How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

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ChrisGreaves
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How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Back in the Good Old Days I used to have the students unplug the mouse and use only the keyboard. (Then we would unplug the keyboards and try using just the mouse. On a good day I would have them all work after turning OFF the desktop monitor)

My Toshiba Tecra, and my Dell Inspiron both have the rectangular touch-pad near the spacebar; I do not use a cabled mouse.
In Control Panel I thought to disable the mouse by user control (doing it with the keyboard, natch, to be sure I could bring it back) but find that the Disable button is disabled!
DisableMouse.png
Why should this be? Solely to prevent users shooting themselves in the foot (“If I can’t use the mouse the computer is useless”?)
Short of the registry/RegEdit . Is there a way to disable the mouse and re-enable it under user (keyboard) control?

Thanks
Chris
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Argus
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Argus »

Not discussing your main question, but what do you see if you follow the route via the Device Manager?

For your keyboard only lifestyle: Winkey-Pause; Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab [amount may differ dep. on version]; Enter; Down-arrow; Right-arrow; Down-arrow; Enter; Ctrl-Tab; Tab, Tab; Enter.
(There is a difference here, in options available.)

If I may, what are you trying to achieve that can't be done by not connecting the mouse?
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Argus
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Argus »

:sigh: Add another Tab when the Device Manager is started.
(If you don't want to wear out the Tab key you can start Device Manager via: Winkey-R; devmgmt.msc.)
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Argus wrote:Not discussing your main question, but what do you see if you follow the route via the Device Manager?
MouseDisable.png
Essentially the same thing. It is a PS2 Mouse and the DISable button is - disabled!

If I may, what are you trying to achieve that can't be done by not connecting the mouse?
Argus, you may.
Occasionally I get the urge to use keyboard-only tactics. The best way for me to do that used to be unplugging the mouse.
Today I have a touchpad thing, just below the space bar on the laptops.
I ought to be able to control myself and just not touch the mousepad, but motor-habits take over.

Back in the good old days, I used to get students to see and know that the keyboard really was faster, and that Help Desk folks (in those days) had to dictate keystrokes over the phone because "up a bit, a bit more, now just a little to the left" never works for something as elementary as, say, selecting a paragraph of text.

I confess that students found it quite rewarding to use the computer without the mouse, to use the computer without the keyboard, to use the computer without the monitor. They said that they now had a feeling of being In Control.

Cheers
Chris
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Argus
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Argus »

I see. I, as well, do not like touchpads very much when doing work, though I rarely use laptops now; I'm a "keyboard-person" (I have also used a computer for a short time without monitor.)

This is what I see on a desktop, hence why I mentioned it being different.
20191023_Mouse.PNG
I must admit that I only understood that the question was only about the touchpad after I had posted my reply, My initial thought, after just seeing the subject and knowing that you have several laptops, was: they usually have special software or hardware to deal with that, but then since you were looking at device properties and their alternatives I followed on that track.

Have you checked all settings in the Control Panel? Any software installed?

I don't know about Toshiba and Dell but some come with software where you can disable the touchpad; on some (Lenovo, I think) it is possible to disable the touchpad by touching and holding in one corner of the pad.
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Argus wrote:... I don't know about Toshiba and Dell but some come with software where you can disable the touchpad; on some (Lenovo, I think) it is possible to disable the touchpad by touching and holding in one corner of the pad.
Thank you Argus.
I tried each of the four corners, holding down for about three seconds. Nothing.

This page suggest the <Fn> key and the <F9> key.
Doesn't work for me. I even went to the screen (bottom right corner) in case the displayed icon was hidden in my application window. Nada. Zip.
IMG_20191023_1613329527.jpg
My Toshiba keyboard shows a mouse[dis]able on the F9 key, so I will go home and play with both this laptop and the DELL Inspiron, both suggested methods, and report back.

If all else fails I will log in to the Toshiba forums and ask there.

I'm starting to think that I have too much time at my fingertips(grin)
Thanks again.
Chris
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Fluffyone
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Fluffyone »

Few Steps to Disable Touchpad in Windows
Through the Windows menus
1. Press the Windows key, type Control Panel, and then press Enter.
2. Select Hardware and Sound.
3. Under Devices and Printers, select Mouse.
4. In the Mouse Properties window, select the tab labeled TouchPad, ClickPad, or something similar.
5. On the TouchPad tab, there should be an option for enabling and disabling the TouchPad. It may be a button or a checkbox. Select the Disable option and then OK.
Using a keyboard only
1. Press the Windows key, type Control Panel, and then press Enter.
2. Use your keyboard to navigate to Hardware and Sound, and then press Enter.
3. Use your keyboard to navigate to Mouse (located under the Devices and Printers section), and then press Enter.
4. Use the keyboard combination Ctrl+Tab to move to the Device Settings, TouchPad, ClickPad, or the similar option tab and press Enter.
5. Use your keyboard to navigate to the checkbox that allows you to enable or disable the touchpad. Press the spacebar to toggle it on or off.
6. Tab down and select Apply, then OK.

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Roderunner
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Roderunner »

Pressing fn and F7 temporarily disables the touchpad, it is reactivated on start-up.
Windows 11 Home 22H2

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Argus
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Argus »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
Argus wrote:... I don't know about Toshiba and Dell but some come with software where you can disable the touchpad; on some (Lenovo, I think) it is possible to disable the touchpad by touching and holding in one corner of the pad.
Thank you Argus.
I tried each of the four corners, holding down for about three seconds. Nothing.

This page suggest the <Fn> key and the <F9> key.
Doesn't work for me. I even went to the screen (bottom right corner) in case the displayed icon was hidden in my application window. Nada. [...]
As you say; also the manual (for Tecra M11, though there have been some different models) mentions Fn+F9 to disable and enable the touch pad and AccuPoint function.

Thinking: in some of your earlier troubleshooting with your computers I think you said that you reinstalled Windows (not from an backup image), could it be (been a long time since I tinkered with laptops) that it is missing some drivers for the touch pad etc?

(A quick search tells me at least some of the Tecra M11 models have something called: "Touch Pad Driver; This driver allows you to set the properties and functions for touch pad control."; (they also mention a touch pad on/off utility, but lord knows which model use that).

Anyhow, you have some missing drivers in the Device Manager. Also, if Fluffyone looks at your screenshot above, the dialog box for the mouse properties does not include a TouchPad tab.
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Rebel »

Roderunner wrote:Pressing fn and F7 temporarily disables the touchpad, it is reactivated on start-up.
That is dependent on the laptop brand George. On my Acer laptop, fn+F7 does disable the touchpad. But on my Asus, fn+F7 turns off the display panel.
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by DaveA »

The wife's new HP 15-DB0015DX has this same issue.
There is nothing that works to disable the touchpad.
The entry "Disable" is grayed out!

The FN 7 on this machine is lower volume
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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Argus
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by Argus »

How's your mousepad doing, Chris?
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: How to disable the mouse/touchpad?

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Argus wrote:How's your mousepad doing, Chris?
Hi Argus.
Both mousepads (The Toshiba Tecra and the Dell Inspiron) are still annoyingly active.
I have shelved this temporarily while I get a version of STAGE2 installed.
Cheers
Chris
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