Let's start with a common computer literacy question: "What is a touchpad on a laptop?" Laptops, netbooks and other similar portable devices (for example) usually have a built-in computer mouse. This built-in mouse is not at all like the usual computer mouse that you can move around the table and press buttons.
The mouse built into portable laptop computers has a completely different design. If an ordinary mouse moves on the table, then the built-in mouse of laptop computers stands, as they say, tightly. But you can move it with your fingers, which is completely similar in response to the movement of a regular computer mouse on the table.
Pros of a touchpad or what is a touchpad for?
This fixed design of the built-in mouse is convenient for portable computers, where you need to have as few moving parts as possible. Precisely because the computer itself is portable, it is not advisable to have anything else moving in it.
With this built-in mouse, you can not only move your finger, but also perform many other actions. For example, you can tap on the built-in mouse, which will be similar to pressing the left button of a regular computer mouse. On more advanced computers, especially Apple's MAC, you can use the built-in mouse to rotate an image, zoom in or out, and perform many other convenient actions with a few fingers.
Also, the built-in mice of laptop computers have left and right buttons, completely similar to the left and right buttons of a regular computer mouse.
Since actions on the built-in computer mouse of portable portable devices are most often performed by touching the fingers on a rectangular pad on the computer case, this mouse got its name “touchpad” from the English words “touch” - touch and “pad” - pad. That is, in simple language
“touchpad” means “to touch a special pad with your fingers.”
And speaking in technical language, then
"touchpad" means "touch pad".
Disadvantages of the touchpad or how the touchpad interferes with the user
Any convenience can always have a downside - inconvenience. This “law of harmfulness” has not bypassed the touchpad, touch panel, or built-in mouse of laptop computers. The fact is that usually this touch panel is structurally located just below the keyboard of a computer (laptop, netbook, tablet computer, etc.). When working with the keyboard, you can, unbeknownst to yourself, accidentally touch the touchpad, the same panel (platform) located below the keyboard.
The touchpad can perceive any touch not only with a finger, but also, for example, with the cuff of a shirt, as a signal for action. This false signal will send a signal to the computer from the touchpad, for example, to move the mouse cursor up, down, left or right.
And now imagine, for example, that you are typing text. And suddenly, at some point, the mouse cursor “moves” to a completely different place in the text, where you continue, suspecting nothing, to continue typing the text. Not everyone knows the method, so when typing, all attention is usually directed not to the screen, but to the keyboard. And you simply don’t notice that the cursor has long since moved away, and the test is printed completely in the wrong place where it should be.
Unpleasant? Still would. And then you have to edit everything, look for where the text “went”. Extract it from there, move it to where this text belongs. It takes a long time and sometimes tediously to fix everything.
Therefore, developers of portable laptop computers have long been concerned with the problem of temporarily turning off the touchpad, touch panel, and built-in mouse. If, of course, the user needs it. This function of turning it off (and, of course, turning it on if the touchpad is needed again) is very convenient. Therefore, it is always useful to know and be able to use this function.
Conclusions and main question:
The touchpad is similar to a computer mouse. The appearance of such a touch panel is due to the peculiarity of laptop computers.
At home, where a laptop can be placed on a table, many people prefer to use a regular computer mouse. Only in this case, the enabled touchpad can greatly interfere, so the question arises: how to disable/enable the touchpad?
Manufacturers are concerned about the function of turning off the touchpad: laptops have a special key or a combination of keys. There is no need to resort to any special hardware or software.
1 option on how to enable or disable the touchpad on a laptop
Modern laptop models have a small indentation in the corner of the touchpad. This is the touchpad enable/disable button. By pressing it twice, you activate the touchpad or disable it if it was enabled.
This is very convenient, although not all models of portable laptop computers have such a button.
Option 2 on how to enable or disable the touchpad on a laptop
In other laptops, to enable/disable the touchpad, you need to press the key combination Fn and one of the top row F1-F12. The Fn key is usually located in the lower left corner of the keyboard. Which of the F1-F12 keys to press can be judged by the icons printed on them, which are made in the same color as the Fn key.
