M
MadhuwritHazra
Okay. This could be long and weird. I'll try to give all the detail I can on the matter and whatever investigation I've done. Usually, I can find any answers to tech problems online, but I'm absolutely stumped for this one.
System specs:
— HP 15-ac152sa laptop
— Intel Core i5-4210U processor
— Windows 10 Home 64-Bit (came installed on the computer)
— Windows 10 Version 1709; Build 16299.192 (Fall Creators Update)
So, around 20/01/2018, some weird issues started popping up: the Synaptics in-built touchpad was stuttering, Groove Music (and every other media player) started pausing and playing audio at very rapid intervals (10+ times per second, rendering them unusable), Windows Media Player would open whenever a folder with media was opened. Some of the shift-key capitals don't work.
Issues:
Shift capitals
— the top row (QWERTYUIOP{}) all work fine
— the middle row causes issues (A, S, D, F, K, L, :, @ and ~ generally do not work)
— G, H and sometimes J usually work fine
— M, N and ? work on the bottom row (sometimes, M will not work)
— Sometimes, all keys work — but when this happens, the touchpad almost always starts stuttering
— Media players will also generally not work when all shift capitals are working (pausing and playing as mentioned above)
Synaptics touchpad
— Pauses (no input works) after clicking for about a second
— Usually doesn't work at the same time media players stutter — usually, whenever the touchpad stops responding, the media player is always stuttering at the same time
— An externally connected USB mouse is not affected — all functions on that work fine, even when media players are stuttering
— It seems to be affected by the left and right (mostly left) shift keys — sometimes, holding them will allow media players to run smoothly (But I can't hold it down all the time!) as well as the touchpad (I can move it when holding shift).
— Sometimes, pressing the shift key seems to reset the touchpad to normal behaviour — for a limited time before it stops responding again usually seconds later
— Sometimes, it just flat out doesn't work for hours at a time and I have to use an external USB mouse
Media players
— All installed media players are affected (Groove, Films & TV, WMP, etc.)
— Causes very rapid pausing and playing that is largely unaffected by the buttons to control media playback (F9 (previous track), F10 (play) and F11 (next track)) because it is so fast
— Windows Media Player will sometimes open automatically whenever a folder containing media is accessed in File Explorer. It opens again as soon as it is closed. Sometimes massive numbers of instances will attempt to open, resulting in huge numbers of error messages that will slow down the computer until they are closed
— Does not affect online media players (e.g. YouTube)
— Typing tends to pause media players if they are running normally and cause the stuttering to begin
Sometimes — just sometimes — total normal functionality for everything is restored for anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 or 2 hours — this has happened two or three times since 20/01/2018.
Things I've tried:
— Windows Defender scans — quick, deep and offline scans all came up with nothing
— McAfee Antivirus deep scan came up with nothing
— Malwarebytes deep scan came up with nothing
— Performed a PC Reset on 22/01/2018 (retained personal files) — did not resolve the issue. I'm reluctant to do a full factory reset.
— Clean boot — did not resolve the issue.
— Driver updates — Synaptics drivers were up-to-date (version 19.3.31.31; date: 16/08/2017)
— Updates to BIOS and chipset drivers; did nothing to solve the problem
— Tried updating drivers in general. Most were already up-to-date. Did nothing.
— Tried using generic drivers for the touchpad — pausing issues did not disappear
— Tried uninstalling the Synaptics touchpad completely and allowing Windows to reinstall it upon rebooting. Did nothing.
I'm inclined to believe this is a software issue somewhere, but at the same time I'm unsure if it's malware — all of the AV programs came up clean, but I'm just not certain. I'm using an external USB mouse because the in-built touchpad — which I have used reliably on a daily basis without fault for just over 2 years — stops too often to use comfortably.
I can't seem to find anybody else with these issues online. This randomly appeared on 20/01/2018. I can't remember installing anything harmful around that time, and I'm clueless as to what is causing all this. As of writing this post, the shift capitals are working, but media players are pausing and playing and the touchpad is behaving erratically.
