My laptop locks up and freezes when I use the touchpad, but never freezes when I use the attached mouse
Hi, I’ve been experiencing lock-up or freezing problems with my laptop for about 6 months. The model is Satellite A55-S306. I’ve spoke with a few repair shops and they insisted I must have a virus or adware. My antivirus is up to date and detects no virus, also I’ve downloaded Spybot Search and Destroy and it detects no adware. Here is the odd thing we’ve noticed the last few days. I always use the touchpad and my fiancé always uses an attached mouse. The laptop never freezes up when using the attached mouse. The last 2 days I’ve attached the mouse but continued to use the touchpad—-no freezing for hours. Detach the mouse instant freeze???? Does this make sense??? Have you ever come across this problem before or any ideas??
Yeah, that’s a very odd problem. I think that if it would be a hardware problem, then the laptop would freeze up regardless the attached mouse. It’s possible that you have some kind of software problem. Not necessary a virus or an adware, may be just a corrupted driver or corrupted system file. But it doesn’t make any sense why the touchpad works fine when the external mouse attached.
Here’s what I would try to do to troubleshoot, detect and eliminate the problem:
1. Go the Device Manager and locate Mice and other pointing devices entry. Click on “+” to expand it and uninstall PS/2 Compatible Mouse. Restart the laptop and see if the problem is fixed.
2. Restart the laptop in Safe Mode by pressing F8 key as soon as Toshiba logo appears on the screen and selecting the Safe Mode line. If the touchpad works fine in Safe Mode, then you have a piece of software that conflicts with the touchpad in Normal Mode. Go to step 5.
3. Another troubleshooting step (more advanced) is to boot laptop with Knoppix CD (live Linux CD). This OS runs directly from the CD bypassing Windows installation on the hard drive. If you still experience the same problem in Linux then the problem is not related to Windows. Knoppix CD will boot the laptop into a Windows like environment where you can use the touchpad.
4. I would also try to reflash/upgrade the laptop BIOS.
5. The final step would be reloading the hard drive back to original Toshiba defaults. You’ll have to boot the laptop from the recovery CD and follow the wizard. Reloading the hard drive will erase all your personal data, so do not forget to back it up before you run the restore CD/DVD.
If re-flashing the BIOS and reloading the hard drive doesn’t help, then you might have a hardware related problem.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Hi there,
Another touchpad problem here – I stupidly spilt a drink over the touchpad and keyboard on my Toshiba Satellite A60 a few days ago, and since then the touchpad isn’t responding. I switched the computer off straight away after the spill, and opened it up to check it was dry inside and that there was no corrosion damage. There was no damage visible, and very little liquid inside the machine (just a few drops on the black plastic underneath the keyboard, but nothing on the motherboard itself as far as I could see).
Once I powered it back up, however, the touchpad wasn’t working at all, though the keyboard and everything else seems to be working OK. I checked the connection (which was a bit loose) and reattached it, but no luck. The lights at the front of the computer near the touchpad work fine. Any suggestions as to what the problem could be? Is it possible to replace the touchpad if all else fails? Fantastic site, by the way!
July 24th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
My ACER Laptop touchpad and keyboard “only works” in safemode and not in normal mode. attaching a mouse doesn’t work either. I even restored the computer to factory settings a few times, it works for a bit then doesn’t work again. what should i do?
July 17th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
hi my problem is when i start my laptop in normal mode, the touch pad lets me move my curser round the screen ok. but when i want to select a item by tapping the touch pad to open it does’nt work. in safe mode it lets me. i’m really confused
July 8th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
My wife’s Toshiba laptop had a problem with a frozen curser from time to time and pressing the Fn (function key) and F9 unfreezes it. However, I did notice that when the McCaffee PROTECTION Prompt comes up and catches the curser in the middle of the screen it freezes the mouse. Since we didn’t register for the McCaffee software, I removed it and will have our choice of virus scans put in(one that doesn’t cost big bucks and works just as well and doesn’t freeze cursers).
