How to fix non responsive areas on a Surface Pro touch screen

I recently had a very strange issue with the touch screen on my Surface Pro 3 where some areas wouldn’t respond to touch but would work ok with the pen. At first I thought it was an issue running Windows Insider builds but after a bit of research it seems it’s down to a calibration issue.

On my Surface the lower 3rd of the touch screen worked ok but most of the time the upper section didn’t respond. I found a thread on Reddit where users had a similar problem and managed to fix it via a driver/calibration tool from N-TRig (the makers of the touch screen).

How to fix non responsive areas on a Surface Pro touch screen

The tool can be found at http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/swu-download.pl?mdl=SVF15N190X&upd_id=9338&os_group_id=27

Once downloaded run the file and select the folder you want it to place the utility.

UPDATE: November 2018: The Sony link no longer works but this link will download a tool to fix it

UPDATE: April 2019: Here is the new download link

  1. Download the N-Trig driver/calibration tool from the  download link
  2. Navigate to that folder and run the file CalibG4.exe. Leave the tool to run and don’t touch the screen during the process, after it completes and exits the touch screen will be fixed.
  3. This worked for me and hopefully it will be able to help other people.

 

101 thoughts on “How to fix non responsive areas on a Surface Pro touch screen

  1. Wow! That worked for me. Noticed the dead zones sometime after the Windows 10 Creators Update.
    Touch is fully functional again.

  2. hi..this didn’t solve my problem.. my areas still are non responsive.. Microsoft surface book I am using.

  3. Didn’t work on my Surface Pro 4

    Error when loading CalibG4.exe

    Failed to init transport, status=11
    FAIL

  4. It works on my Surface Pro 4, however executable from the link above did not run because it is missing a DLL. You can get another version directly from Microsoft as a hotfix: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3165497/surface-pro-4-or-surface-book-experiences-phantom-touch-input-on-the-s

    Just click Hotfix Download Available at the top and give a valid email address, this link (https://hotfixv4.trafficmanager.net/Surface%20Pro%203/latest/KB3165497/1/free/491758_intl_x64_zip.exe) will be sent to you. You can use it directly if you don’t want to be bothered with giving your email to Microsoft

  5. It works on my Surface Pro 4, however executable from the link above did not run because it is missing a DLL. You can get another version directly from Microsoft as a hotfix: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3165497/surface-pro-4-or-surface-book-experiences-phantom-touch-input-on-the-s

    Just click Hotfix Download Available at the top and give a valid email address, this link (https://hotfixv4.trafficmanager.net/Surface%20Pro%203/latest/KB3165497/1/free/491758_intl_x64_zip.exe) will be sent to you. You can use it directly if you don’t want to be bothered with giving your email to Microsoft

  6. Greetings,
    Thank you very much for sharing this information and helping solving this problem.
    I really appreciate it.
    Kind regards,
    Steve I

  7. Greetings,
    Thank you very much for sharing this information and helping solving this problem.
    I really appreciate it.
    Kind regards,
    Steve I

  8. GREAT! I was ready to buy a new surface pro, since I really need the touch capabilities of the device. But now, with your help, everything works fine! It means that I’ll have to find anothere excuse do buy the new model 😉 thank you!

  9. Wow and thanks to author Ian Dixon and Commenter cniemeyer, what a difference/improvement! I had the missing DLL also, but all is good now!

  10. Hi, I clicked the link to this and it took me to the homepage for software support. Does this fix still exist?

  11. Thanks a lot to cniemeyer for the updated links and to OP for the solution. It works and it’s so good to have it working again!

  12. YOU GUYS ARE SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!

    Everything I tried hadn’t worked. I was so discouraged and ready to give up. I felt like I explored every link, video, support, etc. and then I came across this site kind of randomly and was basically in the mindset of this is really the last hope. If this doesn’t work, nothing will. I was so defeated to see that the link for the sony support basically brought me to the same site where it seems the link for the firmware update or calibration tool I needed was missing, but the supplementary link provided by Commenter worked! My screen is back! I was ready to give up and accept that I had lost touch screen functionality but it was such a quick and easy fix. In fact, the fix was so simple I was pretty skeptical about it actually working (it only took a minute or two and when the process was done, it was so fast and simple, I’m like, there’s no way that worked. BUT IT DID!!!! WOW!!! A HUGE thank you to author/OP Ian Dixon and Commenter cniemeyer, you guys are the best!!!!! Saved my laptop!
    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!

  13. Worked like magic. Just clicked the link and ran the tool and everything was immediately fixed on my Surface Pro.
    Thank you!!

  14. Michael, I had to use 7zip to unpack the hitfix file, and run it from the unpacked folder.

    Having said that, this fix still does not work for me. 🙁

    How can Micro$soft sell a $2500 piece of buggy crap and not get sued? Where are the class action people?

  15. wooow it’s like a magic, actually i thought the problem is on the hardware of the screen and even I’m thinking of buying a new device but this a small program fix the issue within a few second and my surface pro 3 work as before.

    I’m really thank you to provide this easy method and save me from buying a new device.

