markgoodrich Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I have a 2011-model Dell 17" laptop which is driving me crazy. The touchpad (or even a mouse) has become so sensitive I can barely use the machine. While typing the cursor will often jump up many lines, or even scroll the page down in one fell swoop. Trying to highlight multiple items to copy is virtually impossible. I have: Replaced the touchpad Downloaded drivers (always got the message that the downloaded driver is older than the one I am using, so I didn't install it; probably should have) Upgraded to Win 10 None of which did any good. Now I am unable to revert to Win 7 (more than 30 days have passed), and neither Dell nor MS support the unit for drivers, etc, i.e. now I CAN'T download a previous driver to try to fix the problem (or at least I dunno how to do it)> I'm certain it's a software issue, since it happens with touchpad or wireless or corded USB mouse, but then I'm certain about a lot of things that turn out to be untrue. Should I: Take a chance with a local repair shop? Buy a new laptop? If the latter, what? The unit is used almost exclusively for the Intergoogle, Quicken, email, very, very rarely photo phoolery. The new Dell 15" Touch with the Skylake processor it very sexy and is $2100, but I feel like it's too much overkill, and I worry about the chiclet keyboard...I'm a pounder, having learned to type in the 1950s on giant manual machines. What I have is fast enough for my needs, in fact any slow stuff is related to my Intergoogle provider's speed. So what do I do? Please, don't bother saying "Apple", I'm not going to change at this stage. Link to comment
lkraus Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'd be inclined to blame the hardware, but then, I've never found a touchpad I liked. Some keyboards flex a bit as you type (or pound) and can activate the pad. Usually you can turn off the touchpad with a function key combo (fn + F9 on three laptops here). Try turning it off and see if the cursor is still erratic. Link to comment
Sonor Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I have the same problem to a lesser degree on a Lenovo laptop. The more expensive ones have a software package that allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the touch pad, but not mine. I also opt to use a USB mouse and turn the touch pad off, but it is not applicable in some situations. Link to comment
greiffster Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 The Dell touchpad shoud be adjustable from the Control Panel. Have you messed with that setting at all? Link to comment
eddd Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 The Dell touchpad shoud be adjustable from the Control Panel. Have you messed with that setting at all? I think greiffster is on the right track. The mouse/touchpad have several settings. Open Control Panel...Devices and Printers...Mouse... You are now at Mouse Properties which has six tabs that give you options. If you're unsure where to set things use default where available and pick a middle setting when default is not an option. Link to comment
markgoodrich Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 The Dell touchpad shoud be adjustable from the Control Panel. Have you messed with that setting at all? I think greiffster is on the right track. The mouse/touchpad have several settings. Open Control Panel...Devices and Printers...Mouse... You are now at Mouse Properties which has six tabs that give you options. If you're unsure where to set things use default where available and pick a middle setting when default is not an option. Yeah, I know about that, no joy, in fact, in Win 10 you don't actually get all those choices, but I had them in Win 7 and nothing I did with the settings made any difference. Link to comment
eddd Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'm on a Windows 10 right now and gave you what I'm looking at on my screen. Link to comment
eddd Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Try.. Control Panel...Hardware and Sound....Devices and Printers...Mouse... Link to comment
markgoodrich Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Try.. Control Panel...Hardware and Sound....Devices and Printers...Mouse... Thanks, Ed, at least I now know how to access the Control Panel, but all it did was take me to the settings box I've been trying to adjust. I've done all those settings to no avail. Now, a new problem: I tried rolling the driver back and downloaded the previous one. All that worked fine, but Win 10 says it's blocked Synaptics via Dell as an untrusted source, so I cannot install the new touchpad driver. Mouse works fine, but I want to use the touchpad, which is now now shown in the mouse adjustment box. I'm screwed, according to the searches I've done. Apparently lots of people have problems with this Win 10 blocking of "untrusted" sites. Many steps, many of which don't work, life is short. Never should'a sold the shotgun. Link to comment
markgoodrich Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 So let's change this thread: the new Dell XPS 15" laptops look really nice, the ones with the Skylake processor, just now hitting the market. They have multiple iterations: http://pilot.search.dell.com/xps%2015 The question is, what's the least I can spend to get what I need done, which is intergoogle, quicken, email, photos, as mentioned earlier. The fancy touch one for north of two grand is appealing but sure looks like overkill for my purposes. Link to comment
greiffster Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 The question is, what's the least I can spend to get what I need done, which is intergoogle, quicken, email, photos, as mentioned earlier. the cheapest one they got will handle those tasks. Link to comment
lkraus Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Your requirements are pretty basic, you can spend a lot less. Woot.com currently offers a Dell Inspiron 15-3541 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop, AMD A6-6310 Quad-Core, 8GB DDR3, 1TB SATA, 802.11n, Bluetooth, Win8.1(upgradeable to 10) - Black $299.99 Shop around a little. It would be hard to find a new Windows laptop that would not handle your needs. Link to comment
eddd Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Your requirements are pretty basic, you can spend a lot less.... Shop around a little. It would be hard to find a new Windows laptop that would not handle your needs. Agreed. This is the one I picked up in July when the first wave of Windows 10 laptops were offered. It was needed to replace my older Toshiba which was getting wonky. This new laptop is working out very well, and has way more capacity than you'd require for the usage you have outlined. Link to comment
markgoodrich Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Thanks, all, I guess that's what I'll end up doing if I can't get the touchpad problem resolved. I really like my current computer because it has a separate number keypad; I may go ahead and take it to a repair shop, and if it doesn't get fixed, I'll follow your advice. Link to comment
SANTA Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 you might want to try adding usb keyboard and typing from that rather than the one on the laptop add a good mouse and see if that helps... Link to comment
markgoodrich Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Yeah, the usb mouse does help...some, but I'm used to the trackpad, having abandoned mouse use years ago. Clearly a software problem, as the mouse also has the same issues, just not as often. Ditto with a wireless mouse. I'm gonna take it to a repair shop next week, and if they can't fix it, order up a cheap replacement. Thanks for the suggestion. Link to comment
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