dougkerr1939 wrote:
> I have the same problem. While typing In Notepad, and e-mail or MS Word
> (Office 2002), on a random basis, the insertion point skips forward or back.
> I look up to check for typos and, sometimes, I see that the phrase I just
> typed is not where it should be, but back in the middle of a previous
> sentence or moved forward somewhere. Also, more rarely, a small piece of text
> that I have just typed will disappear.
> I'm running MS Vista, Business, 32 bit, on my Dell Inspiron 6400
> laptop, and using the machine now to type this message.
> I have spoken with half a dozen Dell techs. They are stumped. One
> reinstalled the drivers for my touchpad. The other took control remotely and
> removed recently installed software, Window Washer (Webroot). Another ran
> diagnostic tests on the hardware. There were errors while checking the hard
> drive and it will have to be replaced. Dell techs say that a new hard drive
> will not fix the problem of the skipping insertion point.
> What is the problem and solution? Will the impending release of the
> update to Vista fix this?
> I'd be very grateful for any help. Thank you.
> Doug Kerr

Disable the touchpad. I believe the tapping of the keys on the
keyboard, or your shirt sleeve tapping it, causes the membrane to
vibrate and this action is seen as tapping on the touchpad. That moves
the pointer/cursor to the position "seen" by the touchpad.

--
Joe =o)

Thanks Elmo,
How would I disable the touchpad? How would I then be
able to function without it?

Doug Kerr

"Elmo" wrote:

> dougkerr1939 wrote:
> > I have the same problem. While typing In Notepad, and e-mail or MS Word
> > (Office 2002), on a random basis, the insertion point skips forward or back.
> > I look up to check for typos and, sometimes, I see that the phrase I just
> > typed is not where it should be, but back in the middle of a previous
> > sentence or moved forward somewhere. Also, more rarely, a small piece of text
> > that I have just typed will disappear.
> > I'm running MS Vista, Business, 32 bit, on my Dell Inspiron 6400
> > laptop, and using the machine now to type this message.
> > I have spoken with half a dozen Dell techs. They are stumped. One
> > reinstalled the drivers for my touchpad. The other took control remotely and
> > removed recently installed software, Window Washer (Webroot). Another ran
> > diagnostic tests on the hardware. There were errors while checking the hard
> > drive and it will have to be replaced. Dell techs say that a new hard drive
> > will not fix the problem of the skipping insertion point.
> > What is the problem and solution? Will the impending release of the
> > update to Vista fix this?
> > I'd be very grateful for any help. Thank you.
> > Doug Kerr
>
> Disable the touchpad. I believe the tapping of the keys on the
> keyboard, or your shirt sleeve tapping it, causes the membrane to
> vibrate and this action is seen as tapping on the touchpad. That moves
> the pointer/cursor to the position "seen" by the touchpad.
>
> --
> Joe =o)
>

dougkerr1939 wrote:
> Thanks Elmo,
> How would I disable the touchpad? How would I then be
> able to function without it?
>
> Doug Kerr

If you don't have a mouse, you need to look at the touchpad settings,
probably in the Control Panel, or the Start Menu. I did see a new
laptop with Fn keys for the touchpad. But you need to turn off the tap
option where you tap to select; use the buttons below the touchpad for
click and alternate-click.

The closest I could find:

"2. Adjust the sensitivity of the touch pad:."
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...clang=en&cs=#1

"..is there any way in the world to turn off the touchpad.."
(This might have an option to disable just the tapping to select.)
http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen

This one suggests you can adjust the sensitivity:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen

Continue the search here:

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?...d+6400&cat=sup

Good luck.

