Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
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I don't have a Sony so it might be a little different on your machine, but there are definitely places to look.
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I'd start with the Mouse settings in Control Panel. I'd specifically look for something that allows you to control or turn off the touchpad. If that's not there, then in the Hardware tab therein, you could try disabling the device that corresponds to the touchpad. The only catch is that the device might not be called "Touchpad". As I sit here working on my Dell, the Touchpad is actually referred to as a PS/2 Port Mouse ... meaning that it's just mimicking a standard mouse.
Be prepared to know your keyboard-only interface if that disables your "other" mouse as well. That could happen, and the way to restore that is to re-enable the driver.
If, like my Dell, your computer has both a touchpad and an "eraser head" mouse, unless there's something specific for it in control panel, you'll be disabling or enabling both together.
If there's nothing in the Control Panel that allows you to control your touchpad, another place to look is in your system BIOS. When you boot your machine, before Windows begins loading, you're probably given the option to hit some key to enter setup, or press a function key to change BIOS settings. Exactly where will vary a great deal from one manufacturer to the next, but I have also seen options in the system BIOS that allow you to control it's behavior.
Article C2449 - October 30, 2005
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
I uninstall the ALPS touchpad driver as suggested by Leo because I don't have the disabled button. I found this version of ALPS driver disables the touchpad when a USB mouse is attached to the laptop:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7121
Posted by: Sue at November 20, 2008 4:37 AMI am using Sony Vaio NR11 by the way.
Posted by: Sue at November 20, 2008 4:42 AMI have a Dell Latitude/D620 and I was wandering how to disable the mouse pad and just use the pointer in the middle of the keyboard and the two buttons below the space bar. I had the same version laptop and it had the icon on the bottom of the screen, so I am not sure if a program has to be downloaded or not.
17-Mar-2009
I also have a problem with my touchpad. I have a Dell D620. I'm running windows 7 and it's just been upgraded to 64 bit. I use and external mouse and the touchpad is driving me totally crazy. There's no option to turn it off in the control panel. Please help before I throw it out the window!
Posted by: Estelle at October 16, 2011 8:30 AMYour post helped me a lot knowing how to disable my touchpad before searching a lot on the internet without good results. Thanks Leo!
Posted by: Gabriel at February 19, 2012 6:20 PMGreetings from Chile.