

OK, I uninstalled Asus Smart Gesture from Windows 8.1, and installed the Elan 10.4.3.5 driver instead. All appeared to install normally, but the end result was exactly the same as on XP. The information file is attached for comparison. I suppose if nothing else it proves that the failure of the driver to install properly has nothing to do with the operating system. The problem can only be that it isn't designed for the installed hardware. I installed it on 8.1 "as is", in that I didn't make any modification to the INF file. I can try that if you think it might make a difference, but I suspect that it won't. ETDDeviceInformation8.1.txt

I will only use Windows 7 as a replacement for Windows XP if it's not possible to get this working. I think I can live OK with the basic VGASAVE graphics driver, but not with the touchpad the way it is! The new information file is attached, all the entries are still 0/D0 after a reboot, but the "tap to click" function is still working unfortunately. I will try putting the same driver onto 8.1, and if it works properly there we can then compare things. ETDDeviceInformationNew.txt

I did look at that before. Do you think it would help if I uninstalled the Asus Smart Gesture program (which is working fine) and install the Elan driver, which would be more comparable to the one I'm trying to use on Windows XP? I could of course actually install the exact same driver we're experimenting with on XP rather that the latest version 11 one, assuming that it's compatible with 8.1 of course.

The data in the registry is still 0/D0. It hasn't changed since I modified it. That's in HKCU\Software\Elantech\SmartPad. The other key, HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Elantech\SmartPad, was still as before as I hadn't changed it (as I didn't realise that it was there!) There are both 0/D0 now

@RainyShadow The touchpad driver on Windows 8.1 is completely different. It's the "Asus Smart Gesture" program, of which there is no version compatible with XP. @jaclaz Sorry, I foolishly only looked at the entry at the start of the information files, where Tap_Enable "before boot" is still 1, and "after boot" is 0. Looking further into the file, that parameter seems to be 0 everywhere except in one place, where it's still 1 in both files - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Elantech\SmartPad. Unfortunately changing the value there still makes no difference to the touchpad behaviour. I hadn't actually noticed that a service was installed, it doesn't appear in the Services list.

The changed registry entries are still the changed versions now, they haven't reverted. However, the Device Information program does not seem to see those changes until the system is rebooted. As always, there has been no change to the behaviour of the touchpad. If I open the ETDUI.cpl file a windows comes up called "Elan Smart-Pad" which I recognise as being the UI window when the settings are working, but it's blank except for a white panel on the left hand side (which is where the settings sections selection icons normally are).

The Device Information does see the change, but only after a reboot. The two relevant files are attached. Also a picture of what I'm seeing in the Device Information program window. When I use the trackpad, the "Packet Number" reading changes, and the "Report Rate" reading. Nothing else registers though, like using the buttons. ETDDeviceInformationAfterChangeBeforeReboot.txt ETDDeviceInformationAfterChangeAfterReboot.txt

Those registry entries are present and correct. I have tried setting Tap_Enable = REG_DWORD, 0x00000000 but it makes no difference to the behaviour of the touchpad.

Yes indeed, I see no sense in ignoring anther five years' worth of security patches!

From my experience I think that probably all the 11.xx versions won't work on XP, but earlier ones generally do. Certainly the 10.4.3.5 version we're experimenting with at the moment seems to be XP compatible, as @jaclaz says. ETDDeviceInformation.exe works for me of course, and its output is attached. Maybe some clues there? ETDDeviceInformation.txt

OK, it still isn't copying the ETDUI.cpl file, even with the semi-colon removed. In fact, it doesn't appear to be copying any of the files in the block above that, the [ETDApp.CopyFiles] section either, at least they don't seem to be on the system and aren't listed among the installed driver files in Device Manager. ETD.sys has been copied, and all the video animation files, but nothing else!

I already reinstalled after adding - %ELANDeviceDesc% = ETD0108_Inst, *ETD0108 to the INF file, which produced a very strange result! I got a warning that the driver might replace my keyboard drivers. As it happened the driver install failed anyway. I then tried - %ELANDeviceDesc% = ETD_STD_Inst, *ETD0108 That resulted in a normal install but the same as before. Device Manager is now reporting an "ELAN PS/2 Port Smart-Pad" though, which I guess is better, although everything else is the same. I will try your INF mod and will report back again.

This might be a better driver to experiment with - https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/downloads/ds028618 It's a later version, 10.4.3.5. I've uninstalled the other one and installed this one. The mouse is now being reported by Device Manager as "ELAN PS/2 Port Input Device". There is now no icon in the Windows Control Panel for the Elan control panel, but there is still an extra Elan tab on the mouse properties window. This may be by design with this later driver of course. The Elan tab still reports the mouse as a "Standard PS/2 Mouse". Unlike the previous driver, the "Stop Device" button does disable the touchpad, and you can happily enable it again. With the previous driver they apparently worked but nothing actually changed. However, the "Options" button, which presumably should bring up the settings dialogue, is still permanently greyed out. The "SmartPad" options are now all listed in the registry, but editing them seems to do nothing.

