Inspirion 8000 touchpad problems

Question

Hello,

I have an Insprion 8000. Sometimes I can be typing and my cursor will jump to another part of the screen and the typing will continue. It is almost as if I have moved the cursor and clicked the mouse button. My system is still under warranty. Any ideas?

Tony

wniddery · Answer

I've been having this problem for a long time but for some reason it seems to be worse lately to the point where it is getting impossible to use the keyboard. The problem is strictly the LEFT shift key in my case.

When the left shift is placed, it will cause mouse movement and clicking. The most common effect is that everything between the current text cursor position and the mouse position is highlighted and thus with my next keystroke, all dissappears.

I would like to hear from anyone else experiencing this and if they've found any solution on their own or from Dell.

ashock · Answer

Hello,

I got some info from Dell Tech Support and thought I would share it with you. Maybe it will help.

As per the cusror jumping over the screen, please refer to the
following:

Please perform the following steps:

Clean the touchpad

The touchpad can become erratic if there is liquid on its surface. Clean the surface of the touchpad with a dry soft cloth to remove any grease, sweat or moisture. A good example of this is condensation from a coke can which can be transferred to the touchpad.

The touchpad works by detecting heat and pressure. People who type fast or have naturally high body temperatures (or worse,
both) can activate the touchpad just by passing their palm over the pad. Erratic pointer movement can also be caused by accidentally rubbing a thumb over the pad while typing.

If this is the case, set the touchpad to be less sensitive (the next step gives instructions on how to do this) and explain to the customer to avoid brushing thumbs over the pad while typing.

Reset the touchpad so it's not so easily activated.

Go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Mouse and click on the Touch tab.

Remove the check marks from Tap to Click and Tap and Drag (Figure 1).
By default, the Touch Sensitivity is set two ticks from the far left. Move the slider to the right two ticks. This will require a fair amount of pressure to activate the touchpad.
In Synaptics Touchpad drivers version 5+, there is another adjustment called Palmcheck. By default, this is set to 4. Move the slider to the right 1 or 2 ticks to reduce the touchpad's heat sensitivity.

NOTE: On the far right of the slider area, there is a short red bar. If the slider is over this area, the touchpad may not respond at all. Click OK to accept the changes. Have the customer try to type some stuff in Notepad or MS Word.

System resources are allocated among all active applications
on the system. Many applications load components during the Windows startup process. Most programs loaded during the startup process are memory resident and run in background memory, meaning that they are typically not fully active, and in most situations not required for program functionality. Although these programs are running in background memory, they still consume a lot of system resources and thus effecting performance and lockups. To view the active programs, please perform the following steps: 1. Power your system on. Wait until the boot process is completed, approximately 30 seconds after the hour glass pointer returns to the standard pointer.

2. Press the + + keys at the same time. The Close Programs window appears. The Close Programs window will list all the programs that are either active or running in background memory.

When Windows starts, other programs also start automatically. Some of these are found in the Windows Startup folder. These programs use system resources.

The System Configuration Utility allows you to selectively disable portions of the system software so that you may identify the root cause of software problems. After you have isolated the application or utility that is causing the issue, you will be able to proceed with further troubleshooting. One of the easiest methods to attempt to fix the issue is to reinstall the problematic application. Refer to the application's documentation and be sure to make any necessary backups.

Remember to undo your changes when you have solved the problem. The entry causing the problem can be left disabled if it does not affect system operation.

To load items selectively using the System Configuration Utility, perform the following steps:

1. Click the Start button, click Run, and then type msconfig
in the Open box. Click OK. The System Configuration Utility window appears.

2. Click the Startup tab.

3. Uncheck every entry except SystemTray, click OK, and then
click Yes to reboot the system. Repeat steps 1-3 and recheck
an additional entry each time until you have identified the category that is the cause of the problem.

4. After you have isolated the application, utility, or device
driver that is causing the problem, you will be able to proceed with further troubleshooting. One of the easiest methods to attempt a resolution is to reinstall the problematic application or device driver. The entry causing the problem can be left disabled if it does not affect system operation.

NOTE: If you remove the checks from Motive Monitor, Mad.exe, and RxUser (if the entries appear), you will disable the Dell Resolution Assistant. If you uncheck these entries during troubleshooting, you must restore the checks prior to using Resolution Assistant and after your troubleshooting is complete. Remember to undo your changes when you have solved the problem. The entry causing the problem can be left disabled if it does not affect system operation.

For detailed information on System Configuration utility (MSCONFIG.EXE), please refer to the Dell solution/ article by visiting the following link site : http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=HO1014939" target=_blank>http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=HO1014939

OR
You may visit the Dell Knowledge Base at : http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/

and search for Document Number : HO1014939

Please also update the drivers of your touchpad using the following information.

