HID-Compliant touch screen is no longer in my device manager

Hi Shane,

Thanks for posting your query to Microsoft forum. I will certainly help you with this.

This problem may appear due to “ghost devices drivers” present in the computer. Ghost devices are the previously installed devices which are not connected but the drivers for that device is still present in the computer and sometimes shows in the devices list.

Let's try to troubleshoot to fix the touch screen issue.

I would suggest you to follow the methods given below and check.

Method 1: Use the hardware troubleshooter to fix the issue.

The Hardware Troubleshooter is an automated tool which will check the hardware connected to the computer for any known issues with it and provides the details and on how to fix them. Follow these steps and run the troubleshooter.

1. Connect the devices to the computer.
2. Press Windows + W key on the keyboard
3. Type troubleshooting in the search tab and press Enter.
4. Click View all on left panel.

Let’s follow the steps blow to show remove these ghost devices and check if that solves the problem.

Method 2: Update touch adapter driver.

Step 1: Check for the latest driver update through Windows Updates.

1. At the Start screen, type Windows Update.
2. Click or tap Settings on the right side of the screen, and then select Install optional updates from the left results.
3. When the Windows Update control panel opens, click on “Check for Updates” on the top left corner to receive a fresh list of updates.

Incompatible or not properly installed graphics card drivers are the most common cause of this issue.

Step 2: Follow the steps below to update the touch drivers.

1. Press Windows + X key on the keyboard.
2. Go to device manager.
3. Right-click your touch device.
4. Click Update Driver Software and then follow the steps in the wizard that appears.

Restart the computer and check.

Method 3: To get rid of unwanted drivers, devices, or services, use the following steps: 

1. Press Windows + X key on the keyboard

2. Click on Command Prompt (Run as admin).

3. At the command prompt, type in set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and press Enter. (Note that nothing seems to happen. This is expected. You are actually setting an environment variable which is going to help you to see hidden devices.)

4. On the next command prompt line, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter. This will launch the Windows Device Manager Console.

5. In the Device Manager Console, from the View menu, select Show Hidden Devices.

As you expand the different drivers and devices in the device manager, you will see not only the items that Windows currently detects as installed on your PC; but you will also see drivers, devices, and services which have been loaded in the past but were not uninstalled or are not currently started. You can find your offending device, right-click, and choose uninstall to remove it from the system completely. 

Note that ghost devices, drivers, and services are “grayed” out, but that does not necessarily mean that you should delete all of them. Only remove items you know you do not need. Be careful that you do not change too many devices.

Let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to help you further.

____________________

Thanks & Regards,

Isha Soni