A touch-sensitive built-in mouse or, as it is also called, a touchpad on a laptop is an irreplaceable thing. Situations in which she completely refuses to work are very unpleasant, but sometimes they happen. There are a lot of reasons for this, and most often, the sensor does not respond due to a malfunction in the drivers or an accidental shutdown, for example, by children.
In this case, do not immediately bring your laptop to a service center. You can try to restore the normal operation of the touchpad yourself, especially since you do not need to be a high-class IT specialist for this.
The main reasons that the mouse does not work on the laptop
The content of the article
- The main reasons that the mouse does not work on the laptop
- How to troubleshoot
In addition to mechanical damage to the touchpad, there are several more reasons for its inoperability. Most of the faults in this case, you can easily fix it yourself. Among the main reasons why the sensory mouse does not work:
- pollution. In this case, the sensor stops working not completely, but only partially. The cursor’s reaction to touching a contaminated touchpad, although poor, is present;
- sensitivity is set too high. Incorrect settings on some, especially older laptop models, sometimes lead to problems in operation;
- the touchpad has been disabled. Hot keys are provided for this, which may vary depending on the model. In HP laptops, to turn off the touch panel, it is enough to accidentally make a double touch at a special mark (upper left corner);
- broken drivers. The device may have installed drivers of an unstable version or from an unofficial source. Also, such a problem can occur due to mechanical damage to the sectors of the hard disk on which drivers were recorded, for example, when a laptop crashes;
- in the settings of the system, the option "disable the touch panel when connecting a mouse." In this case, the sensor does not work while a mouse is connected to the laptop.
The described reasons should be checked first of all, they are easy to fix on their own.
How to troubleshoot
Before taking any action, you should try to reboot the device. Why do you need to do this? Perhaps due to prolonged operation, the operating system crashed. If this does not help, try one of the methods below.
If the touchpad becomes dirty, wipe it with a damp cloth or cotton swab dipped in alcohol. Also make sure that your fingers are dry and clean during use.
The most common cause of a malfunctioning sensory mouse is its shutdown. To enable / disable the touchpad, special key combinations are provided, which differ depending on the model:
- Asus: Fn + F9 or Fn + F7;
- Dell: Fn + F5;
- Acer: Fn + F7;
- Lenovo: Fn + F6;
- Gigabyte: Fn + F1.
In order to make it easier to navigate, manufacturers put the image of the touch panel on the desired function key. In some laptops, for example, HP, the touchpad is disabled by double-clicking on it in the designated place (usually this is the upper left corner).
In certain cases, reinstalling the drivers will help. To do this, use the CD that comes with the laptop. If it is not there, the latest version of the driver can always be downloaded on the manufacturer’s website, which is even better, because the cause of the malfunction could well be outdated software.
If the reason is that the device is disabled in the BIOS settings, you should enable it. This will require:
- Enter BIOS. To do this, hold down the corresponding key when turned on (in most cases, Del). The required key is indicated at boot time, for example, “Press Del to run setup”.
- Find the “Internal Pointing Device” item in the “Advanced” section and make sure that “Enabled” is next to it.
- Exit while saving changes. To do this, select the “Exit” item and click “Save & Exit Setup”.
The listed methods, in most cases, help solve problems with a broken sensory mouse. If in your situation they did not produce a result, then most likely the cause is mechanical damage, for example, a disconnected loop that connects the touchpad. If you are confident in your abilities, you can try to disassemble the laptop and fix it, otherwise it is better to contact a specialist.
