You can find the tap settings under Mouse in the control panel.  There is a box you can uncheck if you don't want the tap function enabled.

That's the problem!!  There is no tap setting in my Control Panel display.

Yes, there used to be an option to disable tapping (and if I recall correctly, to adjust the sensitivity), but I can no longer find it. I'm not sure what changed or what was done to my machine by my company's tech support team -- perhaps a re-install of the o/s?

Anyway, the tap-to-click is a most annoying feature, I agree, and -- mouse or no mouse -- it's crazy that there's not an easy way to disable it.