The touchpad does not work: what should I do?

The touchpad is a touch panel, which responds to touch and movementby moving the cursor along the specified path. At first it may not seem very convenient, but most users quickly get used to using the touchpad and prefer it to the mouse.

But this is the danger: you get used to the touchpad and stop carrying a mouse with you. And one day there may come a time when you open the laptop and find that the touchpad does not work. What to do in this case?

Why does not the touchpad work?

Some users, saying "does not worktouchpad on the laptop "means that it works, but not as it should: the cursor reacts poorly to the commands, moving too slowly, too fast or by jerks, because of this it becomes difficult to work. The most common cause is touchpad contamination. It's pretty easy to clean it - it's goodwipe its surface with a soapy tampon, and then - with a moist alcoholic napkin. You can work with the touchpad after it has dried. Sometimes the touchpad does not work properly, because you have wet or fat hands.

It happens that the problem lies in the the touchpad settings - too high or too lowsensitivity. To change the sensitivity settings, go to the "Mouse" item in the Control Panel. Sometimes the whole touchpad does not work, but some functions, for example, scrolling. This is a programmatic problem, and it is solved installing or updating the touchpad driver. For some touchpads, you will need to install special software to configure them.

If the touchpad does not work at all, then the reasoncan be software or hardware. For starters, let's exclude the simplest and most likely options. If the touchpad has stopped working, it is likely that it is simply turned off. There are several ways to enable the touchpad:

• 
  use the key combination: in most notebooks, the touchpad is turned on and off by pressing the Fn function key in combination with one of the F1-F12 keys;


• 
  Press the button to turn off the touchpad (not all laptops);


• 
  enable the touchpad with the help of the system utility: it is usually displayed in the tray next to the clock;


• 
  disable the mouse: in some laptops the touchpad automatically turns off when a USB mouse is connected;


• 
  enable the touchpad support in the BIOS: you need to go into the BIOS and select the appropriate value for the Internal Pointing Device parameter.

If this does not help, and the laptop still does not work with a touchpad, then the reason may be hardware. Like other devices, the touchpad is connected tomotherboard with a loop. Sometimes during transportation, the loop fastener is opened, and the plume falls out of the connector on the "motherboard". It is clear that the touchpad stops working. In this case, you can disassemble the laptop yourself to connect the touchpad, or contact the service center.

Also, the touchpad may not work due to mechanical damage. In this case, most likely, its justwill have to be completely changed. If the touchpad works after the impact, but the buttons failed, it may be possible to do "little blood" by disassembling the touchpad and returning the failed buttons to the place.

If not only the touchpad, but also the keyboard and USB ports does not work, the problem, naturally, is not in the touchpad. Most likely, in a laptop the motherboard is faulty. There is only one way - to the service center for diagnostics.

As you can see, if the touchpad does not work, the reasons can be different. Necessary take turns to exclude all possible causes, starting with the most simple, and only then, if nothing has helped, to go with a laptop to the service center.