Keyboards & Touchpads

[ohio_bill]

I can set up my Synaptics touchpad for lefthand use, i.e. switch the left & right button functions. This is easily done from control panel, mouse, butoon settings.The buttons work fine, until I re-boot, then they are back to the default function - left is normal click. When I go to control panel - mouse, the setting have NOT changed; lefthand is still checked. If I switch to right and back to left, click apply and exit, the touchpad has the button function switched. I have also made the necessary changes in the Device Setting tab on the mouse control dialog box.

This is driving me nuts! Are the two tabs sending conflicting set-ups?

Any suggestions?

[cbwilsha · Accepted solution]

Are you clicking BOTH "Apply" and OK when you are finished making the settings?  If the answer is yes, the only other thing I can think of is to uninstall and reinstall the Synaptics driver. Go to Device Manager, double click "Mice and other pointing devices", right click the Synaptics entry, click Uninstall.  Restart computer and the driver will be automatically reinstalled.

[ohio_bill]

I realize that making sure to press both "apply" and "OK" has to be the first response, but that is not the issue. Also, since my Portege R835-p92 is literally brand new, I would hope that a reinstall of a pre-loaded driver would not be necessary, but I am willing to give that a try.

Apparently, few, if any, of the changes I made for the touchpad are staying around past a re-boot. I turned on two-finger scrolling and touch zones, but they are turned off on re-boot. The Synaptics drive is loaded at boot.

If I open the mouse settings on control panel, and click on the Synaptics tab, the changes work, but only until my next boot.

I have to add that I also occasionally use a Logitech wireless mouse, and a Wacom Bamboo tablet/pen, both of which have their own drivers installed. I'm beginning to think that there is some sort of conflict going on.

I have gotten along in the past with having the touchpad on my older Dell set up to all the defaults. In playing around on this new machine, I found these settings that I thought might be helpful. I really don't want to spend a lot of time trying to get them to work - life is too short.

thanks for your reply.

[cbwilsha]

If it is "brand new", why not return it to where you bought it?  That's what I would do if I were having anomalies I couldn't live with.

[ohio_bill]

As it turns out, your suggestion to reinstall the Synaptics driver was right on! Thanks. I keep forgetting to never ASSUME anything, especially with something electronic/mechanical.

After the reinstall and a reboot, the touchpad is working with all the "bells & whistles" I had previously configured. Hopefully that will last.

As for returning - it took me over a week to slowly install all my software, personalize, etc. The touchpad issue was irritating, but not a deal-breaker.

At any rate, thanks for taking the time to read my post and offer a suggestion. Much appreciated!

[cbwilsha]

Glad you got it working, Bill, and I hope it stays that way.

C.B.