Dell Inspiron N5010 - how to turn on/off the touchpad?

Your suggestion worked for my inspiron N5010. I could enabled/disabled my touchpad with stupid whitish button right to F12, finally!

Thanks man, its worked 100% correct....i am very glad and thanks a lot. :emotion-1:

Dear, i have another problem that i lost my Bluetooth drivers. so please tell me how i can get back and from where i can get...?????

Regards

I just lost the entire message I was sending you.  One key stroke highlights it and the next one deletes it.

I lost 7% on my last Doctorate activity for spelling and punctuation.

My Dell laptop was working fine.  Touchpad was turned off.   Midnight update and next morning my touchpad is turned on.  Can't remember how I turned it off but nothing on the web helps.  Nothing at Dell helps.  Microsoft nothing.

That cursor float around and sometimes it chooses to type there, or not.  Please help if you know what to do.  I may go get another Toshiba.

Hi MegKen,

Sorry for the inconvenience. Follow the steps below to decrease the sensitivity of the touchpad.

Click on the below link to download the latest touchpad driver.

http://dell.to/12ngCPy  

Install the driver and restart the system.

Click Start -> Go to Control Panel.

Go to Mouse, click on Dell Touchpad.

Click on the large maroon colored arrowhead image. Click Touchpad Settings.

Click on Touch Sensitivity. You can drag the pointer all the way to the right to “Heavy”, then click Apply, then OK.

If you still have the cursor issues select "Device Select". Disable Touchpad / Pointing Stick when external USB mouse is present. Then click Apply, then OK.

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear that there is NOTHING on this machine about touchpad.  There still is nothing after  loading your driver for the N5010.  I have an Inspiron i7 17R 5720.

I HAD figured out how to disable it and had it disabled until my husband borrowed my computer last night. Now I can't find the stupid setting button or what I did to find it.

I don't have a display like that under my settings. I have a Dell Inspiron laptop with OS 7.

Either Fn + F3

or

Start > Control Panel > Mouse

This is bullshit

I have tried everything buy installing the mousepad driver onto my computer and rebooting it several times  and then pressing F12 but nothing works , i cant even disable or enable the mousepad option because the driver isnt even  reccongised in the device manager which is very odd, since i  have already installed the mousepad driver So many times. So what can be the problem now?

Thanks for your help

The touchpad mouse on my Dell Inspiron N5010 just quit working.  Fortunately, I had a mouse attached through a USB port.

IF you're having the same problem, look in the top row of keys, the "F" row.  Just to left of "insert" key & just to right of the fast forward key on my machine is a key with a picture of what looks like the touchpad mouse with right & left buttons with an "X" in it.  I think I accidentally hit it with my pinkie while trying to hit the backspace key.  IF you've done the same, push this key & it may turn your touchpad mouse back on. 

I have SUFFERED with you, AND FINALLY FOUND THE ANSWER after being told by Dell that my N5010 laptop may be one off the machines for which you cannot turn off the Touch Pad.  As an IT Project Manager, we sometimes need to think out of the box.  And since I accidentally bought an out-of-the-box Dell laptop, I reasoned an out-of-the-box solution that absolutely works.  In fact, I'M USING IT RIGHT NOW!  My  Dell N5010 is 5 years old and other than the touch pad issue (which is maddening!!!!) it really does do a good job for me.  So, I'll give you a solution summary, and then go into the SIMPLE (really!) solution (or  recipe) that I bet anyone can do from pieces-parts in your home or apartment.

SOLUTION Summary:  It was obvious that Dell's solution of re-installing drivers didn't work and the keyboard solutions are designed by engineers who must be laughing knowing that this laptop model has the on/off touch pad key disengaged.  The solution is simple.  The Touch Pad is  based on our hands physically touching the (super) sensitive touch pad.  My Dell N5010 has a shiny metal frame surrounding the keyboard and the touch pad.  That frame is electronically grounded.  The theory is that if the grounded metal frame were extended to completely cover the touch pad, then the Touch Pad would always sense a grounded layer (metal frame extension) no matter how you situated your hands to the keyboard.  

So, first what material would extend the grounded metal frame??  Voila Aluminum Foil.  And how does the aluminum foil stay over the Touch Pad??  Glue the aluminum foil to a firm heavy paper or thin scrap card board, cut it to a specific size and tape it over the Touch Pad using common adhesive tape so it always touches the grounded metal frame around the Touch Pad.   You end up with a very flat surface that covers the Touch Pad that shields your skin from the Touch Pad by the very thin aluminum foil.  Best part, is that it's simple to do (I did it in about 20 minutes) plus there is no glue or harm that is done to my Dell N5010.  Plus, I can remove the Touch Pad cover anytime I want - but that will never happen.  

