Member Avatar for mkwing

Hi -- Brand-new member, so please excuse anything newbie-ish...!

I'm trying to milk the last bit out of a Dell Latitude PPX laptop. Recently, the "joystick" (mouse substitute, in the middle of the keyboard -- a little nub, meant to be moved with the index finger) has been stuck.

The cursor goes all the way to the top, or the bottom, or the right -- and stays there. I can send it back down with the joystick, but it travels right back. The problem was intermittent, but now is full-time. And it will change -- going from top to bottom, or whatever.

I've tried to figure out how to simply disable it, but I can't find the site on Control Panel/System/Device Manager. Is there some other way to overcome the problem? Disable it? Break it?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jimbojone

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Brief summary and practical steps to add to the thread: the little nub is the laptop "pointing stick" (aka pointing stick / TrackPoint / AccuPoint). Because Windows 2000 on old Dells often does not expose the built-in pointing devices without vendor drivers, the problem can be either a hardware fault (sticky/shorting stick or keyboard connector) or simply missing/incorrect input drivers.

First, an easy non-invasive check: enter the Dell BIOS/Setup (watch the POST message—most Dells use F2) and look for an option named "Internal Pointing Device", "Pointing Device" or similar. If present, set it to Disabled so the stick is ignored and the USB mouse becomes the only pointer. That avoids having to touch Windows settings.

If you want to try a hardware clean before deeper work: power off, remove AC and battery, pull the rubber cap straight up, and blow compressed air around the stem while moving it in all directions. Lightly dab (not soak) a cotton swab with 70%+ isopropyl alcohol to remove grime; let everything dry before powering up. This often cures drift caused by dirt or spillage.

To confirm hardware vs driver: boot a Linux live USB/CD. If the cursor still drifts in the live environment it is hardware. If it is fine, download the exact Dell input/touchpad/pointing-stick drivers for your Latitude PPX (vendor drivers like Alps/Synaptics/PS/2) and install them in Windows 2000. If cleaning and reseating the keyboard connector (after removing power and battery) do not help, the common long-term fix is replacement of the keyboard/pointing-stick assembly — a cheap used keyboard usually resolves persistent drift.

Note: , since Windows 2000 didn't list the devices, start with BIOS disable and the live-USB test; 's driver angle still applies when the device becomes visible after installing the vendor drivers.

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Member Avatar for jimbojone

goto the control panel. double click system. click the hardware tab, then the device manager button. click the plus by mouse and other pointing devices(something like that) remove and re-install. if the problem persists, try updating the problem. if its a hardware issue, select repeat the above steps, except , right click the mouse, goto properties. at the bottom of this new windows, where is says device status, change it to disable.

Member Avatar for mkwing

Thanks for the advice. We will try it. That's similar to what we were doing before, but it might work if we try a full uninstall.

Member Avatar for mkwing

We tried the fix. Unfortunately, we're running Windows 2000 Professional, and it doesn't recognize the touch pad or the joystick -- just the driver for the external mouse. I tried uninstalling the latter, and it made no difference.

Is thgere some way to get in to disable just those two devics (joystick and touch pad)? I'd be happy to use the USB mouse as my only controller.

Member Avatar for jimbojone

its def. listed in device manager somewhere, or else it would be working at all :P

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