The fundamental thing that's missing in the registry is the "SmartPad" key where all the settings reside. The INF file says it should be added, and it has been with some of the other drivers (including ones where the touchpad doesn't actually work at all!) This again makes me think that the touchpad either isn't a "smartpad" or if it is, it isn't being identified as such by the driver. When the settings registry key was there and the touchpad was still working with some of the other drivers, changing the settings in the registry made no difference to the behaviour of the touchpad. I guess if I can find again one of the drivers where the registry key is there, and the touchpad still works, that might be a better starting point? I've changed the thread title to reflect this discussion BTW.

I actually downloaded with SDIO the whole touchpad package that said it was compatible with my machine, which was huge (several GB!) When I unpacked it there was a huge number of drivers in there, from many different PC manufacturers. All those drivers were in there presumably, and I tried all the likely looking ones with no success. One possible issue, and I'm probably being very silly here, is that the machine is actually a 64 bit machine, although I'm running 32 bit OSes on it. I'm just thinking, I've always assumed that a "64 bit machine" is that only because it has a 64 bit processor. Am I right in that, or can other hardware be 64 bit as well? If that is so, that would go a long way to explaining why both the 32 bit graphics drivers and touchpad drivers seem to be having a problem communicating with the hardware. I did download the chipset drivers package too, but of course it's 64 bit, which I assume is no use on a 32 bit OS.

Just a quick update. I looked in the INF files for the driver, and ETD0108 was not listed there, so I added it and uninstalled and reinstalled. No difference. If I look at the tab added to the mouse Windows Control Panel applet, the Elan tab says it's a Standard PS/2 Mouse. There is an option to disable it and enable it, which apparently works, but the "options" button, which presumably should bring up the settings control panel, is greyed out. It's showing all the symptoms of not recognising what the touchpad actually is. If it did recognise it correctly I'm guessing that it would show the appropriate options for it. Device Manager now shows it as an "ELAN PS/2 Port Smart-Pad", but whether that's actually what the touchpad hardware is, I have no idea!

OK, this is an example of a driver that comes closest to working! https://drivers.softpedia.com/get/KEYBOARD-and-MOUSE/Elantech/Acer-TravelMate-5740-ELANTECH-Touchpad-Driver-7-0-6-4-for-XP.shtml It's version 7.0.6.4 and it does install despite the fact that when you look at the package contents it appears to be only for Windows Vista and Windows 7! Some other drivers from that series, like 7.0.5.9 which I've tried, install as well, but the touchpad is then completely dead, despite no apparent errors in Device Manager. With this driver, the touchpad still works, there are no errors in Device Manager, and there is a control panel, but it's only showing the copyright information and one setting (for the button functions) which doesn't actually seem to change anything. There is also a tab added to the mouse properties window, which allows the device to be apparently disabled and enabled, but nothing actually changes.

I tried that touchpad driver. Setup doesn't work (not a valid win32 application) so I guess it isn't XP compatible. Installing from the INF file does work, but the touchpad is then completely dead! Device Manager now says it's an "Elan Input Device", but the driver isn't loaded. The error is - "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39). I guess that also means that the driver isn't compatible with XP.

Thanks, I've tried so many touchpad drivers that I really don't know whether I've tried that particular one, but I will give it a go anyway! I have tried directly editing the registry entries for the Elan software with other drivers, when the normal control panel is not working, but changing the settings never makes any difference. I suspect it's a bit like the graphics problem, the drivers are just not communicating with the hardware properly. If it's OK, and I realise this is off topic for this thread as it stands, I would like to concentrate on trying to get the touchpad working properly before going back to the graphics problems. As I said earlier. if it proves impossible to find a driver that will allow me to change the touchpad settings, especially disabling "tap to click", there is probably no point in carrying on with XP on this machine anyway, as I really don't want to use it the way it is at the moment. If we get into a long exchange about the touchpad, I will change the thread title to reflect this.

I'm sure that there will always be Windows XP "enthusiasts", as there still are for Windows 9x (perhaps not for Windows ME so much! ) I think a lot of people, myself included, just still like the XP user interface a lot more than later versions of Windows. The locked down file and registry security on later versions of Windows is an annoyance for a lot of power users as well I'm sure, the hoops you have to jump through sometimes just to get into some Explorer folders for instance. All very worthy and understandable by Microsoft I'm sure to try to protect non-technical users from messing up their systems, but a great source of annoyance for many! Welcome to MSFN BTW!

Thanks again @jaclaz. In the early days of the experimentation, I could get the ATI driver working as it should on first install, although it then failed when the machine was rebooted. I can't now reproduce that, but this could be because the driver package I'm experimenting with now is not the same one I was using at the start, although it does seem to be the same version of the driver according to the file versions. I will try again with the original package. One difference is that when using the first package, the Catalyst Install Manager does not offer the graphics driver or the Control Center, whereas the second one does. I suspect this is because the second package actually already has the INF entry for the 8180 hardware (even though it doesn't appear to actually work with it!) and the first one doesn't, it has to be manually added to the INF file after the package is unpacked. That could be the difference. If I can get the driver working at all again, even if it's only once after the first install, we can then try from there. As you rightly say, I don't need the Control Center anyway.