June 26th, 2007 at 7:31 am
my dell latitude c840 laptop was overheating so i took out all of the screws at the bottom & tried taking it apart to blow dust out. i couldnt get it apart so i put it back together & started it up. on start up the windows screen was alot smaller than usual also on the login & wallpaper screen. the time & date were all wrong
my touchpad wasnt working & to top it off my virus & spyware programs are telling me they are out of date. what the hell have i done? i have tried changing the date and time & going back to restore points 48hrs previous but nothing works. i just want it back to the way it was before i tried to open it up. please help.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I have a compaq presario 2100 notebook purchased in June 2003. Initially I was getting only a blinking cursor….ie the Windows logon would never appear. I tried some things like taking out the battery, using the chkdsk with /R option and now it boots up. But the touch pad and keypad are both blocked. Installing an external mouse solves this problem but I cannot get in as I cannot type the password.
1….How can I bypasss the password and get into my system…that way I could then use the windows keyboard application with my mouse and get onto the web at least to see my email.
2…Why is the key pad and touch pad getting locked. Tried the fn F8 button but it did not work.
Would appreciate a reply on this website and my email. Would be very grateful to anyone who can resolve this problem
June 18th, 2007 at 11:02 am
i’m having a problem with my touchpad on my laptop, it doesn’t work. it’s a synaptics pointing device, i have to use a mouse which i plug into a usb port now. how do i make the touch pad work, i’v tried pressing Fn and F9 together, whixh is supposed to disable and enable it, but it hasn’t worked. my computer is an acer model- Aspire 1642ZWLMi, and is a windows XP, who should i contact for help if the problem cannot be fixed?
please help
thankyou
June 12th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Hi, i’m having a touchpad issue with a sony vgn laptop, it just works on a small part of the surface of the touchpad, the other part it’s just like turned off, i thought it was a software error but i’ve tried under windows xp, windows vista and ubuntu linux and the result is the same… what could be wrong?
May 27th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Hi
I am having problems with my touchpad on a compaq presario notebook. It was working fine and now is not responding at all. I tried to uninstall and reinstall and also fn/F9 but still nothing. Is there anything else to try?
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Luis,
Check the touch pad settings in the control panel. I think you’ll have to enable the tapping options in there.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
hello, i’m having problems doing double click with the touch pad it work when i logg into the system but when i am in i have to use the left button to click or double click…what i can do? thank’s
March 5th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Besma Hersi,
Maybe the touchpad somehow got disabled? Try enabling it by holding down Fn key and at the same time pressing F9.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:36 am
Hello,
Yesterday my little cousin got a hold of my laptop and stood on the keyboard. My sister found him there and when i tried to use the mouse it would not move. Everything else works just fine on my Toshiba A20 except for the mouse. However, an external mouse works and i cannot figure out how to get the laptop mouse to begin working again. Is it a hopeless cause or can i get my mouse to work again?
February 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Lori,
I think there is nothing wrong with the laptop, you just have some kind of advanced settings enabled in the touch pad/mouse management utility. Access touch pad/mouse settings in the control panel and disabled advanced functions (probably tapping). I’ve published your question here.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Hi laptop freak, I’m so glad I found your site! I’m having problems while viewing webpages or even say going through folders on my computer because when I use my touch pad to move the cursor right or left, every once in a while it will send me to the previous page (when I move it left) or forward to the next one (if I move it right). I am getting so frustrated with this because if I just finised entering any information I have to redo it all. Is there a way to turn this off? It’s been doing this since the day I bought it. It doesn’t do this every time but it does it enough to make me want to pull my hair out, please help! Thanks!
~Lori~
February 17th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
I just read post number 2, right after my post. Tried pressing the fn and f9 keys in tandem, [the fn key is a blank key on my keyboard], and it unfroze the touchpad. Thanks.
February 17th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I just bought a new Toshiba A-100 and have the exact same problem. The touchpad lights up, usually within 5 minutes of booting up. The keyboard and all other controls work fine. I can reboot and solve the problem, but discovered it’s just easier to buy an external mouse at Target and live with it. Totally sucks after spending $1100 on a new machine, but oh well.
February 12th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Stevieboi241,
What brand is your notebook? On a Toshiba notebook you can temporarily enable or disable the touchpad by pressing Fn+F9. On other models you can try enabling/disabling through the BIOS settings. Some models also have a special touch pad software installed witch you can use.
