Touchpad Issues During Windows 11 Installation on Acer Aspire A315-35

This is a known issue with newer Acer laptops. The Windows 11 installer often lacks the necessary touchpad drivers, especially if it uses Intel Serial IO or I2C. A quick workaround is to plug in a USB mouse so you can get through the installation. After you've installed Windows, go to Acer's support page for the Aspire A315-35 and download the touchpad and chipset drivers. Once those are installed and you reboot, your touchpad should start working without any issues.

If you have a wired or wireless USB mouse on hand, that can be a lifesaver for the installation process. A Bluetooth mouse doesn't work. You'll also want to make sure you gather your laptop's serial number so you can download the correct drivers from Acer's support site. After installation, there are steps you can take to load specific drivers if needed, so check the manufacturer's site for details.

After installing Windows, it should automatically download the touchpad drivers via updates. It's common for these drivers not to be included in the installer for many new laptops. If the touchpad is still not working after updates, head over to the manufacturer's website and download the drivers yourself. During installation, using a USB mouse can help navigate if you aren't completely comfortable using just the keyboard.

Just a heads up, since the touchpad relies on Intel Serial IO, it won't be detected during setup until the necessary drivers are loaded. You may need to run commands to load those drivers if you're feeling adventurous. That said, I recommend checking Acer's support site for the right drivers for your specific model to simplify things.