For a Sony Vaio laptop, you can disable/enable the touchpad using the Fn+F1 keys. We pressed the two Fn+F1 keys once and thereby disabled the touchpad. When you press Fn+F1 again, the touchpad will be turned on again.
Rice. 1 For a Sony Vaio laptop, you can disable/enable the touchpad using the Fn+F1 keys.
The icon for turning on/off the touch panel usually looks like this touch panel - a rectangle with rounded corners (an image of a “pad”), under which two small rectangles are shown (like buttons, left and right mouse buttons) and on top of all this there is a cross, like the letter "x" stands for "off". But there may be other mnemonic pictures of the touch panel, and computer manufacturers are trying their best.
Option 3 on how to enable/disable the touchpad on a laptop
If for some reason the described methods fail to enable or disable the touchpad using a special button or using , then this can be done through the BIOS settings. To access these settings, you need to hold down the F2 or Del key while starting the laptop. As a rule, when turned on, a hint is displayed at the bottom of the screen which key to press. We must remember that this hint appears for a very short time. And you need to press this key exactly at the moment when the hint is displayed. Otherwise, it will be impossible to enter the BIOS setup program; you will need to restart the laptop.
In the BIOS settings we find the Pointing Device item (literally “pointing devices”). Change its value to Enabled (literal translation “Enabled”) if you want to enable the touchpad, or to Disabled (literal translation “Disabled”) - to disable the device. Then exit with save (usually this BIOS setup menu item looks like “Save & Exit” or “Exit with Saving”) for the changes to take effect.
Remember, you need to be careful with BIOS settings, especially if you don’t know what this or that setting is for. You can even damage your computer to such an extent that it cannot be repaired, that’s how “treacherous” this BIOS is.
Option 4 on how to enable/disable the touchpad on a laptop
Another way to find information on the question of how to disable/enable the touchpad on a laptop. To do this, you can use the instructions for your laptop, which recently, as a rule, are not in paper form, but in electronic form, located on the hard drive C: of the laptop, usually in the “Documentation” folder, but not necessarily in it.
When all 4 options don't work
So, the touchpad is easy to enable and disable. But if you can't turn on the touchpad using the methods described, then it's probably
- the device is faulty,
- or not installed, for example, as a result of reinstalling the operating system (I wanted, say, instead of the “native” XP (that is, “hardwired” into the device by the manufacturer at the time of its sale) to install seven, or instead of the “native” seven – eight or ten!).
But that, as they say, is another story.
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A laptop belongs to mobile computers, and accordingly, all control of the laptop must be mobile. One of the control devices is a computer mouse. But the laptop uses a touchpad; we’ll look at what this is next.
Control commands are entered by touching the touch surface. Different types of touch transmit different commands, similar to mouse control.
The touchpad has the shape of a rectangle with rounded edges. Can be built-in or connected separately.
How to use the touchpad
We transfer control via the touchpad using touches, or by sliding our fingers over the surface of the touchpad. Each such touch or movement has the meaning of a specific command.
The capabilities of the built-in touchpad depend on both the driver and the hardware implementation. This affects the set of control gestures, multi-touch, control.
Let's imagine how to use the touchpad on a laptop through a list of a standard set of commands:
- Short touch with one finger - left mouse button
- Double click with one finger - double-click the left mouse button
- Incomplete double tap and one finger slide – drag and select
- Press with two fingers (short) – right mouse button
- Short press with three fingers – middle mouse button
- Sliding with two fingers - mouse wheel rotation
- Sliding your finger along the left or right edge of the touchpad – vertical scroll
- Sliding your finger along the top or bottom edge of the touchpad – horizontal scrolling
- Sliding two fingers either towards each other or away from each other - increase or decrease
- Touching with one finger and moving in a circular motion around the first with the second finger - flip
- Light touch with three fingers and movement from right to left or vice versa - swipe
How does the touchpad work? A laptop's touchpad is made up of capacitive sensors so that they form a grid on the surface. The controller measures all capacitances on the panel and writes them to memory. Then it periodically compares them with the current values; this period of reading information from the surface is one of the characteristics of the touchpad. Touching the finger changes the capacitance between the two sensors, this capacitance is measured and thus the exact position of the finger on the surface is determined. The degree of change in capacitance indicates the force of finger pressure.
