Windows Updates "broke" CF-29HTT40BG's touchscreen

OK, now I'm pretty angry...

I've been doing updates to my laptops today. One of them is a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29HTT40BG, which I haven't used as much as I want to, because its battery is basically dead.

I plugged it in to an AC outlet and went to the Windows Update site to get newest important updates and patches and whatnot. Here's a current list of updates I installed today, from oldest (installed first) to newest (installed last):

KB2676562
KB2596880
KB2597161
KB2604111
KB2604092
KB2686509
KB2598290
KB2695962
KB2656407
KB2597969
Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.256
KB2722913 (failed)
KB2596666
KB2728973
KB2686828
KB2687400
KB2656370
KB2596615
KB2596786
KB2698365
KB2596754
KB2723135
KB2687441
KB2719985
KB2705219
KB2656368
KB2596744
KB2655992
KB2596598
KB2686827
KB2656369
KB2691442
KB890830
KB2731847
KB2707511
KB2596856
KB2712808
KB2722913

At some point I noticed that touching, for example, the upper right corner of the screen didn't work as expected; the computer seems to think I touched a differet part of the screen, ~4 inches or so below what I actually touched. However, touching the Start Menu or any of the open programs (browsers, etc.) seems to work.

I already tried the obvious solution, recalibration (via Control Panel -> Mouse -> "Touch Screen" tab -> "Calibration" button)...except it doesn't work either! There's the red "plus" mark, but it "can't" be touched...it just doesn't respond to touching. No matter if I move it to a different part of the screen via arrow keys, either.
I've seen this behavior once before, with a different manufacturer's (Fujitsu-Siemens) different computer (Lifebook B-2131) that had an unsupported OS (Windows Me) installed.
This should not be the case with my Toughbook CF-29, as it has a genuine Windows XP Professional with the appropriate drivers installed.

Is there a way to resolve this? Should I try uninstalling some/all of the above updates? (Though I don't know how that works, as I can't recall ever having to uninstall Windows Updates...let's hope those can be uninstalled.)
The Toughbook CF-29 is pretty much the best computer I've ever owned (or will ever own!), so obviously I'd like it to work fully as intended.
To make matters a bit more complicated, I bought this CF-29 as refurbished, so it came with the charger and nothing else; no restore media, manuals...just the computer and the charger.

 

Did the touchscreen work before the updates?
If it did, go to the Panasonic site and re install the proper driver.
Link coming..........

Panasonic USA website crashed.........driving to Japan.......

Try this link...
touchscreen.mouse driver

If that fails..uninstall the touchscreen.mouse and reinstall.
If still no luck, then your touchscreen has gone tats up! Mk3 and later are prone to failing.
Sadlmaker on the forum was doing repairs on them..

 

Thank you for taking the time to find the proper link for me, Shawn!

To answer your question, yes, the touchscreen worked perfectly before (and a while during) Windows Updates. After the first ten updates, maybe around the 15th or 16th update, I noticed that it no longer worked properly, which is why I'm inclined to believe that something in those updates broke it as opposed to it randomly deciding to break.

Now, I know I'm going to sound like an idiot by asking this, but...just how would I (re)install the driver(s)? I downloaded the .exe, double-clicked on it, accepted the license, it then asked me where to unpack the files and I pointed it to C:\util2\drivers\mouse-2-9-2012 (since it was complaining about C:\util2\drivers\mouse, the default location, existing and I didn't want to overwrite those older files, "just in case") and then it notified me that the unpacking was complete.

I also tried the Device Manager, chose the "touchpad/touchscreen" under "Mouses and other pointing devices" and tried updating the driver via that way by giving Windows the correct directory (C:\util2\drivers\mouse-2-9-2012), but it claimed it couldn't find a better driver than the current one.

And to continue with the stupid questions, would using System Restore work? Excluding yesterday, the last restore point is from June 11th, which is the last time I was using this CF-29. If memory serves me correct, System Restore should be able to handle issues like this one, pertaining to the system (as opposed to the user's personal files and such stuff), but I dunno, as I've never had to use it in the past...

The attached image is a screenshot of my desktop, illustrating the problem; when I tap the upmost part of the screen (directly upwards from the "S" in the word "Panasonic") with my finger (the line where the Recycling Bin ("Roskakori") and PC Information Viewer icons are), the mouse appears around the red line; yesterday tapping the same part of the screen would make it appear near the yellow line.

Again, I'm very grateful for any and all advice!