> "Elmo" wrote:
>
>> dougkerr1939 wrote:
>>> I have the same problem. While typing In Notepad, and e-mail or MS Word
>>> (Office 2002), on a random basis, the insertion point skips forward or back.
>>> I look up to check for typos and, sometimes, I see that the phrase I just
>>> typed is not where it should be, but back in the middle of a previous
>>> sentence or moved forward somewhere. Also, more rarely, a small piece of text
>>> that I have just typed will disappear.
>>> I'm running MS Vista, Business, 32 bit, on my Dell Inspiron 6400
>>> laptop, and using the machine now to type this message.
>>> I have spoken with half a dozen Dell techs. They are stumped. One
>>> reinstalled the drivers for my touchpad. The other took control remotely and
>>> removed recently installed software, Window Washer (Webroot). Another ran
>>> diagnostic tests on the hardware. There were errors while checking the hard
>>> drive and it will have to be replaced. Dell techs say that a new hard drive
>>> will not fix the problem of the skipping insertion point.
>>> What is the problem and solution? Will the impending release of the
>>> update to Vista fix this?
>>> I'd be very grateful for any help. Thank you.
>>> Doug Kerr
>> Disable the touchpad. I believe the tapping of the keys on the
>> keyboard, or your shirt sleeve tapping it, causes the membrane to
>> vibrate and this action is seen as tapping on the touchpad. That moves
>> the pointer/cursor to the position "seen" by the touchpad.

--
Joe =o)

dougkerr1939 wrote:
> Thanks Elmo,
> How would I disable the touchpad? How would I then be
> able to function without it?
>
> Doug Kerr

Temporarily using a mouse and disabling the touchpad would verify
whether that's the cause of the cursor jumping. Looking at the 994
queries in that search reaffirms my suspicion that it's caused by the
touchpad.

--
Joe =o)

Elmo,

Thanks again. It may be a while before I can go through all the options
you have suggested. When I do, I'll get back to you with the results.

Doug Kerr
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Elmo" wrote:

> dougkerr1939 wrote:
> > Thanks Elmo,
> > How would I disable the touchpad? How would I then be
> > able to function without it?
> >
> > Doug Kerr
>
> If you don't have a mouse, you need to look at the touchpad settings,
> probably in the Control Panel, or the Start Menu. I did see a new
> laptop with Fn keys for the touchpad. But you need to turn off the tap
> option where you tap to select; use the buttons below the touchpad for
> click and alternate-click.
>
> The closest I could find:
>
> "2. Adjust the sensitivity of the touch pad:."
> http://support.dell.com/support/topi...clang=en&cs=#1
>
> "..is there any way in the world to turn off the touchpad.."
> (This might have an option to disable just the tapping to select.)
> http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen
>
> This one suggests you can adjust the sensitivity:
> http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen
>
> Continue the search here:
>
> http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?...d+6400&cat=sup
>
> Good luck.
>
> > "Elmo" wrote:
> >
> >> dougkerr1939 wrote:
> >>> I have the same problem. While typing In Notepad, and e-mail or MS Word
> >>> (Office 2002), on a random basis, the insertion point skips forward or back.
> >>> I look up to check for typos and, sometimes, I see that the phrase I just
> >>> typed is not where it should be, but back in the middle of a previous
> >>> sentence or moved forward somewhere. Also, more rarely, a small piece of text
> >>> that I have just typed will disappear.
> >>> I'm running MS Vista, Business, 32 bit, on my Dell Inspiron 6400
> >>> laptop, and using the machine now to type this message.
> >>> I have spoken with half a dozen Dell techs. They are stumped. One
> >>> reinstalled the drivers for my touchpad. The other took control remotely and
> >>> removed recently installed software, Window Washer (Webroot). Another ran
> >>> diagnostic tests on the hardware. There were errors while checking the hard
> >>> drive and it will have to be replaced. Dell techs say that a new hard drive
> >>> will not fix the problem of the skipping insertion point.
> >>> What is the problem and solution? Will the impending release of the
> >>> update to Vista fix this?
> >>> I'd be very grateful for any help. Thank you.
> >>> Doug Kerr
> >> Disable the touchpad. I believe the tapping of the keys on the
> >> keyboard, or your shirt sleeve tapping it, causes the membrane to
> >> vibrate and this action is seen as tapping on the touchpad. That moves
> >> the pointer/cursor to the position "seen" by the touchpad.
>
> --
> Joe =o)
>

Elmo wrote:
> dougkerr1939 wrote:
>> Thanks Elmo,
>> How would I disable the touchpad? How would I
>> then be able to function without it?
>>
>> Doug Kerr
>
> Temporarily using a mouse and disabling the touchpad would verify
> whether that's the cause of the cursor jumping. Looking at the 994
> queries in that search reaffirms my suspicion that it's caused by the
> touchpad.

Sorry, I was referring to the search at Dell Support. It was meant as a
continuation of my other post. Many of the posts in the following
search results are for the same symptom you have.

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?...d+6400&cat=sup

--
Joe =o)