Continue reading...
System specs:
— HP 15-ac152sa laptop
— Intel Core i5-4210U processor
— Windows 10 Home 64-Bit (came installed on the computer)
— Windows 10 Version 1709; Build 16299.192 (Fall Creators Update)
So, around 20/01/2018, some weird issues started popping up: the Synaptics in-built touchpad was stuttering, Groove Music (and every other media player) started pausing and playing audio at very rapid intervals (10+ times per second, rendering them unusable), Windows Media Player would open whenever a folder with media was opened. Some of the shift-key capitals don't work.
Issues:
Shift capitals
— the top row (QWERTYUIOP{}) all work fine
— the middle row causes issues (A, S, D, F, K, L, :, @ and ~ generally do not work)
— G, H and sometimes J usually work fine
— M, N and ? work on the bottom row (sometimes, M will not work)
— Sometimes, all keys work — but when this happens, the touchpad almost always starts stuttering
— Media players will also generally not work when all shift capitals are working (pausing and playing as mentioned above)
Synaptics touchpad
— Pauses (no input works) after clicking for about a second
— Usually doesn't work at the same time media players stutter — usually, whenever the touchpad stops responding, the media player is always stuttering at the same time
— An externally connected USB mouse is not affected — all functions on that work fine, even when media players are stuttering
— It seems to be affected by the left and right (mostly left) shift keys — sometimes, holding them will allow media players to run smoothly (But I can't hold it down all the time!) as well as the touchpad (I can move it when holding shift).
— Sometimes, pressing the shift key seems to reset the touchpad to normal behaviour — for a limited time before it stops responding again usually seconds later
— Sometimes, it just flat out doesn't work for hours at a time and I have to use an external USB mouse
Media players
— All installed media players are affected (Groove, Films & TV, WMP, etc.)
— Causes very rapid pausing and playing that is largely unaffected by the buttons to control media playback (F9 (previous track), F10 (play) and F11 (next track)) because it is so fast
— Windows Media Player will sometimes open automatically whenever a folder containing media is accessed in File Explorer. It opens again as soon as it is closed. Sometimes massive numbers of instances will attempt to open, resulting in huge numbers of error messages that will slow down the computer until they are closed
— Does not affect online media players (e.g. YouTube)
— Typing tends to pause media players if they are running normally and cause the stuttering to begin
Sometimes — just sometimes — total normal functionality for everything is restored for anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 or 2 hours — this has happened two or three times since 20/01/2018.
Things I've tried:
— Windows Defender scans — quick, deep and offline scans all came up with nothing
— McAfee Antivirus deep scan came up with nothing
— Malwarebytes deep scan came up with nothing
— Performed a PC Reset on 22/01/2018 (retained personal files) — did not resolve the issue. I'm reluctant to do a full factory reset.
— Clean boot — did not resolve the issue.
— Driver updates — Synaptics drivers were up-to-date (version 19.3.31.31; date: 16/08/2017)
— Updates to BIOS and chipset drivers; did nothing to solve the problem
— Tried updating drivers in general. Most were already up-to-date. Did nothing.
— Tried using generic drivers for the touchpad — pausing issues did not disappear
— Tried uninstalling the Synaptics touchpad completely and allowing Windows to reinstall it upon rebooting. Did nothing.
I'm inclined to believe this is a software issue somewhere, but at the same time I'm unsure if it's malware — all of the AV programs came up clean, but I'm just not certain. I'm using an external USB mouse because the in-built touchpad — which I have used reliably on a daily basis without fault for just over 2 years — stops too often to use comfortably.
I can't seem to find anybody else with these issues online. This randomly appeared on 20/01/2018. I can't remember installing anything harmful around that time, and I'm clueless as to what is causing all this. As of writing this post, the shift capitals are working, but media players are pausing and playing and the touchpad is behaving erratically.
Continue reading...