Disabling touchpad while using external usb mouse

My daughter has the same problem. I've tried to disable it using F2 during boot and chosen the correct mouse but the touchpad still operates.

I've also been through the control panel but if there is a disable setting for the touchpad neither I nor the reseller can find it.

Can anyone help please? The machine is an inspiration 4000.

Why doesn't Dell have the usual button near the touchpad to switch it off? If we had known the touchpad was so hard to turn off we would not have bought a Dell! 

Dear Joan,

A tech who came to my house to replace the fective keypad in my new Inspiron 6000 told me there is most definitely a way to disable the keypad.  He said I should go online with Dell Tech Support, hardware, which is free, he said, and there they have detailed, easy-to-follow instructions on how to disable the keypad as well as instructions on how to re-enable it.

Hope this works for you,

Squirrelly

Dear Joan:

Sorry my suggestion didn't work and drove you crazy.  I have one other idea:  it's a totally free tech support hotline run by a computer magazine out west somewhere.  I got the number from a friend and right now I can't lay my hands on it.  I'm going to email my friend, ask him to re-send it to me.  When I get it, I'll post it here for you.

Again--sorry my idea didn't work.  I know what you've been through with the extreme frustration.  I've been there too--and it always makes me thing I'm going to either turn into a complete madwoman in need of hospitalization in some psychiatric institute or a total drunk!!  So far I've escaped both fates. 

Later,

Squirrelly

Thank you so much Squirrelly. I have to also take a moment to appreciate your humor. I cannot tell you how much I chuckle when I read some of your comments. They are most appreciated and better than a valium.

Will call them tomorrow if I can. Still trying to pass this kidney stone, which is almost as difficult as getting Tech assistance from Dell:)

This is what we did yesterday, my techie friend and I. We went to the Alps touchpad driver site and updated the driver

Hi Joan, I was just scrolling through the forum and saw you were considering a wireless mouse.  From my own personal experience, I would say don't buy one.  Certainly don't buy it from Dell.  You may get a Dell; you may get a Kensington--regardless of whuich brand you ask them for.  And the receiver--the piece that goes into the USB port--tends to be awfully fragile.  Mine broke after 2 months and I had been extremely careful with it right from the start.

If you do eventually decide to get a wireless mouse for the convenience--got to Best Buy or Circuit City--or even Wal-Mart, though Wal-Mart's selection is rather limited--so you can see what you're buying, talk to someone who can give you some advice and information in American English, and you can determine before buying the mouse whether or not it's going to require kid glove handling.  Also at Best Buy or Circuit City, I would imagine you'd get some kind of warranty.  That way if it did break, you could return it without having to go through 983 hours of phone calls with Indians.

Squirrelly