The drivers for all the factory-installed devices are available on the resource CD that was shipped to you along with the system. However, the updated drivers for the hardware in question are available at the following link:

http: //support.us.dell.com/us/en/filelib/download/index.asp?fileid=R26621&sid=INS_PNT
_P3CG_8000&st=JYHTJ01〈=EN&lib=0&os=W1000&searchtype=filter

Some email programs will wrap this address to a second line so you will have to copy each of the lines directly into the address bar of your browser with no spaces between the two sections.

It is advisable that the existing drivers, if any, should be uninstalled before you reinstall the new or updated drivers. Please follow the procedure mentioned below:

1) To uninstall the drivers, click the Start button on the taskbar, go to Settings, and then click on the Control Panel. In case of Windows 98, in the Control Panel, click on the System Icon to go to Device Manager. However, in Windows Millennium Edition, after clicking the system Icon, go to hardware tab and then go to Device manager.

2) In the Device Manager, select the device to be uninstalled. Once the correct device is selected, click on the Remove button. Click on Ok, to complete the uninstall operation. If the computer asks for a restart at this stage, choose No.

3) To install the driver, save the downloaded.exe file (if the driver for the hardware is downloaded), attach the new hardware and reboot your system.

4) When you reboot, the system should detect the new hardware and ask for the location of the driver. If the system does not find any new hardware, go to step 7 below.

5) At this stage, give the location of the driver file in your computer.

6) Click Next and Ok, as and when the computer asks for your confirmation to proceed with the process, and finally click Finish to accomplish the task.

7) In case the computer does not find any new hardware, click on the Start button on the taskbar, then go to Settings, and finally to the control panel.

8) In Control Panel, click on the Add New Hardware Icon, and let the operating system detect the new hardware. Thereafter, follow the procedure listed under step 4 and 5 above.

Please reboot the system after the installation of drivers. Otherwise, the change in the driver may not take proper effect.

Run the mouse test in Dell Diagnostics
Boot to the Dell Diagnostics disk (or CD-ROM, depending on system) and run the mouse test.

wniddery wrote:
- I've been having this problem for a long time but
- for some reason it seems to be worse lately to the
- point where it is getting impossible to use the
- keyboard. The problem is strictly the LEFT shift key
- in my case.
-
- When the left shift is placed, it will cause mouse
- movement and clicking. The most common effect is
- that everything between the current text cursor
- position and the mouse position is highlighted and
- thus with my next keystroke, all dissappears.
-
- I would like to hear from anyone else experiencing
- this and if they've found any solution on their own
- or from Dell.
-
-
-
-
-

schnake · Answer

I believe I have solved the problem!

I was just looking back a couple of messages and I found this:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/messages/message_view.asp?name=insp_input&id=zzhdd

Basically the idea is to go to ControlPanel --> Mouse, and disable the pointing stick! And right after that, my problem seems to have been cured! No more jittery mouse. I'm pressing CTRL, ALT, and Shift, and no erratic mouse movement! This is so cool!

wniddery wrote:
- I've been having this problem for a long time but
- for some reason it seems to be worse lately to the
- point where it is getting impossible to use the
- keyboard. The problem is strictly the LEFT shift key
- in my case.
-
- When the left shift is placed, it will cause mouse
- movement and clicking. The most common effect is
- that everything between the current text cursor
- position and the mouse position is highlighted and
- thus with my next keystroke, all dissappears.
-
- I would like to hear from anyone else experiencing
- this and if they've found any solution on their own
- or from Dell.
-
-
-
-
-

SimplePCguy · Answer

Hi,

I had EXACTLY the problem described:
-- When the left shift is placed, it will cause mouse
-- movement and clicking. The most common effect is
-- that everything between the current text cursor
-- position and the mouse position is highlighted and
-- thus with my next keystroke, all dissappears.
and the only solution was replacing the keyboard. It has been about 10 months and that particular problem has not reoccured.

Now for a few opinions:
Wow! I can't believe the BS that support was slinging in those responses. They may be valid "work arounds" until a real solution can be found, but only if they work, which I suspect they won't.

In my opinion, it's a bit like going back to a car manufacturer because your brakes catastrophically stopped working and having them tell you to just stick your foot out the door and drag it on the ground from now on.

And what was that nonsense about heat and pressure and high body temperature? Yikes!

Alan

schnake · Answer

Why can't Dell support learn from best solutions to common problems. In this case the problem is as simple as disabling the pointing stick, and voila... all problems solved!

However, for people who do make use of the pointing stick, you may need to send in the notebook to Dell to get the keyboard replaced or something.

-- schnake

blackblackhamme · Answer

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Inspirion 8000 touchpad problems

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