Simple Tweaks to Fix a Touchy Touchpad

I actually sat down to write on another tip for this post when a few accidental bumps of my touchpad changed my mind about today’s topic. There’s nothing more annoying than a temperamental touchpad.  Accidentally tapping your touchpad while typing can scatter your thoughts all over the word doc or comment box you’re working in – leaving you with the ominous task of putting all the pieces back together as you had originally intended.
So in today’s quick tip, I’ve compiled a simple change to your touchpad’s settings that can go a long way in making your life a lot less frustrating – and your touchpad a lot less touchy.
UPDATE 1: (Step-by-step instructions for VAIO models using the Synaptics Touchpad Driver)

1. In Windows 7 click Start then Control Panel
2. Within the Control Panel click Hardware and Sound
3. In the window that appears, under the “Devices and Printers” catagory, select Mouse
4. In the setting window that appears, click the Device Settings tab
5. From the Device Settings tab, click the Settings button that appears halfway down
6. In the new window that appears, examine the index of settings that appears in the left panel and expand the option labeled Pointing
7. Click Touch Sensitivity (A)
8. Reduce the touch sensitivity setting by moving the slide to the right, towards the Heavy Touch label.
   • Experiment with different levels of sensitivity until you find one suited for to your needs and how you type
9. You can also reduce touch sensitivity by adjusting the Palm Check (A) setting towards Maximum (B)
   • This feature guards against operating the touch pad with your palm, as you might do while typing
   • This option will increase or decrease this feature’s ability to detect when you palm is touching the touch pad (vs. your finger)

*If the Device Settings tab is missing from your mouse settings window, you’ll need to re-install the touch pad driver from eSupport here.
Have a better tip?  Be sure to share yours in the comment section below.
UPDATE 2: After reading many of your comments, I realized I forgot to include step-by-step instructions for the alternate touchpad driver used on many other VAIO models.  You can find instructions below.  I hope this helps!  Please be sure to leave any additional feedback or follow up questions below.
(Step-by-step instructions for VAIO models using the Alps Pointing Device Driver)

1. In Windows 7 click Start then Control Panel
2. Within the Control Panel click Hardware and Sound
3. In the window that appears, under the “Devices and Printers” catagory, select Mouse
4. In the setting window that appears, click the Tapping tab
5. From the Tapping tab, select Tap off when typing (A) and move the Delay after last key is hit sliderall the way to the right towards Long (B)
   • Note: if you prefer, you could also turn off the tapping feature of the touchpad; relegating the “click” function of the touchpad to just the left and right buttons hardware buttons found directly below the touchpad.
   • To do this, simply “deselect” the Tapping option (C) found at the top left-hand corner of the Tapping Tab then click Apply
6. You can also reduce touch sensitivity by enabling the Palm Detection feature (similar to the Palm Check setting describe above)
   • This feature guards against operating the touch pad with your palm, as you might do while typing
   • To toggle on or off, navigate to the Palm and Typing tab within the same Mouse Properties window
   • Select or deselect the Enable palm rejection setting (A)
7. You can also experiment with Invalidating Multi-touch Gestures While Typing and Invalidating Mouse Cursor Movement While Typing settings (B).
   • These settings can be found within the same tab outlined in Line 6