 

Try to clean the borders of the screen with a creditcard, maybe there is some dirt between the bezel and the screen.
If that and the system restore does not work, you have a broken toushscreen

 

You can try the touchscreen driver install by the numbers here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/356620-toughbook-drivers-manuals-sources.html
If that doesn't work, you can go to: microsoft windows News and Other Resources | TechRepublic
Search around a bit, they review all of M$'s updates, you might find a reference to a problem with an update which has caused your problem.
Finally, you can just Google the updates, ie. KBxxxxxxx, and find a detailed description of the update. Maybe you'll find one that stands out as possibly effecting your touchscreen.
CAP
Props, as usual, to Mnementh for pointing me to TechRepublic years ago.

 

You can uninstall the current driver in device manager, move the original to a usb device"just in case".
Then install the newer driver. Forcing windows to accept it if necessary.

 

Gotta say Shawn may be right. Even though it happened during an update, there is a strong possibility it's a hardware failure because the Mk3-Mk5 CF-29's and early CF-30's are prone to fail.

You can force a driver reload by Update Driver => Browse Computer => Let me pick, then go to the new folder and pick that driver file. Checked this on Wn7 but Win XP is very similar. Don't just select the folder, make it go there manually and pick the driver file.

 

As unusual as it may seem, one or more of the updates are conflicting with the mouse/touchscreen driver.

I disabled the touchscreen in the Bios on a CF-29 MK2 until I had time to investigate further. I've now reverted to a restore point in early August & Installed a new mouse/touchscreen driver, calibrated the touchscreen & all is fine & dandy.

I then installed the recommended "new" updates "Individually" & rebooted between each update & checked the touchscreen function after each reboot....all good so far...."touch wood".

I think you need to "loose" the updates & replace the driver before you can "go forward"...

 

I'm with OG here; your simplest solution would be to restore to a point before you started the Windoze Update process. Then you can first, rule out possible coincidental hardware failure, and second, if it DOES work properly, install updates line by line to determine which update is breaking your laptop.

While I want (for your sake) to blame MS Update for your problem, the MK2 Touchscreen is known to be plagued with failure issues which manifest in exactly the way you describe. It would not surprise me to find that this failure simply coincides with you using the laptop for an extended period of time for the first time in a while. You wouldn't be the first, or even the hundred & first person to visit us with a similar story.

Good luck,

mnem
*Bearing the bad news because the Bad News Bears are on strike*

 

Glad to hear that I'm not totally crazy for suggesting that Windows Update is behind the breakage.

However, it seems that Shawn et al. are right, hardware failure seems like the likeliest option at this point. I did a System Restore, restored the computer to the state it was in early June, no luck. Forced driver reload...no luck.

I'm tempted to try Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution first, but at this point, I'm not expecting miracles. Guess I should start saving up so that I can pay a professional to repair or change the touchscreen...

What about CF-30 (besides the earlier models, as mentioned by Springfield) and CF-31, do they have these kind of issues? Though I must admit that I don't have the money to buy one of those right now, and I'm not sure where I'd get one used in my country, as the refurbishers over here seem to be obsessed with (mostly MK2) CF-29s and a new one is just out of my league.

Again, thanks to everyone for their suggestions & comments, they are appreciated; too bad that the situation is what it is.

 

Where are u from in europe? Finland? I have a full working complete screen laying around...

 

Guys guys! Before you replace the touchscreen, did the OP at least use a factory recovery disc to restore????

Thanks!

 

CF-30 MK1 - YES, problematic
CF-30MK2 - 3 - No problems at all
CF-31's - All - no problems!

 

Yup! How'd you guess? We probably should be having this conversation via PM or somesuch, but alas, I can't just yet use the PM system (if I'm not horribly mistaken, that is)...

Hi Rob, thanks for this good question! To answer it: nope, I didn't use a factory recovery disc because I don't own one. That's the problem with buying used/refurbished laptops: they very rarely come with any "additional goodies", such as recovery discs. In fact, only three of my computers have recovery media; two of them I bought brand new (many, many years ago) and one I bought off from an auction and it's sadly not a Toughbook.
If it's of any use, the seller was a business as opposed to an individual and they provide a three-month warranty for all of their laptops (excluding batteries) -- but needless to say, that warranty expired a while ago, considering I purchased this CF-29 in December 2011. I could try asking them and/or some of my contacts about recovery discs...but I fear it would only be a waste of time (and money) at this point, because it does seem that there's a hardware problem.
I've tried an Ubuntu distribution (10.10) as a live-CD, but alas, the touchscreen's still as broken as it is under Windows. Everything else looked nice and spiffy and worked as expected, though.

Thanks for this info, now I know what to buy in the future.

 

You can PM now and as for the factory recovery disc . The Panasonic disk are not like a lot of them out there,,,they are an image of the harddrive when it left the factory.

 

Here's a link for factory recovery disks:
Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 Recovery CD - Restore CD | eBay