Due to the low resolution of the sensor grid, it is impossible to perform precise work using a laptop touchpad, for example, in graphic editors or in serious games. But for normal work on a laptop, the touchpad capabilities for controlling the mouse pointer are quite enough.
Photo of the touchpad
The English word touchpad consists of two words touch - touch and pad - surface (panel). By touching the sensor, the user can control the cursor. At the bottom of the touch surface there may be buttons to simulate the three buttons of a mouse (left, right and wheel).
To clearly understand what a touchpad on a laptop is, let’s present a few photos.
Mouse, touchpad, trackball - all these things are well known to laptop owners who purchased their first electronic assistant about a dozen years ago. However, the popularity of mobile computers is growing, there are more and more happy owners, and the flow of information is such that sometimes there is simply no time to get acquainted with the history of technology development. As a result, every now and then the question “touchpad - what is it?” is heard. Today we will explain what exactly is meant by this term, and also recall the main milestones in the development of such devices.
Mobility comes first
The second name for a laptop is a portable mobile computer. Its main difference from a full-fledged system unit is the ability to take it with you and work for some time without an external power source. Obviously, the optimal solution is a monoblock, when all key devices are combined in a single housing. No separate keyboards, mice and monitors, as in desktop systems. Since operating systems with a graphical interface were already popular during the time of the first laptops, developers needed to come up with a device that performed the functions of a mouse, but at the same time was part of a candy bar. The problem was brilliantly solved.
Mouse upside down
In laptop computers, just below the keyboard block they began to place a small device in the form of a ball and two buttons. By running your palm over the ball and setting it in motion, you could control the cursor in programs. 
The principle of operation was the same as in ordinary mice of that time. This solution is called “trackball”.
A keyboard with a touchpad appears
However, the trackball had a number of disadvantages, so work on finding alternative solutions did not stop. And finally, with the advent of touch panels, a real technical breakthrough occurred in the field of laptop equipment. What was proposed is still being used successfully. In place of the trackball, they began to place a small rectangular plate, which functionally replaces the mouse. So, touchpad - what is it? This device is a touch panel, which is structurally part of the laptop body and located below the keyboard. 
The touch of a finger to the socket and its movement along the surface are perceived by the controller, converted into conditional coordinates and transmitted to the running program. Capacitive type sensor: you can easily verify this by trying to control the cursor by touching the panel with a non-conductive object, for example, a pencil - there will be no reaction. Double-clicking the mouse buttons, accordingly, is replaced by two quick successive touches on one arbitrary point on the panel. To completely replace the mouse, the touchpad contains two or three (depending on the model) mechanical buttons. A wheel function is also implemented: you need to slide your finger up or down on the corresponding small block (a ladder of parallel strips). On some laptops, to rewind, you need to simultaneously move two adjacent fingers on the sensor. As a rule, these are newer models that support multi-touch technology (multiple touches).
Touchpad: what is it?
As you can see, behind the obscure name there is a device with fairly simple functions. This often happens in computer technology, when many terms are taken from a foreign language. Thus, to put it very simply, the question “touchpad - what is it?” You can answer that this device is a touch panel designed to functionally replace a computer mouse.
fb.ru
What is a touchpad on a laptop, why is it needed, advantages and disadvantages
Touchpad, also known as trackpad, also known as touchpad, are all names of a device for controlling the cursor on computer and mobile devices. Most often, this device can be found on laptops, less often on advanced keyboards connected to a PC. Even less often – among the ways to control certain models of mobile phones.
