Anyone else have issue with two finger scroll not working on hover, only in file explorer?

There is one thing I haven't been able to fix on this Alienware 17 R5. My two finger scroll on touchpad works as expected in all apps, in that it scrolls the pane you hover the pointer over in the app, EXCEPT in Windows Explorer/file manager. There, I have to select something in the left or right pane to target that pane (otherwise, it will scroll the last selected pane, even if I am hovered over the opposite pane). The weird twist is that, if Explorer is in the BACKGROUND, then it DOES scroll the one I hover over, without needing to select! (and of course external mice work as expected in Explorer all the time - scrolling the pane hovered over)

I've tried removing all drivers, re-installing just the OEM, installing just the Lenovo one that people like to use for Precision support, just the Alienware app, and combinations of those, doesn't seem to change. Tried a year-old Synaptics driver cab from Microsoft catalog site, didn't seem to do anything. I also tried turning off Tobii eye tracker since it has a gaze-to-scroll feature (that will actually make it work in scrolling the one I "gaze" at, but it slows down scrolling everywhere so bad that it's much worse leaving that on as a workaround).

I can't seem to remember if it worked properly from the factory, as I installed the Precision driver early on thinking it was necessary (I didn't realize there was the Pointing Devices app already installed yet at that point). Have searched for hours on Google, just can't seem to find good results; lots of results for issues with trackpad scrolling overall, of course - which make it hard to find what I need - but I don't think it's out there - otherwise searching for stuff like "two finger touchpad scroll on hover issue windows explorer" should pull something up, one would think.

Can anyone else with any recent Alienware laptop model confirm if they can even two finger scroll in Windows file explorer on the pane they HOVER over? At this point I am not sure if it's just my machine, or if my machine worked at first and the other drivers messed it up, or it never worked. Again, the issue is specifically two finger scrolling, ONLY in Windows Explorer (file manager), ONLY when it is the foreground app (as is normal), and ONLY in reference to scrolling the left or right pane as indicated by which one the mouse pointer is hovered over. Maybe all Alienware touchpads are like this?

I've pretty much given up on resolving it but thought I'd give it one more shot. I know Dell's Synaptics drivers have been shoddy in the past, but with more obvious issues (gestures not working, scrolling or mouse pointing not smooth, etc.). This is such a corner case, but unfortunately is one that comes up often. I could install a third party file manager I suppose, lol. Weird that Outlook works fine, for comparison - whichever pane I hover over, is the one that two finger scroll affects. (weird in that, it's not a Microsoft thing, granted Office is not developed by the same folks who work on Windows)

 

Have you tried the three finger method? Sometimes two just doesn’t do the trick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Three fingers does the app switcher (up), show desktop (down). The two finger scrolling works. It just does not scroll the left or right pane in Windows Explorer as hovered over; rather, it scrolls the last pane selected. In all other apps, it scrolls the one I hover over, as expected. Also, as a kicker, it DOES scroll the one I hover over in Windows Explorer ONLY IF Windows Explorer is in the background, not the foreground.

For example - if I am in Windows Explorer, and I click a document in the right pane, then hover over the left pane (with the touchpad), the right pane scrolls with two finger scroll. But we expect the left pane to scroll, which the mouse and any other normal touchpad would do (and do - again, this is related only to the touchpad two finger scrolling). If I then click a folder on the left, no matter where I hover, the left one continues to scroll (even if I hover over the right pane again). Again, if I hover over the right and scroll with my mouse or trackball, the right one scrolls as expected, even though the folder in the left pane was the last selected.

Any chance you could try it when you're at your machine and let me know if the two finger trackpad scrolls the left or right pane properly as you hover over them in Windows Explorer (file manager)? Then at least I will know if it's just me or if it's everyone (and then I will stop obsessing over it, lol).

 

I was making a cheeky comment....

On my R3 I have the same behavior as you described in the OP: " There, I have to select something in the left or right pane to target that pane (otherwise, it will scroll the last selected pane, even if I am hovered over the opposite pane). The weird twist is that, if Explorer is in the BACKGROUND, then it DOES scroll the one I hover over, without needing to select! (and of course external mice work as expected in Explorer all the time - scrolling the pane hovered over)"

 

Ha, you got me - I thought maybe since you were reading from mobile that the gist of the issue didn't get across.

Glad to hear (well, not glad, more relieved) that it seems to be a common issue then. I can rest leaving it alone. I am thinking it has something to do with legacy support, because I noticed that in device manager, it not only installs "Touchpad", and "HID-compliant mouse", but ALSO "PS/2 mouse". (I could not seem to get it to avoid that - although problem persisted even when uninstalling the "PS/2 mouse", but upon reboot it added it back in) Whereas on my Lenovo, it only says "ELAN Touchpad" and "HID-compliant mouse", no other pointing devices. (although of course in Alienware/Dell it is Synaptics, not Elan) Either that, or Windows Explorer somehow taps into the mouse more directly, and thus doesn't respond to the on-hover scrolling like every other app does.

 

I also have this exact problem, i am guessing it's a bug in the Dell Touch pad. 15 R4