Symptoms
Your Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book device intermittently experiences “phantom” (ghost) touch input on the screen. This input may disrupt running applications or interfere with your ability to use the device.
The device may experience only a few random touches on the screen and then function correctly for some time, or this issue may occur continuously.
Note The solution that’s provided in this article may not fix the issue. In this situation, the issue may be caused by physical damage, installed software, or nearby electromagnetic interference.
Cause
This issue occurs because of a problem that affects the touch screen calibration of the device.
Resolution
Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the issue that’s described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book devices that are experiencing this specific issue.
If the hotfix is available for download, there’s a “Hotfix Download Available” section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section doesn’t appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to get the hotfix.
Notes
- Because of a database limitation, the product name on the download page is listed incorrectly as “Surface Pro 3.” The actual applicable products for this hotfix are Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book.
- This hotfix provides a touch calibration tool. This tool saves calibration information to the touch firmware in the Surface device. It does not change any settings in Windows. Therefore, you can reimage the device or reinstall Windows after you run the tool without having to run the tool again.
- If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that don’t qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, go to the following Microsoft website:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
How to use the touch calibration tool
To achieve good touch calibration, make sure that the Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book device meets the following conditions before you run the touch calibration tool:
- The device has at least 25 percent battery power remaining.
- Fluorescent lighting or other bright lighting is not pointed directly at the device screen.
- The device is updated to the latest firmware and drivers from Windows Update.
- The power supply is disconnected and the device is running on battery power.
- Nothing is plugged into the USB port.
Install and run the tool
To install and run the touch calibration tool, follow these steps.
Warning Do not touch the screen while the tool is running.
- Download hotfix 3165497 from this article.
- Run the hotfix, and select a folder to unzip the files in.
- In the folder in which you saved the files, run CalibG4.exe.
Note After the calibration process has completed, the tool should display a “PASS” status. The tool may take one to two minutes to complete the calibration.
If you still experience “phantom” touches after you complete these steps, make sure that the device meets the conditions at the top of the “How to use the touch calibration tool” section, and then run CalibG4.exe again.
If the device freezes or crashes while the tool is running, or if the tool does not finish the calibration process, hold the power button for 30 seconds to turn off the device, and then turn on the device and run CalibG4.exe again.
