Windows 10 and Touchpad Disabling on Asus N56VJ

Even though it is a bit old now, I still love my Asus N56VJ laptop. It has nice hardware quite capable of running Window 10 and it does that almost flawlessly. Only thing I found misbehaving is button for disabling touchpad (<Fn>+<F9>). On laptops I previously used (mostly HPs) I wouldn't consider that a huge issue. However, through great efforts, Asus has managed to manufacture such a lousy touchpad that I consider disabling it a mandatory function.

To get button working on a fresh installation of Windows, first step is to install the latest ATK Package followed by restart (important). On its own this does nothing but enables proper installation of Asus Smart Gesture touchpad application (followed by another restart). Only once both of these are installed, you will get <Fn>+<F9> working again.

Unfortunate news for Windows Insiders is that functionality will disappear as soon as new build is installed. And no, you cannot just repair applications. You will need to fully remove both ATK Package and Asus Smart Gesture followed by computer restart. Only then you can follow the original procedure once again and have the button working.

I guess I cannot expect wonders by using the latest Windows OS with now aging laptop, but I find this behavior most peculiar and worthy a frown.

8 thoughts to “Windows 10 and Touchpad Disabling on Asus N56VJ”

  1. Hello, I am having the same issue on my n56vj. I followed the link above, which is the ATK package I should be installing?

  2. So, I found the drivers you mentioned above and installed and restarted each time. fn + f9 still won’t work. I made the mistake of turning the mouse pad back on since I did not have my external mouse, and now I can’t get the damn thing to turn off again. I’m annoyed. This is a rarely used PC and this problem pretty much guarantees I’ll be sticking solely to my mac now.

  3. I don’t understand how W10 is running on the N56VJ model, since ASUS confirmed it isn’t supported for that model and there a no drivers for it. My N56VJ always crashes after installing W10.

    1. You don’t need Windows 10 drivers for it. Just install Windows 8.1 drivers instead. I’ve found that installing drivers in correct order is important. This is order I found worked for me alongside last driver version I used (newer version should be fine, if available):
      * Intel Driver Update Utility 2.7.2 (download from Intel)
      * ATK 1.0.0038
      * ASUS InstantKey Utility 1.0.5
      * ASUS Smart Gesture 4.0.9
      * ASUS USB Charger Plus 2.1.4

      I am not sure about wireless though since I replaced my original card with an Intel model.

      1. I’m going to give this a try one more time. Bit afraid I might lose my HDD once again, though.

        So, Josip, the order of that list is how I should install them? I do that before I install W10? (now working on W8.1 but not happy about it)

        Cant find all drivers, though.

        1. I see that Asus has changed their driver download pages a lot – not sure where some of the packages are (e.g. ATK 1.0.0038). I can share with you copy of the latest drivers I used if you shoot me your e-mail.

  4. Thanks for your reply, Josip.

    I did all that before, though. It did not work, unfortunatly. I can run W8 or 8.1, but it crashes when I try W10 despite installing all those drivers. I ordered a new harddrive and will try it again. I’ll post the result here.

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