Windows Vista Touchpad stopped responding on laptop+vista

hi everyone.

my g\f has a toshiba laptop and all of a sudden her touchpad stopped responding. the software is still there in the taskbar and i can set stuff in it but the touchpad and it's buttons are not working at all. no response.

we tried a shut ddown and reboot. no good.

what couldd this be?

thanks for any help

 

What is the model of your laptop ?

 

You say you are able to set stuff but the touchpad isn't working. So, I take it you have a mouse plugged in. If so, there's usually a setting in the touchpad software that will disable the touchpad if the setting is enabled and a mouse is being used. So, try unplugging the mouse and see if the touchpad works then. If so, check the settings in the touchpad software.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the stupid SOB that invented touch-pads should be hung from the yard-arm. Talk about the spawn of the devil, they take up an unreasonable amount of space and most folks get a wireless mouse anyway.

We replaced my wife's desktop with an ASUS netbook as a birthday present. She almost gave up on the unit because the touch pad was such a PITA. After three months she was still having problems with over 90-percent of what she was trying to do. The problems were - unanticpated activation of programs whose icons she just skimmed over and unexpected reactions when she had to stop because she'd reached the edge of the pad and had to go back to the other side. She was ready to dump the netbook in the trash and go back to her desktop.

Fortunately, as a result of recommendations from you folks, we went looking for a wireless mouse. We found a very efficient mouse, by Dynex, with an on-off switch (to save battery life) and a low profile USB receiver. You can even stow the USB mnodule into the body of the mouse and it automatically turns the batteries off.

I wish the Logitech mouse on my desk-top machine had an on-off switch. It has an insatiable appetite for batteries. I may dump the mouse, keep the Logitech wireless keyboard and go for the same Dynex mouse we have for DW's netbook.

Peace restored, and now she is really pleased with the portability of the netbook. Unfortunately, that big piece of the keyboard area that is dedicated to the touchpad is just so much junk real estate, but there's no way to get rid of it.

Does anyone make replacement keyboard modules with more space for keys and other functions for those of us that have found religion?

 

thanks for the attempts to help (and the great anecdote, fddamp) but as i suspected in teh first place - this issue was my g\f's inability to figure out computers (though she's getting there.... one app a month at a time). there is a small button that disables the touch pad. she clocked it. didnt think of clocking on it again cuz it doesnt look like a button enough.

everything is working now and it's all good... besides some ppl in the computer store that solved her issue (when her dad too the laptop over there) that are probably laughing at he behind her back.