Touchpad does not respond when I am holding key on the keyboard

Question

I am experiencing strange problem with using my touchpad and keyboard simultaneously under Windows 7.

I have HP tx2550ew (convertible tablet), and when I hold some key under Windows 7 (eg. space, a, s etc.), the touchpad seems to be blocking.

I spotted this while playing Counter Strike. I am not playing much games, and I haven't been playing CS since January, so I am not sure when it started behaving like that. I have tested it also outside the game - when I hold space (eg. when on some web page and entering text into input field) or some letter key, the cursor is not able to move.

The problem seems to not be occuring when I hold Shift, Ctrl nor Alt.

Did any of you experience similar problem? Do you know what may have caused this? Is there any way I could check what is wrong with my laptop?

I have been looking for a solution, but it seems I haven't been looking in right places. This is why I ask question here.

Ps. I am unable to test whether this is touchpad-specific, because I have no mouse at my disposal at the moment (got used to touchpad so much I even find it more efficient and haven't been using a mouse with my laptop for months).

Solution 1

Notice that the Space, a, and b keys repeat. Holding the a key will send many a characters as input. Shift, Ctrl, and Alt do not repeat. The system detects them as being pressed and released.

It sounds like your system is setup to turn off the touchpad while typing. It considers pressing the a key as typing. It may consider holding the Ctrl key as an option for the touchpad, e.g. hold Ctrl+touchpad click.

Consider going to your touchpad configuration. Looking for an option where the touchpad turns off while typing. I haven't worked with your specific model, or an HP, but my ThinkPads have had the option.

Solution 2

Found the answer on a different site.

Start -> Mouse (search) -> Device Settings -> Settings (select Synaptics LuxPad) -> Palmcheck-enhanced ACM -> Palmcheck -> Adjust the slider to Off. This works perfectly on all HP ProBook models.

Solution 3

I had the same problem when playing Team Fortress 2. I went to Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Mouse → Touchpad, then to touchpad settings. There was no PalmCheck option, but there was one called TouchCheck. I just turned that off and I can play TF2 now.

Solution 4

I have experienced the same problem. If the touchpad you are using is elantech, this works. In run dialog type regedit.

Go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Elantech ->Other settings.

Check for Options

DisableWhenType_Enable and set the value to 1.

This works for maximum cases and if doesn't check DisableWhenType_AllArea and set its value to 1.

Solution 5

As @AgelessEssence said: Go to Mouse properties>Device Settings>Settings>Smartsense and turn it off like the image below.

Worked on Windows 10 Pro with Synaptics driver. (In my case, I have a Toshiba Satellite S45).

View more solutions

Comments

[Koopai_us]

Actually, setting its value to zero (0) makes you able to use the point simultaneously with the keys

[Andreas Reiff]

Also, check out en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/… for dell 15 notebooks using Elantech toupads.

[AgelessEssence]

i have a brand new Dell XPS L521X, i noticed the problem playing Starcraft 2 using Touchpad and A Key simultaneously, disabling SmartSense on Synaptic Touchpad settings there fix the problem. pD :: someone can report this kind of bug to synaptic ppl??

[AgelessEssence]

additionaly, i recommend uninstall dell synaptic specific driver and install oficial driver from synaptics.com, it bring much more possibilites

[RMMoxham]

Actually, I found this value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Elantech > SmartPad

[Davy M]

This solution also works with the "Synaptics pointing device" on Windows 10; the slider is titled "Palm Check Threshold" and instead of off, sliding it to the lowest of "Low" has the same result.

[ADTC]

I encountered this problem in graphics editing (Paint.NET, Photoshop, Photopea.com) where holding space bar and dragging should pan around the image but it doesn't. I have a newer version of this driver which has two additional settings "Tapping disabled time after keystroke" and "Pointing disabled time after keystroke". Tried both left extremes and right extremes on both settings. Unfortunately nothing worked. For "Pointing", if I place it on left extreme, the cursor moves for a second before it locks up but it doesn't grab or pan the image.