Synaptics Touchpad Driver Installation Notes
Version 5.5.6
Contents
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1. Installing the Synaptics TouchPad Driver.
2. Personal Computer and Windows 95 Configuration Issues.
3. Other potential conflicts with the TouchPad Driver.
1. Installing the Synaptics TouchPad Driver
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First, make sure that your Synaptics TouchPad is connected
to your system (a driver will be installed for each currently
connected TouchPad).
If you have received your driver distribution in the form of a
self-extracting archive, then you must first extract the installation
files from the archive. Execute the self-extracting archive file
by double-clicking on it from Explorer, running it from the Start/Run
dialog, or running it from a DOS box command prompt.
Next, run the Setup.exe program, which automatically installs the
driver on your computer. You can run this program either from a DOS box
by going to the directory that contains the driver files and typing "setup",
or using Start/Run and running setup (e.g. if the driver files are on a
floppy disk in the A: drive, you would type "A:\setup"), or by exploring
the directory containing the driver files and double clicking on the
Setup.exe program.
If the driver has been installed correctly, after you have restarted
Windows you should see the TouchPad Icon in your task bar next to the
clock. Also, a dialog box entitled "Information about your TouchPad"
will pop up. You can prevent this dialog box from coming up in the
future by checking the "Stop showing me this message" checkbox.
For help on using the advanced features of your Synaptics TouchPad,
choose "Tell me more..." from the "Information about your TouchPad"
dialog box, or double-click on the TouchPad Icon in your task bar,
and click on the "Help" button.
If either of the above indicators of successful installation does not
appear, or if you have other trouble with the installation, the rest of
this document contains important additional information about the
following issues:
- BIOS settings
- Windows 95 mouse port settings
- Windows 95 serial port settings
- Mouse control software that was not provided as part of the
original Windows 95 system
- Difficulties that some users have experienced with
TouchPads installed in keyboards.
2. Personal Computer and Windows 95 Configuration Issues
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The new, Windows 95 preferred method for viewing your system's hardware
configuration is in the Device Manager. The Device Manager can be
accessed from the Control Panel-->System page.
The Control Panel offers a set of options for configuring your Windows
95 computer. To access it, click on the Start button, then click on
Settings, and then click on Control Panel. Once the Control panel is up,
double click on the System icon in the Control Panel, and then click on
the Device Manager TAB in the resulting window.
This page contains individual device configurations for each hardware
device associated with your computer. Individual items may be viewed by
clicking the "+" symbols beside the device type names. For example, to
view the TouchPad or Mouse configurations, click on the "+" symbol
beside the word Mouse. This will show a list (probably just 1 item for
typical machines), of available device configurations for pointing
devices. E.g., if a machine has both a Serial TouchPad and a PS/2 mouse
attached (or thinks that it does), there would be 2 entries under
"Mouse".
Any of the available device configurations may be viewed by double
clicking on the selection or by selecting the item and then clicking on
the "Properties" button.
2a) Potential PC/Windows Configuration Conflicts.
A) BIOS Settings
Many PCs include a BIOS that permits you to change serial port
addresses and disable the on board PS/2 mouse port. Changes made
after Windows 95 was installed may not be known to Windows 95. It is
recommended that BIOS changes be made only in severe cases, or when
you are familiar with the impact of the changes.
One possible conflict that can be caused by BIOS settings is that the
PS/2 port on your computer might be disabled.
If you are attempting to connect a pointing device to a PS/2 port and
Windows 95 does not know that the port exists (i.e., a "PS/2 Mouse"
device doesn't show up in the Device Manager's Mouse page), you should
tell Windows to search for one. To do this, click on the Add New
Hardware icon in the Control Panel and follow the instructions that are
displayed; when it asks you if you want to let Windows 95 search for new
devices, say yes. If Windows 95 does not find a PS/2 port there may be a
BIOS setting that has disabled the port.
To access the BIOS settings of the computer you must restart your PC and
watch the screen carefully for instructions on how to "Enter Setup".
These instructions appear prior to the PC beginning to load Windows 95
and may be displayed briefly. Refer to your PC's documentation for
proper procedures to access the BIOS setup.
If the PS/2 port is disabled by a BIOS setting, it must be enabled and
the new configuration must be saved. Windows 95 may not find this port
automatically upon restarting and you may have to follow the above
instructions for Adding New Hardware again. Once the PS/2 port has been
found by Windows 95, try using the Setup program again to install the
TouchPad drivers.
B) Windows 95 MOUSE Settings
Some computers include a standard PS/2 mouse port on the PC's
motherboard, but do not provide any connector for a PS/2 mouse. In this
case, Windows 95 will still try to find the PS/2 port when it configures
itself, and if found, will install the software to support it
automatically, even if no PS/2 device (or even connector) is present.
