I have a Dell Vostro 1000. I want to disable the touchpad. I have searched and see that others have had the same issues (thumbs bumping, cursor jumping), but I have not seen a solution that I can use. I do not have a Fn key that will turn it on/off & I do not have any options under my MOUSE in Control Panel. I saw that someone suggested Touchfreeze but wonder, "do I really have to download a program to turn off a function of my computer?"

Thanks in advance

From the Vostro Owner's Manual:
http://www.helpdesk.ugent.be/notebook/manuals/Vostro1000/WY1220MR_English.pdf

Customizing the Touch Pad
You can use the Mouse Properties window to disable the touch pad or adjust its settings.

1 Open the Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then Mouse. For information about the Control Panel, see the Windows Help and Support Center. To access the Help and Support Center, see
"Windows Help and Support Center" on page 14.

2 In the Mouse Properties window, click the Pointer Options tab to adjust touch pad settings.


3 Click OK to save the settings and close the window.

From the Vostro Owner's Manual:
http://www.helpdesk.ugent.be/notebook/manuals/Vostro1000/WY1220MR_English.pdf

Customizing the Touch Pad
You can use the Mouse Properties window to disable the touch pad or adjust its settings.

1 Open the Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then Mouse. For information about the Control Panel, see the Windows Help and Support Center. To access the Help and Support Center, see
"Windows Help and Support Center" on page 14.

2 In the Mouse Properties window, click the Pointer Options tab to adjust touch pad settings.


3 Click OK to save the settings and close the window.

I have tried going through the Control Panel. There are several problems: 1. There is no icon that says "Printers and Other Hardware." I do have a MOUSE icon, a PRINTERS AND FAXES icon, and a Keyboard icon. So, I chose the MOUSE icon. It opens and offers POINTER options but NOTHING for touchpad. Only cursor speed, trails, button configuration, double-click... Under pointer options I only have: MOTION, SNAP TO, and VISIBILITY. Nothing about touchpads. Sorry? I'm even more confused!

Since those instructions came from Dell I would go back to them and ask.

I had the same problem. But I finally solved it by first download the appropriate touchpad driver from Synaptics for my operating system (Windows XP, yours maybe different):

http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers

After installation of the driver and rebooted, go to Control Panel open the mouse icon and click on "Device Settings" and disable the PS/2 touchpad.

Click OK and that's it!

I had the same problem. But I finally solved it by first download the appropriate touchpad driver from Synaptics for my operating system (Windows XP, yours maybe different):

http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers

After installation of the driver and rebooted, go to Control Panel open the mouse icon and click on "Device Settings" and disable the PS/2 touchpad.

Click OK and that's it!