No scrolly makes beth mad!

August 1, 2005 3:05 PM

Help me leave Internet Explorer behind. I want to use Opera or Firefox, but my touchpad scrolling function doesn't work in either of them. Am I doomed to stick with IE if I want to be able to scroll easily? Please tell me "no".

I have turned up many reports of this problem on Google, but little in the way of solutions. One solution I did try involved editing an .ini file for my touchpad, and doing so not only didn't fix the problem, but it broke my scrolling ability in IE, too! Thankfully I got it back when I reversed my changes.

Fwiw, I have a Compaq notebook with a Synaptics touchpad, and it's only a few months old.

posted by beth to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Touchpad scrolling should work; I'm on a Satellite, but I'm pretty sure the touchpad is a Synaptics. Most of 'em seem to be.

I can scroll Opera using the right-side-edge trick, just as with most other apps. Or I can get autoscroll by clicking left+right simultaneously. Opera's autoscroll is particularly nice, as it's variable-rate dependent on mouse position versus screen centre.

Mostly I use the side-scroll; it's always there and works nicely.

(OTOH, I just checked my Control Panel > Mouse settings, and it claims to be ALPS software. Odd, that. I distinctly remember once hunting up Synaptics software for it...)
posted by five fresh fish at 3:17 PM on August 1, 2005

Response by poster: Hey waitasecond. All of a sudden it is working in Opera. Wtf?! I am bewildered.

Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Sorry everyone, I feel like an idiot. I dunno what the hell happened, but I am happy now and I can ditch IE. :)
posted by beth at 3:22 PM on August 1, 2005

I just got a new laptop with a Synaptics touchpad. Out of the box, scrolling didn't work with Firefox.

Went to the Synaptics site, got the latest driver. BAM! Functionality in Firefox. Have not tested in Opera, but whatever.

(I'm on a Gateway.)
posted by cortex at 10:16 PM on August 1, 2005

Touchpad driver issue. MS changed some setting that required Synaptics to change some configuration that broke scrolling in all the non-Microsoft apps. If they've fixed it, cool. If not, the older drivers will enable the functionality again.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:46 AM on August 2, 2005

Your problem is definitely a driver problem, and the rest of the posts in this thread seem to have answered your question.

My suggestion: Get a mouse!

Touchpads are great for when you are lounging on the porch or the sofa and doing some casual browsing, but I don't know how anyone can do without a mouse while sitting at the desk.

There are some great mice out there, including small wireless notebookish ones that hold the receivers in themselves when not in use.
posted by Third at 8:41 AM on August 2, 2005

I'm so used to my touchpad that I'm not sure I'll ever go back to a mouse. For starters, I don't have to remove my hands from the keyboard to move the cursor. That's sweet.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:05 AM on August 2, 2005