Inspiron Windows 8 touchpad won't right-click and won't drag

Hi, my cat recently walked all over my Dell Inspiron keyboard and afterward my touchpad buttons no longer worked. I can no longer click and drag objects with the left and right-clicking brings up no menu. I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the touchpad driver with no change. The touchpad itself works, there is a cursor and i can double-click etc. Just the buttons don't work. Can you help? Many thanks!

Hi RIKKIMC,

What is the exact system model? What is the current OS installed on the system?

Are the touchpad buttons stuck or are they mechanically functional? Does an external mouse work fine?

http://dell.to/1n3X2po - enter the service tag and download the service manual and reseat the palmrest / touchpad cables and check.

If it still does not work, the palmrest needs to be replaced.

You could contact our team to get a quote for a paid service call - http://dell.to/1vnT6CQ

Also, please click my DELL-username and write me a private message with the service tag and your Name for case records.

Let us know if you have any other queries.

Hi Rishi,

thanks for writing.

- My laptop is an Inspiron 15z 5523 running Windows 8.

- The touchpad buttons are mechanically intact, they just don't work. External mouse works fine.

I downloaded the Owner's Manual. Is there a way to reset the touchpad without opening up the computer?

Could I try to reset my system? Or do you believe this is a hardware problem?

Thank you very much for your help.

Hi RIKKIMC,

Thank you for the info.

You would need to reseat(disconnect, clean any dust and connect) the touchpad / palmrest cables from within the chassis, the cable is located underneath the palmrest / keyboard assembly. Hence, you cannot reseat it without opening the chassis. 

Restart the system and check in safe mode. If the buttons are functional in safe mode, then it could be an OS issue and you could consider reinstalling the OS / resetting to factory defaults if required and check or try other tweaks.

If not, I would suspect a hardware failure. 

Let us know if you have any other queries.