If you have a PC that automatically adds its PS/2 port to the list, you
may have an entry in the Device Manager's list of Mouse configurations
that has a yellow circle with an exclamation mark over it. This will
always be present and will not cause any problems for Windows 95
operation.
If you attach a serial pointing device to the PC, and do not attach
anything to the PS/2 port, Windows 95 will automatically use the serial
device even though Windows 95 is configured to use a PS/2 mouse. In this
setting Windows 95 has used a fall-back procedure that supports the
serial pointing device in a basic mode without any of its special
features. If you have a serial TouchPad connected, and run the
Setup program, then a serial Synaptics TouchPad driver will be
installed, and the PS/2 port driver will be unchanged. In other
words, you will still see a PS/2 mouse driver in the Device Manager's
list, flagged with an error, but this should cause no problems.
C) Windows 95 SERIAL PORT Settings
When Windows 95 was installed, it found the serial ports available on
the PC at that time. If new serial ports are added (e.g., by plugging in
a new serial card), or the current ports have had their addresses
changed, Windows 95 may not know about the changes.
Once changes in serial port addresses have been made at the BIOS level,
Windows 95 needs to be updated with new configuration information. The
easiest way to ensure that Windows 95 correctly identifies each port is
to delete all the Communications Ports found under the Port section of
the System's Device Manager. Next, shut the system down and power off
and then on again. If Windows 95 did not automatically detect the new
ports, run the Add New Hardware application from the Control Panel, let
Windows 95 search for new hardware, and it should find the reconfigured
serial ports. Once Windows 95 has detected its serial ports, you can
connect your serial TouchPad and run the Setup program to install the
serial driver.
3. Other potential conflicts with the TouchPad driver.
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Conflicting Software:
The Microsoft application "IntelliPoint" may cause unintended
behavior for some users. IntelliPoint interferes with the operation of
internal TouchPads and external pointing devices on some computers.
Please refer to the readme file included on disk 1 of the IntelliPoint
installation disk set.
Some other types of "Mouse Enhancement" software may interfere with the
operation of your Synaptics TouchPad. If all else appears correct and
you are still having difficulty remove or disable the other software.
Issues related to keyboards with integrated TouchPads:
Some keyboards with TouchPads built into them have a port on the back of
the keyboard is called a "pass through" port. This port supports
plugging in another serial pointing device, which can be selected by
switching a switch on the bottom of the keyboard.
**CAUTION**
Some pointing devices (particularly inexpensive serial mice), can cause
conflicts with the built-in TouchPad simply by being plugged into the
port (i.e., even if they are switched off by the switch on the bottom of
the keyboard). If all else appears correct with your Windows 95 setup,
but you are still not seeing the TouchPad icon in the control tray,
unplug the other pointing device from your keyboard, make sure that the
switch on the bottom of the keyboard is set to TouchPad, and restart
your computer.
WHAT TYPE OF CONNECTOR DO I HAVE?
A PS/2 port is round and is about 1/4 inch in diameter. A serial port is
either a 9 pin connector about 1 inch wide or a 25 pin connector about
2 inches wide. Neither serial connector appears round. The type of port
is critical for the successful operation of your Synaptics TouchPad. The
TouchPad's type of connector controls which type of port you must use.
Windows 95 mouse setting's port and the TouchPad's port type must match
exactly.
WHAT TYPE OF PORT DOES WINDOWS 95 THINK I HAVE
To determine what Windows 95 thinks it is using as your TouchPad port,
go to the Device Manager from the System icon of the Control Panel.
Click on the "+" symbol beside the word "Mouse" if it is not already
open. The mouse types that Windows 95 knows about are each represented
here. Any installed driver that Windows 95 thinks is not functioning
correctly will have a yellow circle with an exclamation mark over it.
If there is more than one definition and you have only one TouchPad
connected to your computer this might be the source of some difficulty.
If there is only one definition present then this is the one Windows 95
will try to use.
Double click on the definition which says Synaptics, if present. If
there is a TAB on the resulting window which is labelled "Resources"
then Windows 95 thinks it is using a PS/2 port for the TouchPad, even
though you may have told the computer to install a Synaptics Serial
TouchPad!
3A) If your TouchPad has a Serial connector
The TouchPad must be connected to a serial port. Once the TouchPad
is connected, run the Setup program to install a serial driver for
it.
3B) If your TouchPad has a PS/2 connector
Your TouchPad must be connected to the PS/2 port of the PC. Run the
Setup program to install a PS/2 port for the TouchPad.
3C) If your TouchPad is a "Combo" device
You can plug the TouchPad into either the PS/2 or the serial
port, using the provided adapter when necessary.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.