I have an Inspiron 5379, and it has a recurring problem where the touchpad reverts to only basic functions - that is, one-finger operation. The cursor can be moved, and taps work, but no two-finger gestures work.

When this happens, and I go to Settings > Devices > Touchpad, most of the settings are missing. The only one available is Touchpad Sensitivity. There should be many more (like "Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected," "Drag two fingers to scroll," and many others).

Today when this happened, I ran SupportAssist. It updated the driver for the Intel chipset, and after this the touchpad settings returned and the touchpad works as it should - I don't know if this is a real solution or just a coincidence - but this shouldn't happen in the first place.

How can I prevent this problem from recurring? It happens often, and it's extremely annoying.