For those wondering how to trouble shoot their Windows 7 touchpad, the article below could not have come along sooner. For those not familiar with this device, it works similarly to a mouse, but instead of moving a small device around, you slide your finger, or a stylus along a specialized surface that has been created to sense touch, and translate positions of touch into movements of the cursor, movement of icons on the screen, graphics being created or destroyed, or almost anything else that you can think of where you normally would use a mouse. The working surface of a touchpad is much smaller than that of a mouse, and yet the translation of movement is much greater.
Oftentimes, the different parts of a brand new laptop will be working just fine when you bring your new laptop home, but every so often there is a minor thing that is not quite right. Sometimes the buttons on the keyboard may be a little stiff, but overall everything will be in working order with your new device. On the other hand, sometimes there will be a part of your laptop that is not working quite right, such as your CD-ROM drive, or your touchpad. In the case of the touchpad not working correctly, it usually has to do with the touchpad not being properly configured with the operating system (this is commonly true if your laptop is running Windows 7). After a few minutes of working with your new laptop, you may find that the touchpad is not accurately responding to your touch, or that the mouse buttons are not working properly. If this happens to you, here are a few tips to getting your touchpad, and buttons to function properly.
- First, shut down the computer by choosing the "Shut Down" option on the "Start" menu.
- Unplug the power cord from the wall first, and THEN from your computer.
- Turn the laptop over, and remove the battery for at least 20 seconds. This will drain the electrical power out the motherboard.
- Next, put the battery back in the laptop, close the cover, and then re-plug in the power cord.
- Turn the laptop back on.
- Test your touchpad to make sure that it is working properly.
If, after following the above steps you still find that your touchpad is not working properly, you may have to consult with a computer technician, or call the tech support department that handles your brand of laptop. The above suggestions are a good starting point so that you do not needlessly call tech support.
