touch 'n launch annoying pest

[Guest]

Hi, Somehow I have enabled a most annoying feature on my toshiba laptop
running XP. When I'm using the touch-pad, usually both of my thumbs are in
the general vicinity. Without intending ANYTHING, at any second an
apparition manifests in the center of my screen, on top of whatever I am
doing--it seems to be a touch-pad based short-cut apparatus that offers all
kinds of launch options. The only problem is, I am not at all interested, at
that moment, in launching ANYTHING. I am simply trying to work on whatever
is already on my screen. In order to "dismiss" this over-zealous servant, I
have to slide my thumb along my touchpad until the bizarro "action highlight
spot" is over the X in the red STOP circle, click it, and a second or so
later, the whole unit vanishes--only to reappear, often within seconds, as
soon as I activate my touch pad again (perhaps with a left thumb straying
onto the stage) to work on whatever's on my screen. What have I done to
create this "golem" and how do I dis-able it?

 

[Malke]

Hi, Somehow I have enabled a most annoying feature on my toshiba
laptop
running XP. When I'm using the touch-pad, usually both of my thumbs
are in
the general vicinity. Without intending ANYTHING, at any second an
apparition manifests in the center of my screen, on top of whatever I
am doing--it seems to be a touch-pad based short-cut apparatus that
offers all
kinds of launch options. The only problem is, I am not at all
interested, at
that moment, in launching ANYTHING. I am simply trying to work on
whatever
is already on my screen. In order to "dismiss" this over-zealous
servant, I have to slide my thumb along my touchpad until the bizarro
"action highlight spot" is over the X in the red STOP circle, click
it, and a second or so later, the whole unit vanishes--only to
reappear, often within seconds, as soon as I activate my touch pad
again (perhaps with a left thumb straying
onto the stage) to work on whatever's on my screen. What have I done
to create this "golem" and how do I dis-able it?

It's a Toshiba utility amazingly called "Touch and Launch". ;-) You will
have an icon for this in your Notification Area (far right-hand side at
the bottom of your screen). Try right-clicking the icon for its options
or see if there are any preferences where you can disable it.

If you can't find a way there, you can probably uninstall it from
Add/Remove Programs. Or use the System Configuration Utility to stop it
from running at startup.

Start>Run>msconfig [enter]

This brings up the System Configuration Utility. Look on the Startup tab
and find the probable culprit. Uncheck the box next to its name, Apply
and OK out. You don't need to restart immediately, but the next time
you do you'll get a dialog saying you've used the Utility. Just tick
the box that says in effect, "don't bother me about this again".

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

Malke