Programmable mouse buttons

3

3DPiper

New Member
I have a Kensington Expert Mouse (trackball), and need to program the buttons so when I click/chord left+right it translates that into a middle mouse button..

Kensington had a utility to do this in XP (Mouseworks), but it is not Vista supported and in fact they are dropping it saying this function already exists in Vista..

How can I program the buttons so left+right=middle..?

Thanks

-Matthew
 

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If you have Vista x32 then, it might support the trackball mouse but if you have Vista x64, than that's where the problem may be.

Have you tried setting this on the Vista Control Panel option by any chance? I doubt it will work but, perhaps worth a try.
 

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I am using Vista64..

When I go into control panel/mouse, I don't see any settings for programming/combining buttons...?

Thanks

-Matthew
 

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Welcome to the forums Matthew.

There should be a setting in the specific driver setup for your mouse. I know there is on mine, and if yours came with an installation CD, then you definately should be able to.

If not, open up the mouse settings (from control panel) and if I remember correctly, there should be settings in there to do that.

Hope that works for you.

~Lordbob
 

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I had to give up on my legacy Logitech mice for the same reason. Logitech don't make Vista drivers for older mice, Mouseware (older driver) refuses to install... They tell to use the generic mouse drivers in Vista.

And here is where I have a beef with MS... Generic Vista mouse drivers... they only support a 2 button mouse + wheel. Nothing else... Not even a middle button. Nothing else. The drivers haven't changed since Win95... real progress. --ch
 

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Arg! This is lame..

I've used this trackball for miles, it completely fits my workflow.. I cannot give it up..

But I have to have a middle mouse button for my apps..

In XP, the driver let me configure it.. For Vista, the Kensington website says: "it is important to know that you should not install Mouseworks on any PC running Microsoft Windows Vista. Mouseworks was exclusively developed to run under Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows. With the release of Microsoft Vista there is no further need for the Mouseworks application as several features formerly provided by Mouseworks are incorporated into Vista. Vista supports configuration needs such as acceleration, application launch (keyboards), settings for right or left handed users, scroll speed, et cetera. Our plan is to continue to tap into the functionality and configuration which Microsoft Vista incorporates. Please do not install Mouseworks on any PC running Windows Vista."

However, there is no way to configure buttons natively under vista that I have found..

Their newer version of my trackball, the SlimBlade, DOES have a specific Vista driver.. I installed it, but it shows no functionality at all.. I assume that is because it does not find the SlimBlade trackball..

:(

-Matthew
 

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Hey Matthew, did you try my suggestion?
Go into control panel and click on mouse settings. There should be settings in there to set the different mouse buttons. While I cannot check it right now, I think it is correct.

If that doesn't work, then it may be time to consider a newer mouse. I know my Razer Lachesis works on both Vista, XP, and W7 with programmable buttons (all 15 of them). While you don't need to buy a $80 mouse, you can spend maybe $50 on a good one that will work with newer drivers and programmable.

~Lordbob
 

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    Razer Lachesis
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    Razer Tarantula
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    not fast enough
lordbob75 said:
Hey Matthew, did you try my suggestion?
Go into control panel and click on mouse settings. There should be settings in there to set the different mouse buttons. While I cannot check it right now, I think it is correct.
Click to expand...

When I went into the mouse settings, it was the standard Windows Mouse Properties. That lets you:

  • Switch primary and secondary buttons
  • Adjust your double-click speed
  • Turn on ClickLock
  • Change your pointers scheme and customize icons
  • Adjust pointer speed, turn on snap-to, and adjust pointer visibility
  • Adjust scrollwheel
  • Show hardware devices and drivers
Like this:

http://www.dtgeeks.com/images/uploads/mouse_properties.jpg

nothing there about programming buttons, or combining buttons to make a hotkey or anything..

If that doesn't work, then it may be time to consider a newer mouse. I know my Razer Lachesis works on both Vista, XP, and W7 with programmable buttons (all 15 of them). While you don't need to buy a $80 mouse, you can spend maybe $50 on a good one that will work with newer drivers and programmable.
Click to expand...

Well, I spent over $100 on this trackball, so price isn't a concern.. I work on the computer 10+ hours a day.. I just want something that works..

I would probably upgrade to the next version of my trackball, which would be the Kensington SlimBlade (but only if I got middle-button support)..

SlimBlade(TM) Trackball

-Matthew
 

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Well Matthew, the site says it supports vista, so you should be ok.

I actually didn't know what kind of mouse that was until I saw it, but thats crazy. My friend has a mouse like that, and it just freaks me out. Lol.

Anyways, that one should work. If it comes with a CD driver, then you should be able to set your own settings. Maybe.

As I said, I can't look at it now, but I could have been wrong (though I thought it was there)

~Lordbob
 

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    Razer Lachesis
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    Razer Tarantula
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    not fast enough
It shows in the help section how to set it up (see attachment). However, i have not tried it since I only need to use the click, double click and right click.
 

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I have the expert trackball mouse and in the help section of the kensington trackball mouse is the information. Perhaps it is different for the other types.
Expert Mouse®
 

My Computer

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