Unbearable Typing Problem. Please Help.

[Chadbrochill17]

This is first time using any kind of forum, but the issue is worth the effort.

My computer illiterate father has recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium on it and I started first with teaching him how to E-mail. Though that's as far as we can get because typing takes forever.

Issue: In the middle of typing something the cursor will randomly click on whatever it's hovering over, be it a link, text further up in the field, or even my desktop wallpaper.

I've called a friend with Vista and he has the same problem. I have no idea how to correct this since I'm a XP person, please help Vista Knowledge Pool, it will be much apreciated.

 

[H2SO4]

Chances are it's a broken or hypersensitive touchpad. Even the presence of a palm a few cm from the surface of the touchpad can make it think that someone is dragging a finger across or tapping. The behaviour you're describing sounds like the touchpad registering taps which are either unintentional or not actually happening at all (the touchpad hardware is broken).

You can turn off "tapping" in the touchpad properties in control panel, or even disable the entire touchpad (in the BIOS) as a test. If the annoying behaviour suddenly stops, you know you're on the right track.

 

[Imperfect1]

Issue: In the middle of typing something the cursor will randomly click on whatever it's hovering over, be it a link, text further up in the field, or even my desktop wallpaper.

Sounds like, at those spots where the cursor clicks on the links, he is putting some additional pressure on the touchpad. The touchpad itself may be working perfectly, but set to be a little too sensitive for his touch. On the small chance that he has a Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad (the one that comes standard with HP laptops), below are the instructions for customizing the touchpad. The Sensitivity controls are at the bottom of the list. (If he doesn't have the Synaptics TouchPad, check the customizing instructions for the touch pad he does have. There should be some kind of control for customizing sensitivity.)

Right click Desktop to open Personalize
Scroll down to MOUSE POINTERS

The page that opens is the MOUSE PROPERTIES page.
Go to: BUTTONS
BUTTON CONFIGURATION
Select: Right handed (if he's right handed)
DOUBLE CLICK SPEED: I set the slider to the slowest setting ( if too fast, double clicks won’t open files)
Click Lock: No
POINTERS:
POINTER OPTIONS:
MOTION:
Select a POINTER SPEED: I set mine at the fastest – makes the touchpad fly (This technically controls the mouse buttons, but makes also touchpad feel faster)
Check: Enhance pointer precision
In the Visibility section, check: Hide pointer while typing
DEVICE SETTINGS:
Click the Settingsbar:
Click on Overview to open the tree and read the overview of the controls.
TAPPING: No
BUTTONS: Double click on Buttons to open the tree and set the controls:
Left ButtonAction: Primary Click
Right Buton Action: Secondary Click
VIRTUAL SCROLLING: Double click on Virtual Scrolling to open the tree and set the controls:
Check: Enable vertical scrolling and horizontal scrolling
LONG DISTANCE SCROLLING:
Coasting: No Edge motion when scrolling: No
SCROLLING SPEED: Set slider for scrolling speed. I set mine at the slowest
Adjust SCROLLING REGION
SCROLLING SELECTION: I checked: Scroll item under pointer (for a broader scrolling area)
EDGE MOTION: Select the Edge Motion you want. I chose Perform Edge Motion when pointing and dragging
Select your Edge Motion Region and Edge Motion Speed. I selected: Control motion with finger and set my slider at medium-slow.
SENSITIVITY: Double click on Sensitivity to open the tree and set the controls:
Double click on + to open tree
PALM CHECK: I left my Palm Check at the default spot , near center but a little toward Maximum (if mouse gets erratic, increase toward Maximum. But, if mouse is not responsive to certain clicks, decrease toward Minimum)
TOUCH SENSITIVITY:
Light Touch – Here you can select and experiment with the best degree of sensitivity for him.
Click on Apply, and then OK.

 

[Chadbrochill17]

Disabling teh touchpad did the trick, thanks you guys.

 

[Gary Flater]

You folks just solved something that has bugged me for a long time. Thanks!!!