Trackpad in windows is acting weird

Hey guys, just installed win xp pro on another partition of my hdd. Sometimes, the mouse doesnt respond to teh trackpad. like sometimes it will only move horizontally or vertically. In tiger, the mouse acts perfectly, so im assuming theres an incompatability with the trackpad and windows, so maybe i need an updated driver for it?

Did you install the drivers made for Windows? The ones that you are told to install by bootcamp. I know that there is some problems when you do not install these drivers.

Moved to correct forum.

All Windows questions belong in the Windows forums as the sticky at the top of every forum states.

I've experienced the same problem. Furthermore, after having a "real" mouse plugged into my MBP for a while while running WinXP through Boot Camp, my WinXP installation will no longer recognize tapping on the trackpad for either left- or right-button clicks.

i just installed xp on my macbook yesterday and my trackpad haven't been able to tap my trackpad at all. Did you figure out a way to fix it?

You can't.

What I determined is that it was my memory (the one in my brain, not the stuff in my MBP) that was faulty.

You need to use the trackpad button to left-click. To right-click, put two fingers on the trackpad and press the trackpad button.

2eXtreme said:

Hey guys, just installed win xp pro on another partition of my hdd. Sometimes, the mouse doesnt respond to teh trackpad. like sometimes it will only move horizontally or vertically. In tiger, the mouse acts perfectly, so im assuming theres an incompatability with the trackpad and windows, so maybe i need an updated driver for it?

Click to expand...

I was wondering if there's been any solution to this issue, mine does the same thing, occasionally it'll go completely spastic & then quit functioning altogether. If I plug in the USB mouse from my iMac, I can use it but the track pad will still not function......MacBook keyboard functions seem unaffected. As far as I can tell, I have all the correct drivers installed, firmware updates, etc. Any ideas??

Same problem here: occasionally the trackpad moves very spastic or not at all. Sometimes only horizontal or only vertical movements. Latest bootcamp drivers are installed.
Also, it occasionally happens with the usb-mouse.

It works OK under OSX, so it doesn't seem to be a hardware issue.

Exactly the same problem here...

Trackpad fine in OSX, and Microsoft USB Trackball unit works perfectly in both... the only problematic functionality I've got that has disappointed me IMMENSELY with my MacBook Pro, which I've had a week.

I'm a Mac lover by background, and do two jobs - Graphic Design and IT support (freelance). For the design I need a Mac. For the IT support I need a Windows machine, and instead of spending £800 (UK) for a decent Windows laptop, I decided to treat myself to a MacBookPro and double up a Mac upgrade (1st in 5 years or so) with a PC laptop all in one machine.

Brilliant concept and brilliant machine, but this problem makes this utterly unworkable as a solution. I can't just afford to sit around and wait for my trackpad to become usable again for a few minutes before it has another episode...

It's almost like it starts to fail in some kind of redundancy cycle, I almost wondered if it was some kind of issue with WIFI periodic refreshes, because the comms seem to also slow down signalling transfer rate at the same time, while functions like browser scrolling using arrow keys, and typing input do not seem to lag out at all...

I've only had it a week, but of course Boot Camp isn't supported software, so there's no guarantees with it. I just wish they'd come out and fix it, but it looks like I need to take the laptop back to the store (chain store electrical giant) and say that it isn't fit for the purpose it was bought for (they were advertising dual boot functionality) and that I want (spit) a Windows only laptop.

Anyone else find a solution to this.

can't enable touchpad tapping when booting in XP Pro

Hi all -- Reading the thread with interest as I have just purchased my first Apple, a 2.16 Ghz Macbook Pro. Most of the time I'll be running XP on it. Problem is thus... I can't even figure out how to enable the tapping feature on the touchpad in XP. (When in OS X, enabling tapping wansn't a problem.)

So how do I enable the tapping feature in XP? (If I read correctly some of you have figured that part out) I much prefer double-tapping over double-clicking. Any help you could provide would be very much appreciated.

(For what it's worth my touchpad also exhibited spastic movements -- or just horizontal or vertical scrolling. )

Thanks --

I'd like to know if the issue of double tapping has been resolved by anyone yet as well. I hate using the button.

rotary said:

I'd like to know if the issue of double tapping has been resolved by anyone yet as well. I hate using the button.

Click to expand...

It isn't going to be resolved unless Apple changes it when BootCamp goes live in 10.5. The "touch pad with two fingers while pressing button" solution is the way it's designed to work in the beta.

ToddG said:

It isn't going to be resolved unless Apple changes it when BootCamp goes live in 10.5. The "touch pad with two fingers while pressing button" solution is the way it's designed to work in the beta.

Click to expand...

I don't mind touching with two fingers and hitting the button for right click, it's the double tapping with a single finger on the trackpad for left click instead of having to push the button that I want.

Understood. The driver, as it exists at the moment, doesn't allow any "clicking" by way of tapping the trackpad. The trackpad, for all intents and purposes, doesn't register taps.

Hey guys, just thought I'd update you all

With the spastic windows track pad movement, I sort of have a fix, but only for the symptom, not for the cause.

When it starts freaking out, run your finger right around the perimeter of the track pad. I think the spasms are because the track pad loses its bearings on itself for whatever reason, and by running your finger around the perimeter of the track pad, your marking out the bounds of the track pad. The track pad is able then to fix the rest of the track pad, because the co ordinates are interpolated from the perimeter. The track pad should then function correctly.

So that's it, a simple run around the edge of the track pad gets it back on track. Hope this helps.

2eXtreme said:

Hey guys, just thought I'd update you all

With the spastic windows track pad movement, I sort of have a fix, but only for the symptom, not for the cause.

When it starts freaking out, run your finger right around the perimeter of the track pad. I think the spasms are because the track pad loses its bearings on itself for whatever reason, and by running your finger around the perimeter of the track pad, your marking out the bounds of the track pad. The track pad is able then to fix the rest of the track pad, because the co ordinates are interpolated from the perimeter. The track pad should then function correctly.

So that's it, a simple run around the edge of the track pad gets it back on track. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

So basically you have to sort of .. caress .. the machine every once in a while.

Amen-Moses

The only problem im having is a slightly eratic pointer, I havent experienced any problems as mentioned above, maybe down to the driver updates??? Ive used a pucka copy of XP Home with SP2 as well

The problem started with me when I upgraded to Leopard. I think there may be an issue with the new driver for the trackpad and horizontal scrolling. Is there any way to disable the horizontal scrolling?