  16. I tried to fix a touch dead spot on my wife’s surface 4 and couldn’t figure it out so we bough the next gen model. More than a year later, my kid broken his surface 4 screen so I tried to reinstate my wife’s old one as a replacement. The dead spot was still there so I went looking for fixes again… This program actually worked, the multi-touch screen is behaving perfectly again.

    Thank you for taking the time to post this online

  17. Wow!!!! Two whole bloody days of reinstalling operating systems and drivers and generally tearing my hair out trying to fix this stupid problem and all I had to do was download and run this 5 second program. Thank you my friend!
    Why does microsoft not put this on its official list of recommended solutions? Seems illogical that such a straight forward solution to a common problem not be included.

  18. HOLY. DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO WORK. I had a section that was completely unresponsive to touch and it was seriously killing me. This fix is seriously easy and it works. Thank you so much OP.

  19. Hi all
    I have a Surface pro 4 and latest 1809 version of windows
    The top portion of screen sometimes doesn’t work and I also have the Phantom touch

    This app didn’t work for me and gives the following error:

    0)Error:FW returned error = 2147483655
    0)Error:Failed to HandleResponse. ParseResponseToCall() failed.
    0)Error:Failed to send request.HIDInterface::Send() failed
    0)Error:Exiting HIDDispatcher::Dispatcher
    0)Error:Host not found in host list

    Any idea?
    Has any one been able to solve Phantom touch?

  20. every single issue i had is gone! holy cow i didnt realize just how bad it had gotten. sonys win8 tool works the same as the win10 version, still on their site x64 version. surface pro 3 here!

  21. Hi can you upload the fix somewhere on cloud and share the url? Because they have all removed the hotfix.

  22. Not having any joy with this, followed the instructions but just a flash after clicking the CalibG4 and then nothing happens. Am I missing something? Surface Pro 4, Ta!

    1. Same here, the tool doesnt work on my SP4.
      Just a flashing after clicking CalibG4.exe. Anyone else knows how to deal with it?

  23. the same problem here. If I tried the Sony tool it says DLL 100 missing, do not know how to get this working..

    1. Amazing!! God bless you! So the complete solution for me in 2023 using an old surface pro 3 for my kids educational purposes is: Install the Sony\’s calibration tool from here (clicking 1st oe 2nd result in the search in this link should take you there): https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/results?query=Touch+Panel+Calibration+Tool
      (direct link currently: but this will change over time, and therefore the search link above is more relevant: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/downloads/W0009338#system_requirements)
      And then install and run the installer. Which then gives you an EXE in the folder where you installed the tool above. Click on the EXE and let it run.
      IF YOU run into missing dll issues then download and install Visual C++ 2010 (direct link to Microsoft DL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#visual-studio-2013-vc-120) and then run the exe of the above mentioned calibration tool from Sony once again. This should do the trick!

      1. The tool has become unavailable, do you have a copy you are willing to email?

        YOUR MESSAGE WAS ::::: Amazing!! God bless you! So the complete solution for me in 2023 using an old surface pro 3 for my kids educational purposes is: Install the Sony\\’s calibration tool from here (clicking 1st oe 2nd result in the search in this link should take you there): https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/results?query=Touch+Panel+Calibration+Tool
        (direct link currently: but this will change over time, and therefore the search link above is more relevant: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/downloads/W0009338#system_requirements)
        And then install and run the installer. Which then gives you an EXE in the folder where you installed the tool above. Click on the EXE and let it run.
        IF YOU run into missing dll issues then download and install Visual C++ 2010 (direct link to Microsoft DL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#visual-studio-2013-vc-120) and then run the exe of the above mentioned calibration tool from Sony once again. This should do the trick!

  24. Forgot to note that taskbar on my 1 month old Surface Go doesn’t work. I tried the calibration tool but it doesn’t recognize the bottom corners of the screen. Will this utility work on a Surface Go? Thanks.

  25. Aloha Ian. Just tried it. Initially, an error msg displayed about the missing dll. Installed that. Ran the utility again. I flashed a black screen momentarily and that was it. Rebooted the surface Go.

    Taskbar still unresponsive to touch. 🙁

  26. Thank you very much. I’ve had the top inch or so of my Surface Pro 3’s touch screen stop working once or twice in the past and I’d just fully power down my computer which usually worked. This time that wasn’t working, but this fixed it. Thank you very much

  27. Not working on surface 5, is there another link or fix for this. The right side of the screen has a dead spot

  28. Wow! I love you! Worked on my Surface 3. Thought it was a hardware problem after dropping it.

  29. My Surface pro 3:
    – Issues: Phantom touch, Touchpad or Mouse dace any where on display screen, office, app…
    RAN CALIBG4 however, Its not ok with reports:
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:Exiting HIDDispatcher::Dispatcher
    0)Error:Host not found in host list

    Please help me with any fix this

    Thanks all

  30. Doesn’t work on a Surface Pro 4 with Windows 10 1803:

    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:HidP_GetValueCaps() failed. Error = 0
    0)Error:FW returned error = 2147483655
    0)Error:Failed to HandleResponse. ParseResponseToCall() failed.
    0)Error:Failed to send request.HIDInterface::Send() failed
    0)Error:Exiting HIDDispatcher::Dispatcher
    0)Error:Host not found in host list

  31. OMG! I have a Surface Pro 3 and dropped it when I was cleaning it off it case. OF COURSE! lol Anyways, afterwards the screen would start acting weird, as if someone was using the touchscreen. It was annoying because I would be doing something and the screentouch would just touch some random area and would close or do crazy things. I tried to calibrate it using the program inside windows 10 and didn’t work. THIS WORKED!!! So if you drop ur tablet and experience odd touching issues, give this a try. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

  32. Did absolutely nothing. Wouldn’t even run correctly. I need my Surface studio to do waork for both my job and school, so this really sucks.

