You and your lazy wrist — a tip for all new laptop users
If you’ve finally decided your done with bulky desktop computers and you’ve switched to using a laptop, you’re probably using a mouse with it. Most of us who go from desktops to laptops, just don’t like the touchpads on laptops – we’re mouse-o-philes, I guess.
The #1 complaint we get from people who are new to laptop computers is:
“My cursor won’t stay put! I type something and it jumps up or down. I can barely type a sentence without the cursor jumping.”
Ah yes, it sounds familiar right? Is that you?
This is a very common problem is you’re using a mouse with a laptop. More than likely, your touchpad is still enabled, and your lazy wrist is brushing ever-so-slightly against the touchpad, and it’s just enough to move your cursor up and down or all around a page or an email you’re composing. It will drive you nuts.
Since every laptop is different, these instructions may be slightly different for each brand of computer. Dell, for example, has a feature that automatically turns off the touchpad when it detects a mouse is being used. It’s a very useful feature, but unfortunately, it’s turned off by default. You can turn it on by going to Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Mouse — and you’ll find your mouse and touchpad settings there. If your computer does not have the option to automatically disable the touchpad when you plug in a mouse, just disable the touchpad all together…remember you can always turn it back on if you need it.
On my Acer you can use the function + F7 key to toggle it on and off.
It may be true on other brands too. On my Dell, when you plug in a mouse it automatically turns off the touchpad. Unplugging the mouse turns the touchpad on. Other people using other brand might want to try your tip
I found a neat program for my HP laptop.
It’s called TouchFreeze.
It turns off the touchpad if you are typing on the keyboard.
When you are done typing, it turns the touchpad back on.
Here is information and a direct download link:
http://dottech.org/13241/touchfreeze-automatically-disable-your-laptops-touchpadtrackpad-while-typing/
We have recommended this program many times, but not recently. We have not tested it in a year or so, so make sure when you download it:
1. You don’t get it from Softonics or Download.com
2. You get it from the author’s site (link in the comment above).
3. Be careful when installing it that you read each dialog. We’ve never had any problem with it and there may not be now, but we have not tested this program in quite awhile.
4. If you turn off your touchpad – you don’t have to install any 3rd-party programs.