Is there freeware to turn OFF the sensitive TOUCHPAD when a USBmouse is connected?

On 09/10/2013 03:31 PM, choro wrote:

No it ain't! The taskbar SHOULD be hidden unless you want to use it.
What is the point of having all that space if you cannot use it or if it
hides a good proportion of whatever it is you have up and running.

I like to keep the taskbar visible as a reference to what I have open.

Besides in Windows 8 you have the option of displaying the taskbar on
the LHS of the screen which is what I do leaving the full height of the
monitor accessible and visible at all times. With today's wide screens
the only time you need the full width is when watching 16:9 videos.

The ability to move the taskbar has been present since Win95; bottom,
top, left, or right.

Jon

On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:31:18 +0100, choro wrote:

[snip]

No it ain't! The taskbar SHOULD be hidden unless you want to use it.

It is a matter of preference.

I switch frequently between programs. For me, it is much more
convenient to have the taskbar always displayed.

[snip]

sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:53:52 -0700, Gene Wirchenko
wrote:

On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:31:18 +0100, choro wrote:

[snip]

No it ain't! The taskbar SHOULD be hidden unless you want to use it.

It is a matter of preference.


Ditto! Just because one person prefers it to be hidden doesn't mean we
all should. Such "SHOULD be"s are almost always bad advice.

I switch frequently between programs. For me, it is much more
convenient to have the taskbar always displayed.


Same here.

On 11/09/2013 20:35, Ken Blake wrote:
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:53:52 -0700, Gene Wirchenko
wrote:

On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:31:18 +0100, choro wrote:

[snip]

No it ain't! The taskbar SHOULD be hidden unless you want to use it.

It is a matter of preference.


Ditto! Just because one person prefers it to be hidden doesn't mean we
all should. Such "SHOULD be"s are almost always bad advice.

I switch frequently between programs. For me, it is much more
convenient to have the taskbar always displayed.


Same here.

Sir, I have a good reason to justify why the taskbar should be hidden.
That way you have a bigger estate available to view birds!--
choro
*****

On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:33:14 +0000 (UTC), Danny D. wrote:

I can't count the number of times the sensitive touchpad is
inadvertently activated while typing, in Windows XP & Windows 7.

Is there freeware available that will simply TURN OFF the touchpad
when a USB mouse is connected?

It should be in the drivers for your laptop.

Since you chose to keep the identity of your laptop a secret, try a
Web search for your laptop model and "disable touchpad". That's how
I did it.


--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On 9/10/2013 3:33 PM, Danny D. wrote:
I can't count the number of times the sensitive touchpad is
inadvertently activated while typing, in Windows XP & Windows 7.

Is there freeware available that will simply TURN OFF the touchpad
when a USB mouse is connected?

I guess if not, then is there a SIMPLE way to disable the TOUCHPAD
driver when the mouse is attached; and then a simple way to re-enable
that touchpad driver when the mouse is not connected?


The key to this is make and model dependent, as well as what is being
used for the mouse and touchpad driver(s)

I have an older HP 9000 series laptop (Vista) that originally had this
very problem. Dumping some of the HP "enhancements", and reverting to the
Microsoft Mouse and updated Synaptics touchpad drivers, along with
reducing the touchpad optional functions seems to have made things more
suitable.
This particular laptop has a single button above the touchpad that can
also be used to at least partially disable the touchpad.

The either or business depends on the hardware and drivers. I found that
there were ways to disable drivers and so forth, but never bothered to
automate the process. Some of the laptops had a level of bios support
that sort of emulated a mouse to windows.

On 9/10/2013 3:33 PM, Danny D. wrote:
I can't count the number of times the sensitive touchpad is
inadvertently activated while typing, in Windows XP & Windows 7.

Is there freeware available that will simply TURN OFF the touchpad
when a USB mouse is connected?

I guess if not, then is there a SIMPLE way to disable the TOUCHPAD
driver when the mouse is attached; and then a simple way to re-enable
that touchpad driver when the mouse is not connected?

I've got 2 laptops, newer Dell (W7) and an older Gateway (XP) and both
have a setting using the keyboard, to shut off the touchpad. They both
use a proprietary control key that must be held while hitting a number
key or a function key.

nemesis wrote:

You can meddle with the settings through "Control Panel -- Mouse".
I turn the pad clicks off.

Thanks to the help here, I found out that I was using the Microsoft
drivers, which didn't have that automatic disabling feature.

However, when I downloaded the Dell drivers for the touchpad, those
drivers DID have the feature to automagically disable the touchpad when
the USB mouse is connected.

The nice thing is that the Dell driver automatically re-enables the
touchpad when you disconnect the USB mouse.

Perfect. And free (sort of).

richard wrote:

Or check your control panel mouse settings.

It wasn't in those settings but that turned out to be because I was using
the default drivers (which worked fine, otherwise).

When I installed the Dell-specific touchpad drivers, there finally was an
option to automagically enable and disable the touchpad depending on
whether the USB mouse was plugged in or not.

Perfect! And free (sort of).

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

if you _do_ find some freeware that turns off the 'pad when an external
mouse is present [and back when it isn't], please share, as clearly many
would like it [I still use the 'pad for some things even with a mouse]).

The Dell-specific touchpad driver had an option to automatically turn off
the touchpad the moment a USB mouse it plugged in.

So, my problem was that I was using whatever drivers self-installed when
I set up the operating system (Windows 7).

The way it works now is that the touchpad is disabled the moment a USB
mouse is plugged in; and then the touchpad is re-enabled the moment you
pull the USB mouse off.

Seems to be perfect - so - I never did find any freeware to perform the
task.

VanguardLH wrote:

Isn't there a button alongside the edge of the touchpad to physically
enable/disable it? You don't identify the touchpad. Is it in a laptop?
If so, which one (make and model)? Is it a standalone device?

I don't see a manual disable button.

It's a Dell XPS M1730.

The darn touchpad is smack right where your hands go!

Reviews:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/Dell-X..._Laptop_review
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps...-32687269.html

Thip wrote:

I disabled mine in Control Panel.

That only works if you have the option.

The default drivers which loaded with Windows 7 did NOT have that option
(as far as I could tell).

Luckily, people here directed me to the Dell drivers, which DID have that
option!

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...duct/xps-m1730

Don McC wrote:

Some include the ability to automatically disable the touchpad when an
external mouse is attached.

That was the answer that worked!

The default Microsoft drivers did NOT have the option which allowed the
touchpad to be automatically disabled once I plugged in a USB mouse.

But, the updated Dell drivers DID have that option!
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...driverid=F8RCC

Interestingly, it's listed as "optional" in the Dell download pages:
Dell Touchpad / Pointing Stick, v.9.1.18.6, A00
Combined 32-Bit/64-bit Touchpad Driver for XP/2K and Vista
Release Date: 8/2/2007
Importance: Optional
Version: 9.1.18.6,A00

Stan Brown wrote:

It should be in the drivers for your laptop.

You were right!
It was in the list of OPTIONAL drivers for the Dell MPX 1730 laptop!
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34...-turn-touchpad

Who would have known that the standard Microsoft drivers didn't have this
critical feature.

In fact, I can't imagine how ANYONE who is trained at typing can actually
type on this type of laptop without disabling the touchpad!

charlie wrote:

The key to this is make and model dependent, as well as what is being
used for the mouse and touchpad driver(s)

This was true.

The "default" drivers did not have the feature.

However, the supposedly optional drivers from Dell did!
http://en.community.dell.com/support.../19223905.aspx

The thing that gets me is that this feature is in no way "optional".
It's mandatory.

You simply can't type without it (at least by two-handed typing).