Weird 'dead zone' issue?

[Ben Freedman]

Howdy...

I'm having a strange problem with my SP3 i5. Basically, there's a small 2 inch by 3 inch zone near the top left of my screen that sometimes becomes a 'dead zone'. I can't scroll there, or click there, or do any normal touch activities... If I begin scrolling from below it, everything scrolls until I reach that small rectangle, and then it just stops...

I was worried this was a hardware issue, but if I reboot, everything is fine... the dead zone is gone... for a while... Then after a day or two, the zone is back, and stays until I reboot once more.

Anyone seen this? Any solutions?

Thanks

Best,

Ben

 

[jnjroach]

Reset the Calibration from the Tablet PC Control Panel and see if the dead spot issue resolves itself.

 

[Ben Freedman]

I'll try that... thanks!

 

[BMoreawesome]

I have the same issue. Re calibrated and issue remains. I am concerned as this is the second time the touch screen has had dead issues. Starting to question the build quality beyond a year.

 

[mikelinen]

I have the same issue, a 2 inch across by 3 or 4 inch down zone starting near the top left of my screen that almost always becomes a 'dead zone' for touch (but pen okay). Brand new Surface3--just arrived. Rebooted, recalibrated, re-everything. It's there almost all the time. Grrrrrrr. Might be sending this right back. I had to return 2 Surface Books also due to other issues. This is getting ridiculous. Anyway, if someone has a solution that would be great, this is my second Surface 3 and I really like them.

 

[mikelinen]

Well, I posted above and then did a web search and found a solution. At this link:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...3/db94f98e-34ea-482b-91c1-c2f37336e36f?page=1

... the same complaint was voiced for a Surface Pro 3. Half way down the first page someone posts a link to a Sony-supplied .exe that recalibrates the screen. The rest of the thread is from people trying it and saying it works.

I ran it on my Surface 3 (non-Pro) just now and it fixed the problem. Others in that thread say it may come back after the fix, so I'll have to see, but it is easy to re-run, takes 10 sec (but note that people say make sure you follow all instructions carefully or it wont work). By the way, the Sony page warns against using it on other hardware, and says it's only a Win 8.1 utility. But again, it worked on my brand new Surface 3 with Win 10, and with all updates to date applied.

Good luck!

 

[Haldi]

It doesn't disappear with a reboot?

AFAIR such problems could occur due the Keyboard when it's closed on the screen and the tablet goes into sleep mode or similar.
You could try disconnecting the keyboard and store it somewhere else every time you don't need it anymore and see if it improves.