More than one mouse speed

October 14, 2005 1:14 PM

How to have more than one mouse speed under Windows XP?

My new laptop came with one of those eraser-like pointing thingies (ELPTs) in the middle of the keyboard. That's fine for casual use but when I put the machine on the desk and really use it, I plug in a USB mouse. The trouble is, the proper speed setting for the ELPT is really slow -- so slow it makes the mouse basically unusable. Is there any software (preferably free, of course) that lets different pointing devices use different speed settings? Or at least can change the speed when the USB mouse is plugged in (since I won't be using the ELPT then) and change it back when it's unplugged? I've Googled but naturally, "Windows XP mouse speed changer" mostly finds help on how to set the mouse tracking speed in the first place, which I already know.

posted by kindall to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: I had a Dell with built-in touchpad and ELPT. It came pre-installed with specialized mouse control panel software for the ELPT, which it saw as "pointing stick on PS/2 port."

When I bought a Logitech MX500 and installed the software, it asked me if I'd like to install it in such a way that preserved the ELPT software and settings, so I said yes. That worked fine, and my mouse config window saw both "pointing stick on PS/2" and "MX500 on USB." Both have their own config tabs and speed settings.
posted by rxrfrx at 1:34 PM on October 14, 2005

Response by poster: Hmmm. I think this mouse did come with some driver software. I had assumed that since it worked OK after just plugging it in (wheel and all) that I didn't need that, but maybe I do. Thanks, I'll dig around for it.
posted by kindall at 3:50 PM on October 14, 2005

Response by poster: No, it turns out that there's no driver for this mouse.

Suppose I'll need to get a Logitech instead...
posted by kindall at 12:18 AM on October 16, 2005