Surface pro 4 ghost touch

Question

The problem emerged after putting SP4 into sleep about 3-4 weeks ago after few windows updates and then two ghost touches at the right top-middle corner appeared (near usb and display ports) and my touches are ignored (only scrolling works, single and double clicks are ignored, same in touch settings where you can see picture change after clicking on it)

Driver updates/reinstalls, windows updates/reinstalls with clean version of win, basically everything what was possible - i already tried.

Hardware failure? I don't think so, because in edge - touchscreen works without any problems, in diagnostic toolkit - also without any problems, but when it asks for producing as many touch points as possible - with 10 fingers down it only accepts 9 at a time (not sure what would be result in a working device without problem). I would understand if i somehow touch the screen and only then it works, but no, after closing edge or toolkit programs, it starts not to work again. UEFI - same thing, when i load it, i can touch for few seconds and then it stops working. Sometimes i can draw in paint, but not always.

Any ideas? If there were problems in edge/toolkit, i would surely accept that it's a hardware failure, but now - i believe it looks more like a recent system update failure, which was implemented in UEFI level.

P.S. In edge cromium - no problems, i can do whatever i like, but the two touch points doesn't disappear, but somehow touch screen doesn't care about them, which i can't say outside of those programs.

Answer 1

Hey John ive got the exact same thing going on , very frustrating, can we roll back the driver for the touch pad , it is obvisously the reason the ghosting has occured , Microsoft have a look at the way the new win10 update has effected these drivers , its not hardware man , when i start surface pro 4 i can use the whole screen for touch input for like 5 seconds then the ghosting takes over, this is with many reinstalls of OS and drivers, my next avenue will be searching out old drivers to try but im betting they are not compat with new windows vers

Answer 2

Can you explain how it can be a hardware failure if on certain softwares it works perfectly without problems and on others - not? :) In case of a hardware failure, it doesn't matter what kind of software you'll use - it won't work or on certain places on the screen, but if it works on certain softwares while not working on others - it's a software problem for sure.

Touchscreen, without installed touch drivers won't work on any device in UEFI, only after driver instalation it starts working, so they are related. Just try installing clean windows version without any surface touch drivers and go to UEFI - it won't work, only after installing certain drivers through windows update it begins to work, so it's not a problem of a hardware, it's a problem of a software - drivers, win10 or something else - that's the main question.

Also, can you explain what was changed in 2019 update when phantom touch hotfix was deleted and it was claimed that the update corrected the issue of those ghost touches?

Answer 3

Hello, JohnnyHyde!

Thanks for the answers. If a Surface Recovery Image does not resolve the issue, the device is likely to experience hardware failure as it does not work in certain areas on the screen even if it works with the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and Edge. May we know if the same thing happens when you are in the Surface UEFI page?

Looking forward for your response!

Best regards,

Janette_Z

Answer 4

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. But then why in edge and toolkit everything works without any glitch?

Answer 5

Hi, JohnnyHyde!

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Community and posting your concerns with the touch function on your Surface Pro 4's screen . We are sorry to learn about this as this isn't the experience that we want you to have. Thanks for taking the time to let us know about this and allowing us to help you out. You mentioned you did some steps to troubleshoot the issue. We need to clarify the steps you took though:

• May we know if you've uninstalled and reinstalled Precise Touch and HID-Compliant Touch screen drivers; as well as forcing the device to shutdown?
• You also mentioned that you did a reinstall Windows with clean version of the operating system. Is this the one where it involves a downloading the Surface Recovery Image and loading it to a 16/32GB flash drive formatted to FAT32?
• You loaded to UEFI and the same thing happens. You can touch for a few seconds then it stops working. If the same behaviour is observed, it is a hardware issue. I believe you know that this is an environment that exists completely outside of Windows and other installed applications. If the issue exists in UEFI, then we know it’s a hardware failure wherein the device needs to be replaced.

You may perform the following steps if they haven't been done yet though. If the same thing happens, I am afraid that the device needs to be sent in for replacement.  Kindly Contact Microsoft Support for replacement options. If you are outside the US, please check this page to know the number for your country in our list of Global Customer Service phone numbers.

• Force shutdown the device and restart:

1. Press and hold the power button until the screen turns off (about 10 seconds), then release the power button.
2. Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on. You should see the Surface logo. If that doesn't work, use this two-button shutdown process to make sure your Surface turns off completely:
   1. Press and hold the power button on your Surface until the screen turns off (about 30 seconds), then release it.
   2. Press and hold the volume-up button and the power button at the same time until the screen turns off (about 15 seconds), then release both.

The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds. 3. After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds. 4. Press and release the power button to turn your Surface back on. You should see the Surface logo.

• Uninstall Intel Precise Touch device and the HID-Compliant Touch Screen driver and restart

1. Open Device Manager.

2. Locate and expand Human Interface Devices.
3. Expand Human Interface Devices. ****4. Right-click on HID-Compliant Touch Screen and select Uninstall. If there is more than one driver, uninstall those as well.
4. Right-click on Intel(R) Precise Touch Device and select Uninstall.
5. From the Action menu, select Scan for hardware changes. You may also need to restart your device.

Let us know the outcome and we hope this helps you out. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there’s anything else that needs to be addressed.  

Kind regards, 

Janette_Z