How to Disable the TouchPad From an HP Laptop
By C. Taylor
In the bottom-center of your HP laptop is what is called a "touchpad." The touchpad works similarly to a mouse, except you drag your finger across the pad, instead of physically moving a mouse. If you have ever been typing and your cursor moved to an entirely different area of the screen, then the touchpad may be the culprit. All it takes is a quick brush of your palm to accidentally click your mouse somewhere on the screen, which moves you cursor there. However, to prevent this, HP has integrated an easy-off method to disable the touchpad.
On/Off Switch
Some HP laptops contain a convenient on/off switch located around the touchpad. This button works as a toggle switch to temporarily turn the touchpad off when you are typing. Examine the area around your touchpad closely and look for this small on/off switch. Press this button once to turn the touchpad off; press it again to turn it back on. Not all models will have this button.
Internet Touchpad Button
If your HP laptop doesn't have an obvious button, it could be hidden inside the touchpad itself. To turn off the touchpad, touch and hold your finger on the top-left corner of your HP touchpad for five seconds. The touchpad will turn off and a small light will illuminate, so you know it is indeed off. Touch and hold the top-left corner again for five seconds to turn the touchpad back on, which extinguishes the light.
Device Properties
Like most hardware, you can disable the touchpad through Windows' device properties. Effectively, you are disabling the drivers, which allow the hardware to interact with the operating system. The device properties are available through the "Control Panel." To turn the touchpad off, click "Start" and then "Control Panel." Double-click the "Mouse" settings. Click the "Device Settings" tab, and click "Disable" to disable the touchpad. You can select "Enable" to use it again.
Uninstall the Drivers
To disable the touchpad permanently, you can uninstall the drivers for it through "Device Manager." Like other software, when you uninstall drivers, it ceases to function. Since the drivers allow the touchpad to interact with the operating system, the touchpad will be disabled completely once the drivers are uninstalled. Click "Start," type "Device Manager" (without quotes) in the search bar and press "Enter." Click the arrow next to "Mice and other pointing devices." Right-click on the touchpad listing and click "Uninstall."
References
Writer Bio
C. Taylor embarked on a professional writing career in 2009 and frequently writes about technology, science, business, finance, martial arts and the great outdoors. He writes for both online and offline publications, including the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Samsung, Radio Shack, Motley Fool, Chron, Synonym and more. He received a Master of Science degree in wildlife biology from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences at College of Charleston. He also holds minors in statistics, physics and visual arts.