Got My First Notebook

Congratulations on the new toy!

I imagine your hands will get used to the keyboard dimensions before long, but if you want to disable the touchpad, open up the Control Panel in the Start Menu, select the Mouse icon... there should be some option allowing you to shut the touchpad on or off.

Start>Settings>Control Panel>Mouse; look for a tab called something like "Touchpad on-off". Any USB mouse will work, in XP usually all ya gotta do is plug one in and you're set (with some machines/configurations, plugging in an external pointing device will disable the tochpad automatically, but IMO if yer gonna go external, you should manually disable the touchpad), though the mouse's proprietary software may be required for advanced functions/options, if any. Also available are wireless mice, with which you plug a tiny receiver into a USB port, and have no cable to fuss with.

Dunno 'bout your specific machine, but some laptops have built-in BlueTooth - no cable to hook up, though, if your machine supports BlueTooth, a BlueTooth mouse will be a bit on the pricey side, relatively speaking. BlueTooth mice using a plug-in USB receiver are out there for machines without native BlueTooth support - for an eyebrow-raising price, of course

Also, re the touchpad/cursor displacement annoyance, the settings utility accessed as described above typically will have provision for adjusting the pad's sensitivity ... you may find you don't really need an external mouse. Personally, I like touchpads; they can be configured a lotta different ways to suit your preference and convenience. I particularly appreciate the "Tap Zones" feature common to touchpads (not all have it, but most do) - I set mine up with the top left and right corners invoking page back and page forward respectively, and the bottom left and right corners invoking page up and page down respectively; very handy for surfing and browsing. I find a touchpad's "Tap to click" and "Hold to drag" functions quite handy too.

Explore your machine's documentation - learn what it has, what it will do, and how to get it to do that. If there's no owner's manual or pre-installed user's guide, you should be able to find what you need at the machine's vendor website support pages - usually available as downloadable .pdf versions.

Hm...I don't see a port for a mouse...

What does this mean?

You can buy a mouse that plugs into a USB port... they're sold everywhere.

Really?

Shows you how much I know!

sheesh bella........a port for a mouse.........you know, like when they're sailing around in their little schooners all day, and need to stop some place for the night.

god......

So I went in and did something called a "palm check". Sounds dirty. Either way, it is suppose to decrease accidental contact motion. It works a little but i just went ahead and decreased my touch sensitivity. That worked better. The pad was just too sensitive.

I should say so! Just what kind of websites are you visiting with your new notebook, Bella?!

Current and relatively recent production laptops generally don't have a "Mouse Port" {technically, a PS2 input device port), which is why I specifically suggested a USB mouse. But, my bad; I'm really a terrible teacher, since I all too often take for granted those I'm trying to teach are more familiar with the subject than I have any reason to suppose. Sorry if I confused you; glad you're beginning to figure out how to live with a touchpad, though. Good luck.

I got one at HP, but I haven't used it yet, 'cause
I'm starting to like the touch pad.

Is the "mouse port" the same as the USB port?

No, not really - a "Mouse port" is a PS2 port, round, a little smaller in diameter than a dime. Many if not most laptops, and many newer desktops, for that matter, won't have one. Any machine with USB support - which pretty much would be any machine produced within the last 6 or 7 years - should support a USB mouse. If you're looking to get a mouse for your new laptop, look for one specifically labled as USB, NOT one labled only[/i] PS2 (actually, you usually can use a PS2 mouse with a PS2-to-USB adapter, but never mind - just be sure to get a mouse labled right on the box as USB)