Symptoms: Cant move pointer up and down, only side to side. When moving side to side it jumps around erratically. When using USB mouse the pointer jiggles from side to side. The touchpad can detect movement 1cm to 5cm above it, moving in the air without touching it. This occurs on a dying laptop on which things cease functioning all the time for no real reason, but its annoying because of the pointer twitching and moving side to side if it detects my arms while typing. Is this repairable or is it possible to turn the touchpad off to make it stop twitching the pointer?
1 Answer
On the right side of your taskbar, open up the hidden icons. You should see something that looks like a touchpad. Right-click on it and select Pointing Device Properties.
This will open a window called Mouse Properties. There are multiple tabs like Buttons and Pointers, but the one you're after is Device Settings, where you then click on the Settings button below the device list.
After that, look for "SmartSense" and click on the options.
SmartSense is a feature that tries to prevent accidentally moving the mouse while typing, and I believe it will work in this case.
After that, turn it on. Slide it around and see what fits you best.
Do tell if this helps!
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I couldnt find SmartSense in settings but I instead checked the box to disable it when a USB mouse is in use, since I dont use the touchpad anyway. Is it normal for a trackpad to detect movement an inch above it without touching it?– JAdlerCommented Jan 31, 2016 at 5:05
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I'm not sure - perhaps you're touching it very lightly? Either way, sounds like you have a very perceptive mouse pad! Commented Jan 31, 2016 at 5:07
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@MathManiac No definately not, I can see a good inch of space between my finger and the trackpad. For clarity, It is not above on the X axis, but vertically above it.– JAdlerCommented Jan 31, 2016 at 5:15