Can't disable tapping on touchpad

Discussion in 'Software' started by brandypeppy, Oct 9, 2009.

  1. brandypeppy

    brandypeppy MajorGeek

    Just reinstalled WinMe on a compaq armadaE500. There is nothing in the control panel to disable tapping on the touchpad, probably because I didn't have the Compaq install CD. I just used a generic windows version.
    Is there any other way to disable this annoying feature? My fingers are far to bulky and clumsy and it seems like the touchpad is really sensitive.
     
  2. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    The touchpad is controlled by the mouse drivers. I'm not sure what the tapping activates but you may find something in Control Panel>Mouse options that would make it less sensitive.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2009
  3. MaverickRL

    MaverickRL Private E-2

    Have you looked at the BIOS settings? You can sometimes disable the touchpad there.
     
  4. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Both my laptops, HP and micron, allowed me to turn off the touchpad in the BIOS and also by a toggle switch (HP) or a keyboard combination (micron). Check your manual; there should be a way to turn off the touchpad.
     
  5. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    My Compaq Presario F572US allows me to turn the touchpad off and on with a small button right at the forward edge of the touchpad.
     
  6. brandypeppy

    brandypeppy MajorGeek

    Thanks, but no bios setting and no button. I think I need a driver update. Any suggestions?
     
  7. lbmest

    lbmest MajorGeek

  8. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Reading the manual, page 2-1
    There's more. If you don't have the manual, download it and read Chapter 2.
     
  9. brandypeppy

    brandypeppy MajorGeek

    Ib,

    I downloaded that driver, no changes.

    Plodr, what manual?

    Is there possibly a regedit to disable tapping? :major
     
  10. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    lbmest's post #7 in this thread gave a link to your manual. I downloaded and looked through. I don't own this brand and model computer so I would not have the manual available.
    You, however, seem to not have a manual, so download it and save it.
     
  11. Puppywunder58

    Puppywunder58 Master Sergeant

    If you have a USB port on the machine then just buy a USB mouse and plug it in.
     
  12. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    If you can't turn off the touch pad, when you type, your wrist might hit the touchpad and the cursor moves all over the place. I've had to show notebook users how to disable the touchpad because the mouse cursor was moving and they could not understand why. Plugging in an external mouse does not solve this problem.
     
  13. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I saw a couple of things that might interest you.

    Here is one http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service...447627+1255391607907+28353475&threadId=293585 but the drivers for the n600c are for 2000/XP. http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...6675&swEnvOID=1098&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=3

    I downloaded that Softpaq anyway and extracted it and it is basically a Synaptic generic driver wrapped up in a Compaq package.

    I downloaded the generic 98/ME driver from Synaptic http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers/ and it looks like almost the exact same Readme.txt file with the OS name changed but it says "Synaptic Pointing Device". Every other driver on that page says driver for "Synaptic Touchpad". I think it may just be that the person writing the ReadMe used an insider term rather than the more common TouchPad. I believe you could go ahead and try the generic WinME driver. It adds a taskbar icon and tapping adjustment function. But the Win95 driver might also work but I am not sure what options on tapping it would have.

    I believe WinMe has a System Restore function. Maybe make a Restore Point and then try to install the 98/ME driver. Unzip the package, Read the readme.txt and double-click Setup.exe. If it works great if not Go Back using System Restore and try the 95 version. Or vice versa.
     
  14. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    One other thing I noticed is that on the Synaptic site the driver versions go up numerically by OS.

    The 95 version is 7.2 the 98 version is 8.1. The Compaq version that is supposedly for XP is 6.6. (I think this version might have originally had files for both 98 and XP on Synaptics site and Compaq just took out the 98 files)

    So my guess is that the 95 version from the Synaptic site is at least as current as the Compaq's XP version. So if Compaq's version had a tapping control then the 95 version which was probably produced later will also have that function. So I would start with the 95 version since it specifically says "Touchpad" and is only a slightly lower version number than the 98 driver.
     
  15. brandypeppy

    brandypeppy MajorGeek

    Thanks Sach, I will try your fixes tonight and let you know if it works!
     
  16. brandypeppy

    brandypeppy MajorGeek

    I downloaded that file, the one for Win98, but it is a zip file and I can't find a free program. I found 7zip but when I try to install, it says I need a newer version of windows. Any other way?
     
  17. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

  18. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    7-Zip works in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista. (This from the developer's site).
    If you can't get it to work, go here
    http://www.7-zip.org/
    and grab the exe file.
    You should be able to right click a zipped file and select open with 7-zip or similar wording.
     

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