  33. Thanks very much for the fix above. Had tried all the Microsoft advice to no avail. A good proportion of the top of my screen was not working. Tried the calibG4.exe but ran into the missingMSVCP100.dll problem but did what Marc identified as a fix from Microsoft website and then tried again and it worked. Thanks a lot for helping out. Ran fine under windows 10 pro.

  34. Thank you so much for this!!!! There was a deadzone in the upper-right area of the screen and it was driving me nuts!!! It was like this for MONTHS. This fixed the problem entirely!! <3 You are amazing.

  35. Has anyone figured out how to get this to work on a Surface Pro 4 when you experience the following issues:

    Failed to init transport, status=11
    FAIL

    or

    Failed send NCP command=7
    FAIL

    I tried with both the latest Windows build (1903) and the stock recovery version (1703) with no dice, using both the exe from Sony, and the updated one from Microsoft.

    1. Arctyx i have the same issue with Init 11 on a SP4 did you find an answer or can anyone else point me in the right direction please

  36. Haven’t restarted my computer yet but I’m not sure if it worked. Microsoft surface pro 4. Ran the exe a few times. Is there something I’m missing?

  37. Wow. Thanks for this! The Sony website says this is for Win8. I was worried since I have Win 10. Like magic! It worked! Super thanks for this.

  38. you have no idea of how amazing human you are! saved me from expending 2k on a new not needed computer!

  39. I have surface pro 2017. I have unresponsive touch panel towards the left side of screen vertically. The touch keeps working sometime and some other day it does not work. Will the Sony calibration tool work in this case.

  40. the download link is does not have any file to load after reading the agreement, did sony remove it? thanks.

  41. I get these errors:
    Failed to init transport, status=11
    or
    Failed to init transport, status=11

    Anybody knows how to fix it?

    Thanks

  42. I can´t thank you guys enough, worked on my Surface Pro 3 running Windows 10.
    Had been looking for a fix to this for a while now.

  43. Mr. Ian, one more big “thank you” from a surface 3 user here. Never had problems with it since bought in 2017. This morning it got misbehaving, non-responsive touches upon using it under a mild sunlight. Starting searching about correlations between touchness x screen heat. Reboot seemed to work but just shortly. Then got to your post, followed and fortunately this procedure got my S3 back to normal. All the best.

  44. I get errors trying to run this. Please advise. Errors are for missing .dll files. it says to reinstall and try again, but I did and still does not work. Missing dlls are MSVCP100.dll and MSVCR100.dll
    I am running windows 10, like others. I was really hoping this would work.

  45. I kept finding dead links that were outdated and was about to give up. But this fixed my dead spot (a huge area in the middle) and we’re good to go!

  46. This worked in getting rid of ghost circles on my Surface Pro 6.
    I still have dead spots on top of my white board and Affinity Photo software.
    However I can use my mouse to draw within the software.
    I bought the Surface Pro 6 so I could use the pen hardware to draw on the screen and stop using the mouse.
    That didn’t last long.

  47. You’re a life saver! Tried everything I could think of for this old SP3 I just got off eBay, reinstalled Win10, drivers, etc. Issue was even present in UEFI but running Calib64 after installing the C++ 2010 redistributable fixed it all. What the $&#%! Thanks!

  48. Hi, I have exactly the same problem with the top \”row\” of my screen but the links provided don\’t work, and the hotfix is not available in Surface support either. Is there an updfated link that I could use?
    Thanks!

  49. Hi. I will set out how to install the Calibrating software fix as described above and any potential .dll file issues. Applies to MS Surface pro 3 only WIN 10. There is a working download link above as of Jan 2023 and link is dated 2019. The link is to Sony downloads. The calibration tool states it\’s for windows 8 and 8.1. However, it works fine in windows 10 and most likely 11 as this is a tool for the screen not Windows. After agreeing to disclaimers download. Follow the instructions disconnecting any devices etc, and unpinning task bar icons. Run the tool. You might get an error that you\’re missing a file called MSVCP100.dll, and perhaps MSVCR100.dll. If so go to sts-tutorial and download both of those files and follow their instructions. This is suitable for those who are comfortable navigating the root directory of Windows in file explorer. The tool takes about 40 sec to run.

    1. Thanks for that. My Surface Go needs the calibration but the tool doesn’t work on it. You get an error: “Failed to init transport, status=11”. I think this its because it’s not designed for that model, but I haven’t find an alternative too yet.

Leave a Reply