Jumpy touchpad Jumpy cursor

Hello to all that maybe able to help. I have a DELL INSPIRON | 640m. my touchpad is driving me up the wall. i cant do anything with the cursor. the minute i put a finger on the touchpad it goes nuts. if i hold my finger in one spot the cursor keeps going all over the place. my temporary soultion to this problem for now is to abandon the touchpad and plug in a mouse in the usb. i have washed and wiped my touchpad. anyone have a clue to why this may be happening? i looked at the mouse settings and they look fine(all default).. im fearing the worst but its possible it may be a virus or anything like that. ( this is very possible because i have basically no antivirus or any protection towards anything harmful) dunno if it is hardware or software causing this problem. hope i gave enough info for an idea of what could be wrong. ill be very grateful for any help! thanks in advance! i just tried the touchpad and now it works fine. but i know theres a problem because it always acts up. this problem comes like every 3 months and dissappears!! its a headscratcher!

Hi Waynedeer,

im fearing the worst but its possible it may be a virus or anything like that. ( this is very possible because i have basically no antivirus or any protection towards anything harmful)

After the extensive help you have received from LDTate and Rorschach112 very recently I can hardly believe you have no antivirus running on your computer. Since 17th November 2007 you have posted four diifferent logs in the HJT forum.

I suggest you go here and carry out what LDTate has set out to be done before posting yet another HJT log.

kind regards,

hello tallin. when i post for help i ask help from different computers. i have asked help for my two desktops, laptop (which im asking for help now), and most recently is for my girlfriends computer, the one with the looping startup screen. I dont want all the admins to think im just whining and stuff, or just posting random new posts.. ive also donated quite some money to the site, and i think the service you guys provide is awesome. this problem comes and goes and was just interested in an answer to whomever may help. if not no big deal.. im going to post a topic soon about the looping windows screen again, because it came back! so i hope that is alright.. and i do follow all the steps posted by you guys im running an expired version of norton, with no updats, so thats why im concerned. good day. =]

Hello Waynedeer,

I understand now that you are asking for help with different systems, but surely when you first posted a HJT log, when the accredited Malware fighter cleared you good to go, and gave you the Preventive Maintenance Speech at the end of the thread you knew what to do to prevent further infections on other computers that you have since posted logs for assistance.

ive also donated quite some money to the site, and i think the service you guys provide is awesome.

WTT thanks you for the donations you mention, but at the same time does expect you to have a workable maintenance program to protect your computers from infection.

and i do follow all the steps posted by you guys im running an expired version of norton, with no updats, so thats why im concerned.

I therefore suggest you follow the link I provided in my first post and get an up to date Antivirus program to protect your computers.

So how did I get infected in the first place

kind regards,

Hello there Waynedeer!

It's not the sensitivity settings of your touchpad i would think, but it's worth checking with regard to that intermittent erratic touchpad issue.
In the Mouse settings in the Control Panel, you can modify the touch sensitivity. You can also adjust the Tap to click settings (Synaptics® touchpad) or Tap off when typing (Alps® touchpad). This very often resolves erratic pointer movement. Go to the mouse settings through control panel then try modifying the sensitivty. and also don't forget to the adjust the "Tap to click" settings(assuming it's synaptics) or "Tap off"(for Alps software). this might help as well with erratic pointer movements.

Moreover there has been erratic touchpad reported on some inspiron laptops. known cause of the problem? a two prong ac adapter. not enough ac power causing the erratic movement? anyway, mind checking if the part number of your ac adpater is one of these: and GX808 or YT886? these are the two known parts numbers of the said 2 prong adapters. teh serial number would give your the part number. it's the 4th - 5th characters of the serial number, usually after 0.

Anyway, when it occurs again try and test if the ac adpater is really the culprit. if not then try the following steps. im not sure if it's high likely to be a virus issue. but anyway yeah try again these steps. PLEASE READ MY DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM before your proceed. .

1. reset BIOS(system setup) to default.
keep tapping F8 on your keyboard when you turn on your computer to access system setup. once in the system setup window, press and hold Alt and F keys to load bios to defaults or alternately you can go to the maintenance menu and there's a Load Defaults option there. dont forget to save teh settings by the way. press ESC on your keyboard and choose Save/Exit.

2. Reinstall the input device software.
access add/remove program(should be running XP unless you installed vista yourself) and remove Synaptics software. could be any of the follwing(depending on what software is install in your computer but i bet it's synaptics):

Microsoft IntelliPoint software
Logitech software
DellTouch software
Synaptics software
Alps software
SetPoint software

After uninstalling it, proceed to reinstalling the touchpad. go to this site and download the touchpad driver under Input Device Drivers.inpsiron 640M driver downloads

3. You may want to update the follwing drivers as well:

I. notebook system software- under system utilities
II. chipset drivers(mobile chipset and the ricoh drivers) - under chipset
and finally the
III. BIOS verson A10 - under Bios (pun intended! )

note: just install I and II first then restart your computer. then update(flash) the BIOS last.your computer will restart after you flashed BIOS(you need to plug in the AC adpater and battery to do this).

Hope that resolves your intermittent erratic hands, errr touchpad i mean.hehehe

If still it occurs?

4. Then you can remove the internal keyboard. removing internal keyboard(dell site). note: just don't force it if you're not comfortable doing it. might broke it or something. unless a dell tech is helping you over the phone.
If it's still erratic, without the keyboard then it's not the ac, software/driver or the keyboard that's failing. The PALMREST of your laptop needs to be replaced. and it's when you need to contact Dell.

Best of Luck
~silverphoenix~

Disclaimer: the steps above are based on my experience helping other people with the same issue and are known not to cause further problems on computer except the last (removing internal keyboard) one if it broke or any problems caused when removing it inappropriately. but nevertheless, please be warned that it might cause further issues if not done the right way.