Touch pad failed.

try the website called Gatewayjustanswer.com maybe they can help.

You can try updating the software for the touch pad but the most likely problem is you have a bad touch pad. Touch pads don't necessarily go all at once. You lose some functionality. In your case, it would appear you are able to to point and move the cursor. You didn't mention, does the touchpad respond when you tap it to hit ENTER instead of hitting the ENTER key itself. This is 1 area that will commonly lose function over time as well.

In the bottom left of your screen by the clock there should be an icon that says touch pad device, synaptics touch, or something along those lines. If you click on this it will give you different options for the touch pad and one of them is tap to click, make sure this is turned on.

HI

I would go to device manager
scroll down to find the touch pad
uninstall it

then restart laptop
hopefully when you restart windows will find new hardware
and reinstall the touch pad correctly

good luck

if not go to website and download another driver for it

www.hp.com

I'm assuming that you are using a laptop. If so, then look around for a button that locks out your touch pad from being recognized. Some laptops have the Touch pad "On\Off" button just above the touch pad. Other laptops will require you to do a key-combination to turn the touch pad On or Off. To do this typically requires you to press the FN or Function key while pressing one of the keys between F1 - F12. There should be a symbol\icon of a different color on whichever key it is that will give you an idea of what that key's function is. Every laptop is setup and arrange slightly different.

Is there a button with a light on it near your touch pad, sometimes these buttons don't have lights? Usually this button is centered on the bottom or top of the touch pad. If there is a button like this, then try pressing it to see if it gives you functionality of the touch pad. If you do have a button like this and it doesn't resolve the problem then there is a possibility that the touch pad has malfunctioned or that the connector has come loose somehow. If you don't have this type of button then look at your keyboard to see if there is a function key for turning off\on the touch pad. Look for the FN key. What color is it? Then look at the keys that have icons in that color. If you find one that you believe is for the keyboard then try pressing that key and the FN key at the same time.

your touchpad might have a 'lock' button nearby it, to enable or disable its sensitivity. this is usually helpful while typing, so you can disable it so that the when the touchpad gets touched, the mouse won't make any reaction. You can then enable it to work with the mouse. This button is usually either near the top border or near one of the four borders. Alternately, some laptops have a function key for touchpad enable-diable thing. It is usually Fn + F3. The function key (Fn) is near the Ctrl key. The touchpad key, in the in colour of the Fn key will be somewhere in the Function keys.

Touch pads are not very reliable. I have seen a lot fail.
A computer repair person will need to replace it for you.
My advice is to stick with a USB mouse. Or if it is under warranty, take advantage of that warranty.
Best of luck.

Whenever that happens to me I just restart my laptop and everything returns to normal...

This could be either a driver glitch or the touch pad is going out, both are common on these models. Start by uninstalling the drivers for the touch pad (some times referred to as the synaptic pointing device), then restart the machine. The machine will find the touch pad and reinstall the drivers automatically. If it's a simple glitch, this will fix it. If it persists, then the pad is failing and will need replaced. The only other thing you might try is to adjust the cursor speed or touch pad sensitivity from the control panel. This will sometimes help to dampen the effect, but usually won't get rid of it entirely.