Control commands are entered using the touchpad by touching its surface with one or more fingers. The device operates on the principle of collecting information from sensors - capacitive sensors located under the surface. Their different readings are compared, and thus the exact location of the fingers on the surface, the pressing force, and other manipulations are determined.
The word “TouchPad” in English initially did not reflect the essence of the generally accepted concept; it is still a trademark of one of the largest manufacturers of these devices - Synaptics. But there are other manufacturers.
Control potential
The potential for control commands using the touchpad is small, even for those devices that support multi-touch. Usually this is moving the cursor, clicking the right and left mouse buttons, scrolling (analogous to rotating the mouse wheel). Using the manufacturer's driver, other commands applicable to a specific touchpad model can be implemented.
Advantages and Benefits
Touchpad devices The touchpad is a convenient manipulator if you use a laptop as part of your leisure time, communicating on social networks or viewing media content. With its help, simple actions can be carried out even while lying in bed.
But such an input device is not suitable for serious work. It is inferior to a computer mouse in terms of convenience, maneuverability, and efficiency. And sometimes he also creates obstacles. When actively typing on a laptop, many people touch the touchpad, since it is usually located at the level of the spacebar key. A misaligned cursor and a missed glance at the screen in such cases turn a masterpiece of human thought typed in a text editor into gobbledygook made up of chaotic text inserts.
How to find out the characteristics of your computer or laptop
When actively working with a laptop, it is better to use a USB or wireless mouse. And so that nothing interferes with typing, you can activate the disable option in the touchpad driver settings, provided that a mouse is connected to the laptop.
composs.ru
The touchpad on the laptop stopped working - solution
Any laptop has two “controls”. The first is the keyboard, and the second is the TouchPad, a special pointing device that replaces the mouse. Without it, using a modern mobile computer while camping or on the road is almost impossible. But you noticed that the touchpad does not work. What to do? There can be several reasons - from a simple failure to complete failure. The latter happens rarely, mainly as a result of a manufacturing defect or when the owner floods the laptop with water. Therefore, we hope for a successful solution to the problem.
1. Touchpad disable button
No matter how funny it may sound, in almost more than half of the cases of user requests regarding a broken touchpad, everything is resolved by pressing one button (on some models - two). The fact is that on any laptop there is a special button that completely blocks the operation of the touch panel and buttons of the manipulator. This is done to ensure that there are no conflicts when connecting the mouse.
Typically, the touchpad disable button is combined with one of the function keys F1…F12. There will be a corresponding icon on it. In this case, for it to work, you must additionally press the Fn function key, located in the bottom row of the keyboard. Also, there are laptop models that have a separate button for turning on the touchpad or a special switch at the end of the case:
If you accidentally click on it, you can, without knowing it, turn off the operation of the manipulator. Which, in fact, happens most often.
How to enable the touchpad in Windows settings
The second, no less common case when the touchpad on a laptop suddenly stops working is when the user himself or using some programs manages to programmatically disable it in the Windows settings. To check this, you need to go to the Windows 10 system settings and select the “Mouse and Touchpad” section in the menu on the right:
On the right side of the window, find and click on the “Advanced mouse options” link.
Note: In previous versions of Windows OS, you need to go to the Control Panel, set the view mode to “Large Icons”, and then click on the “Mouse” icon.
In the properties window that appears, you need to open the “Device Settings” tab:
Please refer to the "Devices" table. It should show your touchpad (usually a Synaptics TouchPad) and the Enabled column should show Yes. If the manipulator is disabled, then select it and click on the “Enable” button. On some laptops, like my Lenovo, there may be an "UltraNav" or something similar in the mouse properties:
Despite the difference in names, everything is the same here. You need to make sure that the “Enable Touchpad device” checkbox is checked.
Driver problems
The third reason why the touchpad on a laptop often does not work is a driver failure. This can happen due to various circumstances. First, you need to open Windows Device Manager and find the “Mice and other pointing devices” section:
One of the items here should be an Elan Smart-Pad, or a Synaptics Pointing Device, or something like that. Right-click on it and select the “Properties” menu item:
First, on the “General” tab, look at what is written in the “Device Status” field to see if there are any errors or warnings there. Then go to the “Resources” tab and look at the list of conflicting devices. If the laptop touchpad does not work due to a conflict with some other device on the mobile computer, then it will be immediately displayed here.