Solution Ingredients:  

1.  Aluminum Foil cut to about 5" x 3.5 "

2.  Rubber Cement (or anything that will bond aluminum and paper).  Make sure there is an applicator brush in the bottle top.

3.  Light Cardboard cut to the same size as the aluminum foil.  I used that light cardboard you always throw away when you order new checks from your bank.  The back of a used legal pad or the cardboard found in new shirts to keep the shirt stiff will also do.  

4.  Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (70% or 91%) and one paper dinner napkin (the cheap styles work fine).  Do Not use paper towels as some leave a thin oil residue.  Paper dinner napkins are not made with oil, so there is no residue.   

5.  Common invisible tape, about half-inch or three-quarter inch wide.  

6.  Common household scissors.

7.  Alternate mouse (wired or wireless) to replace the touch pad as a pointing device.  

Solution Recipe:

a.  Make sure your alternate mouse is working as your new (future) pointing device.  Turn off your laptop and completely unplug it.  

b.  Measure the width and height of  your touch pad. Add 1/4" to 3/8" to each side dimension.  Then cut the  cardboard to this dimension.  You will have a rectangle shape with square corners.  

c.  If you can, use your scissors to round each of the four cardboard corners.  The size should be about the same as the corners on the Touch Pad or smaller  - but  don't sweat it if the corners are not perfectly even.  Just as long as the square corner is slightly rounded.  

d.  Completely glue one side of the  cardboard.  Make sure you brush it on thin,  completely cover the side, and put an extra quarter-inch wide thin coat on the edges.  

e.  Firmly press the glue-side of the cardboard onto the flat glossy side of the aluminum foil.  Press hard.  Rub your finger-nail back and forth or use the curve-side of a spoon to insure the two surfaces make consistent contact.  Work any bubbles out as best you can.  If you mess-up, then simple tear the aluminum foil from the cardboard, cut another piece of aluminum foil, re-glue the cardboard as needed, and re-apply the cardboard to the foil.  

f.  Turn the foil so it faces up and work the edges so you see the cardboard outline in the foil.  Wait  about  3-4 minutes and let the glue settle.  Then trim the foil from the cardboard edges.  

g.  Let's prepare the laptop while you're waiting for the glue to settle.   Apply a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to the  dinner napkin and rub it on surface of the metal frame around your keyboard and the entire touch pad areas.  You'll probably be surprised how much dirt is picked up by the dinner napkin.   ;-)  Make sure the area surrounding the touch pad is clean and clear of dirt and finger prints!  

h.  Take the trimmed cardboard/foil and position it cardboard facing you over the entire touch pad.  The foil should  touch the metal keyboard frame and  extend evenly over the entire touch pad.   You can position the cardboard up and down as needed to cover the touch pad.  Take four 1" long pieces of invisible tape and tape each cardboard corner to the laptop's metal frame.  Work the tape so it's flat and secures the cardboard over the touch pad.  CONGRATULATIONS - THE HARD PART'S DONE.  

i.  Now re-connect your power, cables, mouse, and boot up your PC.  Note that you will need that alternate pointing device  as your main mouse - wired or wireless.  Open a document that gave you all sorts of trouble  and start keying.  

Hope this helps.  It solved the issue for me, and I hope it does for you as well.  

Karendale:

Very interesting solution to the problem.

However the theory is not quite on. The touchpad is a capacitance device. Basically an open capacitor. When you touch the pad, your finger, being a non-conductor, changes the capacitance of the pad, which is detected by the pad circuity. Some pads are so sensitive that you don't need to touch it, just come close to have an effect. By adding the paper plus aluminum, you are adding an additional layer of capacitance, increasing the total capacitance. I'm not sure the extra capacitance would make the pad more or less sensitive. I'm going to do some research on this.

The other possibility    is that the paper layer is only keeping your finger away from the pad a bit. A comparative situation is the use of plastic screen protectors on touch screens, which are also capacitance devices. Sometimes you get the same reduction in sensitivity. An interesting experiment would be to replace the foil/paper with a piece of screen protector and no foil.

Congratulations for going out of the box!!!