Mouse pointer on laptop won't move.

[bigfurrykid]

Hi all, my mouse pointer on my 1 year old Acer 5516 laptop is stuck in the middle of the screen and I can't do anything.
This is a 1st time for this. I have tried to shut off the machine and still nothing.
I did make recovery cds when I bought it, but would hate to lose what is on there.
Any suggestions?

[Caliban]

Have you tried Safe Mode?

[bigfurrykid]

Originally Posted by Caliban

Have you tried Safe Mode?

Yes, same results.

[Caliban]

Are you using the touchpad or a mouse? If touchpad, have you tried a mouse?

[bigfurrykid]

Originally Posted by Caliban

Are you using the touchpad or a mouse? If touchpad, have you tried a mouse?

Using the touchpad, didn't even think of trying a mouse yet.

[Caliban]

If a mouse works, then I'd first suggest a reload of the Synaptics driver.

[bigfurrykid]

Originally Posted by Caliban

If a mouse works, then I'd first suggest a reload of the Synaptics driver.

It works with the external mouse. How do I reload of the Synaptics driver?

[Caliban]

Download the file, and run any executable the .zip might contain.
Try that first: if no success, uninstall any old touchpad drivers, then reinstall with the new package.

[plodr]

What happens when you attach a mouse?
oops, I'm a few minutes too late with that question.

[bigfurrykid]

"uninstall any old touchpad drivers, then reinstall with the new package"

Okay, how do I do that?

[Caliban]

I'm on a Win 7 machine, so your paths may differ, but the procedure should be similar.

If the Synaptics software is listed in Add/Remove programs, then uninstall from there.
If not, then in Device Manager, find and/or expand the touchpad, right-click and select 'Update Driver Software'. If on your machine the 'Update' is not available, then select 'Properties', 'Driver', then uninstall.

The key is to point to the setup information in the newly downloaded .zip file.

[bigfurrykid]

Originally Posted by Caliban

I'm on a Win 7 machine, so your paths may differ, but the procedure should be similar.

If the Synaptics software is listed in Add/Remove programs, then uninstall from there.
If not, then in Device Manager, find and/or expand the touchpad, right-click and select 'Update Driver Software'. If on your machine the 'Update' is not available, then select 'Properties', 'Driver', then uninstall.

The key is to point to the setup information in the newly downloaded .zip file.

Sorry, forgot to mention that it is running Vista.

[bigfurrykid]

Well, didn't I pull a knuckhead move. I disabled the touchpad.

After several failed attempts, I Googled: "Acer 5516 touchpad does not work"
The very 1st answer was that it may be disabled and there should be a button at the top near the screen.
Well the button to the left of the power button was glowing red, I pushed it and now I'm back up and running.

Thinking that the laptop may be broken, my wife felt so bad that I cheaped out in the 1st place, that I can go out and buy another, just spend a little more and get something better.

We are both relieved that I don't need to do that, so we can get a new tv for the bedroom.

My wife rocks!!

[Caliban]

Glad you got it - thanks for the info about the disable button (might come in handy for future reference).