Managing mouse behavior

[Shankar Bhattacharyya]

This is probably a stupid question with an obvious answer. I will not
object to answers which begin with "Listen, moron."

I have an HP Pavilion dv6110us laptop with a Synaptics touchpad V 6.3.
The computer runs XP Media Center Edition, Version 5.1.

The default behavior of the "mouse" pointer seems to be to select and
open if I hover over a dialog box or link for more than a little
while. How do I disable this? I don't want the computer to go off and
do stuff just because I have the cursor pointed at something. Further,
I have the pointer set to go to the default position when a dialog box
is opened and I certainly don't want all dialog boxes to go off and do
the default. What's the point of a dialog box in that case? While I
could obviously choose not to send the pointer to the default
response, that seems unnecessarily global as a solution.

I did handle this behavior on W 98 years ago but I don't seem to be
able to find it on this XP Media Center Edition installation.

My preference would be for the link/icon,shortcut/filename in Windows
Explorer to be:
1. Highlight if the pointer hovers over it or passes over it
2. Select programs, files and shortcuts with a single click, open with
a double click
3. Open web links with a single click

This was noted with Service Pack 2. I have just let Windows Update put
SP3 on the computer. While I have not checked, I don't think that will
change the bahavior.

I also have a Dell Dimension 7300 desktop running XP Pro, SP2, on
which the pointer behaves the way I want it to. However, I think it
came with those defaults and I do not remember actually making those
choices myself.

I would appreciate any advice.

- Shankar

 

[sandy58]

This is probably a stupid question with an obvious answer. I will not
object to answers which begin with "Listen, moron."

I have an HP Pavilion dv6110us laptop with a Synaptics touchpad V 6.3.
The computer runs XP Media Center Edition, Version 5.1.

The default behavior of the "mouse" pointer seems to be to select and
open if I hover over a dialog box or link for more than a little
while. How do I disable this? I don't want the computer to go off and
do stuff just because I have the cursor pointed at something. Further,
I have the pointer set to go to the default position when a dialog box
is opened and I certainly don't want all dialog boxes to go off and do
the default. What's the point of a dialog box in that case? While I
could obviously choose not to send the pointer to the default
response, that seems unnecessarily global as a solution.

I did handle this behavior on W 98 years ago but I don't seem to be
able to find it on this XP Media Center Edition installation.

My preference would be for the link/icon,shortcut/filename in Windows
Explorer to be:
1. Highlight if the pointer hovers over it or passes over it
2. Select programs, files and shortcuts with a single click, open with
a double click
3. Open web links with a single click

This was noted with Service Pack 2. I have just let Windows Update put
SP3 on the computer. While I have not checked, I don't think that will
change the bahavior.

I also have a Dell Dimension 7300 desktop running XP Pro, SP2, on
which the pointer behaves the way I want it to. However, I think it
came with those defaults and I do not remember actually making those
choices myself.

I would appreciate any advice.

- Shankar

Start>Control Panel>Mouse>Hardware tab>Troubleshoot>Type in "search"
box 'hover'
& "use hovering mode" tips will appear.
Good luck, Shankar

 

[Bob Lucas]

This is probably a stupid question with an obvious answer. I will not
object to answers which begin with "Listen, moron."

I have an HP Pavilion dv6110us laptop with a Synaptics touchpad V 6.3.
The computer runs XP Media Center Edition, Version 5.1.

The default behavior of the "mouse" pointer seems to be to select and
open if I hover over a dialog box or link for more than a little
while. How do I disable this? I don't want the computer to go off and
do stuff just because I have the cursor pointed at something. Further,
I have the pointer set to go to the default position when a dialog box
is opened and I certainly don't want all dialog boxes to go off and do
the default. What's the point of a dialog box in that case? While I
could obviously choose not to send the pointer to the default
response, that seems unnecessarily global as a solution.

I did handle this behavior on W 98 years ago but I don't seem to be
able to find it on this XP Media Center Edition installation.

My preference would be for the link/icon,shortcut/filename in Windows
Explorer to be:
1. Highlight if the pointer hovers over it or passes over it
2. Select programs, files and shortcuts with a single click, open with
a double click
3. Open web links with a single click

This was noted with Service Pack 2. I have just let Windows Update put
SP3 on the computer. While I have not checked, I don't think that will
change the bahavior.

I also have a Dell Dimension 7300 desktop running XP Pro, SP2, on
which the pointer behaves the way I want it to. However, I think it
came with those defaults and I do not remember actually making those
choices myself.

I would appreciate any advice.

- Shankar

When you position the pointer over a dialog box or icon, the pointing
device should select the option - NOT select and open.

I experienced similar problems with the touchpad on my HP nx6310 laptop.
I discovered that the Synaptics Pointing Device touchpad is far too
sensitive, so unless you are very careful, it tends to confuse the
slightest finger movement with a "click" or select command.

Eventually, I resolved the problem by disabling the "tap to click"
function.

If you have a touchpad icon on the taskbar (bottom right of the screen,
by the clock), right click on the icon and select "Pointing Device
Properties", to open the configuration menu. (Incidentally, there are
two alternative touchpad icons - one is a white swirl on a red
background; the other resembles the touchpad.) If the touchpad icon is
missing, you can open the "Pointing Device Properties" menu via Start |
Control Panel | Mouse.

In the resulting menu, click on "Device Settings", followed by
"Settings". There are too many variations to list here, but you should
be able to tune the touchpad to meet your requirements.

So much is down to personal preference. I feel more comfortable with a
conventional mouse, so I have disabled the "Tapping" and "Virtual
Scrolling" functions on the touchpad. I have also turned off "Click
Lock" on the Buttons page.

Consequently, my touchpad operates in much the same way as a two-button
mouse.