disable touchpad tapping in latest Vista

[swedeheart]

Hi guys. I have a question concerning Vista/Vista Service Pack 2. I will also give the background for why I am asking, if anyone is interested, but you don't really have to read that part if you're not.

QUESTION: I'm on Vista/Vista Service Pack 2 on a VAIO vgn-nr11s/s laptop and I use Firefox. Before the upgrade, there used to be an option under mouse settings in the control panel to disable touchpad tapping. (Not just making the touchpad less sensitive or slower, but actually disable tapping completely.) Now, that option is gone and it's driving me up the wall. I have to cover the touchpad with a credit card in order to be able to type at all. Cursor keeps jumping and selecting, leading to new windows opening, text being lost, text being written in the middle of a previous sentence and so on. My question is, have they removed this option with the upgrade, or have I lost it while it's still supposed to be there?

I foresee suggestions like "try uninstalling and reinstalling, it might work", "try downloading this drive, it might work" but I'm a computer illiterate and I'm unable to follow that kind of advice. I really just want to know if it's supposed to be there or not. If you tell me that it is supposed to be there, I will let somebody else deal with getting it back, but that is gonna cost me and I don't want to be wasting their time with trial and error experiments.

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(The background is, couple of weeks ago my Firefox crashed and I had my old Vista replaced with Windows 7. This led to the disappearal of the option to disable tapping. As I couldn't type three words in a row without abovementioned issues making typing a hell, I turned the laptop back in and asked to have Vista back. This was performed, but the option to disable touchpad tapping is still not there, which was my whole point with going back to Vista.)

Thanks guys!

[Mosaic]

This page has a whole lot of advice about the keyboard:
http://www.sony.co.uk...s-and-solutions/34814

On my Dell, there is a key on the top right of the keyboard that enables / disables the touchpad - it isn't labelled....maybe yours has one similar?

[WF8MAN]

Good job you replaced your old Vista, swedeheart, Microsoft will be ending support for it in April!

[swedeheart]

Thanks Mosaic. What does that key say then, I mean it isn't blank, is it? I don't believe I have one but I've been surprised before... :)

Oh no WF8man, won't that mean trouble for me anyway, or will there be support for the Service Pack 2?

[Mosaic]

The key on mine has an icon on it that looks like a rectangle, but when you look very close (it is tiny) then you can see it's a stylised mouse with an 'x' on the upper part.
Re. support for vista - don't get too fretful too soon, there are millions of vista systems in use and also millions still using XP. Keep calm and carry on.

[swedeheart]

Hm, I don't seem to have a key similar to that one, Mosaic... but I'll see if I can find *my own* keep calm and carry on key :) Thanks!

[ChuckFickens]

MS is not ending support for vista in April, they are ending support for vista RTM (with no service packs installed) as long as you have the service packs installed there will still be updates.

(consumer support ended last year, but nobody ever uses that anyhow)

As for the touch pad, I assume all the correct drivers were installed for the hardware, including of course the touchpad driver.

[HowardKennitby]

Some stuff here

http://www.techsuppor...d-turn-off-29923.html

[swedeheart]

Thanks Chuck for the support info. As for whether or not *all* the drives were installed, I have no idea. Making sure that this is the case would be a good place to start, if and when I bring the laptop back to the laptop doc. What I'm trying to establish, here, is whether or not something IS missing. Cos if nothing is missing, why take the laptop back to the laptop doc.

I can tell you this much, I am certainly able to access the correct location in the control panel and change the mouse settings that *are* displayed there. Here: http://i41.tinypic.com/1qs41y.png Would I be able to do that, if the touchpad driver was not complete? Might there be one "sub driver" assigned solely to tapping? (nah...?) So what I'm saying is, yes, an option is missing, compared to my original version of Vista. But is it missing from the upgrade, or did the upgrade leave that option out on purpose? THAT is my question. (Sorry if I'm not very clear, I'm juggling two foreign languages here, Tech and English... :)

HowardKennitby, thank you for the link. DCM1519's advice is not applicable, as there is no enable-box to untick, anymore. There was one, in my first Vista. It is now gone. Luka's advice I have seen in other forum threads on this subject, it will work for a brief while only. (I've forgotten if it only works until you reboot or until the next automatic upgrade takes place, but it was either one or the other of those.) Thanks anyway:)

Is there nobody here who has Vista Service Pack 2 and is able to tell me whether or not the option to disable tapping is there, *for them*?

[Nibble]

Looking through here, try this..

http://www.kb.sony.co...teId=0%200%2056700002

[Nibble]

This was how to achieve what you needed on Windows 7

Go to START\All Programs\VAIO Control\Keyboard & Mouse\Pointing Device: uncheck the box labeled Enable.

[swedeheart]

THERE IS NO ENABLE BOX TO UNCHECK. Sorry Nibble. Don't mean to shout at you. It's just that it's the umpteenth time I'm sayig it, so I thought I'd better say it loud;) Thanks anyway.

[Mosaic]

Just a random thought here swedie - could this be to do with your admin rights? Sometimes you have to ensure you are logged in 'as an administrator' to make changes at system level.....just might explain the lack of a box to check.....

[swedeheart]

Hmm. I see what you mean Mosaic. But I am never asked to log in as such and such, I am only asked to confirm, before proceeding, that I am authorized to make the change in question. Pointless exercise, as anyone could "confirm" that they're the Pope of La La Land, just by saying yes, but that's how it is. So I don't think that's it. I mean, wouldn't "they" (the computer) tell me? "You are trying to change so-and-so, in order to continue, please log in..." ...and so on? Nice thought though:)