February 12th, 2007 at 9:27 am
My mum wants to use my laptop instead of the other computer which isn’t laptop but since a laptop has a touch pad i attached an optical mouse instead but the touch pad is quite sensitive. is there a way to lock my touch pad TEMPORARILY!!!!!?
February 8th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
>Enter the BIOS setup and try setting it to defaults.
I followed your suggestion, went into BIOS setup, made sure the touchpad enable/disable was set correctly, and also did ‘Set all to defaults’. Touchpad still not being recognized.
Posted the question at HP’s ‘Business Support Forums’, but not holding my breath…the forums seem kinda lifeless compared to here and others such as daniweb, which is my next stop. Will report back if I solve the problem.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Richard K,
Enter the BIOS setup and try setting it to defaults. Check if there is enable/disable touchpad option in there. I’m not sure if Compaq notebooks use the same shortcut (Fn+F9) to enable/disable touchpad, it might be something else.
That’s right. All notebooks are similar and usually fail the same way. In most cases general troubleshooting steps will be the same for all notebook models.
February 5th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
related to Jennifer’s problem, comments 34-37 — Touchpad not working after reassembly
I did indeed reattach the touchpad ribbon cable, yet the touchpad is not working. There were never any problems or unusual behavior with it before. I’ve tried disconnecting/reattaching it at least two dozen times today (always gently to avoid breaking anything).
The three LEDS that are on the same circuit as the touchpad (on/standby, HD activity, and battery charging) are working erratically; right now the first two are fine and the battery one is not working.
An external PS/2 mouse works fine. Fn-F9 doesn’t do anything.
On previous occasions I’ve successfully disassembled and reassembled the laptop, including the touchpad ribbon cable. I remember that getting the ribbon all the way in is tricky and usually took a few attempts.
Some possible explanations, none of which are solutions, unfortunately:
1. I’m just not seating the ribbon cable right despite countless attempts. Unlikely since in the past I’ve been successful.
2. Something software or driver-related…is that possible? Isn’t this circuit something separate from the OS and software? And if the problem was the touchpad driver, how could that affect the LEDs?
3. I physically damaged something such as the thing you stick the ribbon into, but the damage is invisible, i.e. nothing appears loose or broken.
Thanks for a great site.
Mine is a Compaq Presario 2100, XP [is this site for Toshiba only? at any rate, most of the info seems transferable]
January 31st, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Hi
I have a compaq laptop, and my touchpad broke. How do I replace it?
January 28th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Jennifer,
You can see the touch pad ribbon cable on the step 9 in this disassembly guide for Tecra M2 notebook. It’s on the left side from the keyboard cable, bellow the RTC battery connector. The touch pad connector is small and can be easily overlooked during the notebook disassembly process.
You asked if the ribbon cable can affect the pointer mouse. You mean the pointer on the keyboard, right? I do not remember exactly, but I think it might affect the pointer.
January 28th, 2007 at 4:39 am
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I did try Fn/F9 last night, so it must be the ribbon. Before I take it apart, do you know where the touchpad ribbon is? I only remember seeing the keyboard ribbon. And does that ribbon also affect the pointer mouse? Thanks again!
January 27th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Jennifer,
You’ll have to disassemble the laptop again and make sure the ribbon cable is properly connected to the touch pad.
The touch pad connects to the motherboard via a flat ribbon cable. Most likely during disassembly process you accidentally pulled the cable from the touch pad. Right now the touch pad cable is not connected to the touch pad. I’ve done this mistake with Tecra M2 notebooks before.
But before you jump in, try to enable the touch pad with Fn+F9 key combination, may be it’s just disabled.
January 27th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Another touchpad/mouse problem. I disassembled my Tecra M2 tonight to check connections. When I put it back together, the touchpad and mouse no longer work. The keyboard works fine, but not the pointer mouse or the touchpad. I don’t have an external mouse to try and see if that works. Should I take the computer apart again?
January 15th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Otto — were you responding to my question about my touchpad? Do I need to roll back the drive on that or the keyboard?
Jeff
January 13th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Gustaf Engstrand,
If the touchpad mouse works in safe mode but doesn’t work when you load Windows normally, most likely you have a problem with software. Reinstall Windows, it should help.
January 13th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Jeff,
I think you might have software related issue. In cases like yours, I usually reinstall the operating system first. I’m not sure if it’s going to help you, but you can try.