Windows will search for a new version of the driver and if one is found, it will automatically install it.
Enabling the touchpad in BIOS
I almost forgot to tell you about another, extremely rare, but also common case when the touchpad is disabled in the laptop BIOS. Basically, this occurs either when there is a serious malfunction in the BIOS, or if someone decides to play an evil joke on the owner of the mobile computer. This is corrected as follows.
When you boot your computer, go into the BIOS and open the “Advanced” section. Find the “internal Pointing Device” parameter and set it to “Enable”. Save the settings.
P.S.: If none of the tips I listed helped you, then most likely your touchpad does not work due to a hardware fault and you will have to take the laptop to a service center. True, there is one small nuance to consider here. The fact is that the cost of a new pointing device can greatly surprise the owner and it often turns out to be cheaper to adapt to using a regular mouse than to pay a lot for repairs.
set-os.ru
What is a touchpad on a laptop
What is a touchpad on a laptop? Everyone has long been accustomed to the mouse, and does not want to switch to new technologies. It's hard to imagine a modern desktop computer running without a mouse. And the situation when the mouse suddenly breaks, for many users becomes synonymous with an absolute disaster.
Many laptop owners also buy a mouse in addition to themselves, not knowing that by working on a touchpad, they will achieve greater success and spend much less time. The touchpad is an area of the computer that is extremely sensitive to various touches and presses.
Of course, to work with it you still need to learn a little, but in many moments the touchpad will surpass even a mouse. It is very convenient because it is built into the laptop itself; it is simply impossible to forget it or not take it with you. It does not require a battery or any wire to connect.
But the fact that the touchpad is always close to the hands opens up an important drawback - it can easily be touched when the user does not need it at all. The ideal location for the touchpad is between the Russian letters I, P and R. With this arrangement, your hands will accidentally hit the touchpad the least number of times, and there is also enough space for your hands to be placed comfortably on the free area of the panel.
On large laptops there is a large touchpad that allows you to move the cursor as far as possible. But on each model there is also a special option that allows you to independently set the touchpad options.
The material from which the touchpad is made also matters. It is much easier to work on hard material than on soft one. And its difference from the bottom panel makes it easy to find the touchpad without even looking at it.
Touchpad, also known as trackpad, also known as touchpad - all these are the names of the device for cursor control on computer and mobile devices. Most often, this device can be found on laptops, less often on advanced keyboards connected to a PC. Even less often – among the ways to control certain models of mobile phones.
Entering control commands using the touchpad is carried out by touch one or more fingers on its surface. The device operates on the principle of collecting information from sensors— capacitive sensors located under the surface. Their different readings are compared and thus the exact location fingers on the surface, pressing force, as well as other manipulations.
The word “TouchPad” in English initially did not reflect the essence of the generally accepted concept; it is still a trademark of one of the largest manufacturers of these devices, Synaptics. But there are other manufacturers.
Control potential
The potential for control commands using the touchpad is small, even for those devices that support multitouch. Usually this moving cursor, clicks right and left mouse buttons, scrolling(analogous to rotating the mouse wheel). Using the manufacturer's driver, other commands applicable to a specific touchpad model can be implemented.
Advantages and Benefits
Touchpad devices The touchpad is convenient manipulator, if you use a laptop as part of your leisure time, communicating on social networks or viewing media content. With its help, simple actions can be carried out even while lying in bed.
But such an input device is not suitable for serious work. It loses computer mouse and convenience, and in maneuverability, and in efficiency. And sometimes he also creates obstacles. When actively typing on a laptop, many hurt touchpad, since it is usually located at the level of the spacebar. A misaligned cursor and a missed glance at the screen in such cases turn a masterpiece of human thought typed in a text editor into gobbledygook made up of chaotic text inserts.
