T60p touchpad makes Windows freeze - Win 7 32bit

[roger_m]

I have a T60p which I recently started using due to my T400 dying. I have a serious issue which is happening several times a day whereby sometimes when I use the touchpad the laptop freezes. When this happens, the only option is to hold the power button down for a few seconds until the laptop shuts down.

The first time it happened, Windows still continued running, but was being extremly slow and unresponsive. I was playing a MP3 file with an external sound card, and that actually kept playing. However, with subsequent freezes Windows becomes completely unresponsive.

Windows Even Viewer provides no information regarding the cause of the freezes, and the laptop is not overheating. I have run the comprehensive diagnostics in Lenovo Solution Center and no problems were found.

This is what I've done to try and fix the issue. None of this has made any difference.

I have tried both the latest UltraNav drivers from Lenovo and older drivers installed by Windows. I have updated all my drivers via System Update and 3rd party driver update tools.

I updated the BIOS.

I have disabled DEP in the BIOS.


It was suggested that the ribbon cable for the touchpad may not be properly connected, however it seems this is not the case.

I know I am not alone in having this problem, as there are number of old threads about the same problem. But, I have not been able to find a solution in any of the threads. Also, in general it would seem based on these threads that the issue occurs across multiple operating systems, so I don't think switching to XP or Windows 8 would help.

Some posts have said that a bad battery could be the cause. But, my battery is a genuine one and still has 74% of the original capacity, and also when I ran my T60p without the battery it still froze.

Also, I have plenty of free RAM - only 54% RAM usage at the moment, and have no security software installed.

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

If you physically disconnect the touchpad from the motherboard, does the problem go away?

[roger_m]

Welcome to the forum!

If you physically disconnect the touchpad from the motherboard, does the problem go away?

I will try that when I get a chance. I presume it will stop the problem, or that using an external mouse would also fix it, since it seems that the freezes only happen when I'm using the touchpad.

[roger_m]

I have not disconnected the touchpad as of yet, but am using a USB mouse now. I have had one freeze, while using the mouse. I have now disabled the touchpad in the BIOS, and will see how that goes.

[ajkula66]

Disabling the touchpad in BIOS is not quite the same thing as disconnecting it physically from the motherboard.

Give that option a shot when you get a chance and report back.

[roger_m]

Give that option a shot when you get a chance and report back.

I'll try and do it soon.

[roger_m]

My laptop still froze just as before after I unplugged the cable for the touchpad and used a USB mouse.

I've gone back to using the touchpad as I prefer to not use a mouse.

[roger_m]

My laptop is no longer freezing.

Last night my laptop ran without crashing. Then, I installed DriveMax and installed some driver updates. After updating two drivers, and installed a few Windows updates, I've had no more freezes. I've tried to make my laptop freeze by moving my finger all over the touchpad, but it will not freeze.

I'm not sure if the driver updates helped, as it did not freeze last night before installing the updates. However, other than the driver updates, I had made no changes at all to my system between the previous night when it was still freezing reguarly, and last night.