Vista - How to disable automatic ('pre-emptive'?) mouse clicking?

Hi,

I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)

One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts as
if you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon
relates to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.

My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.

This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to
and she is getting very confused and frustrated.

Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be switched
off please?

Thanks in advance,
Robin
Cheshire, UK

Hi Robin,

It's difficult to be precise in this case, but if you go to
the START > Help and Support (on the left) and you'll
get Windows Help and Support. Then write in the box
provided - Mouse Control - and you'll get there all links
you need Change mouse settings
or Make the mouse easier to use
and so on...

I hope this hepls.

Jdr



"Robin McInnes" <billyzonex-gt9393@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:%23PsfcAWuHHA.5036@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
> computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
> voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)
>
> One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
> over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts as
> if you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon
> relates to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.
>
> My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
> used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
> consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
> moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.
>
> This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
> absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to
> and she is getting very confused and frustrated.
>
> Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be switched
> off please?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Robin
> Cheshire, UK

Jdr wrote:
> Hi Robin,
>
> It's difficult to be precise in this case, but if you go to
> the *START >* *Help and Support* (on the left) and you'll
> get *Windows Help and Support. *Then write in the box
> provided - *Mouse Control* - and you'll get there all links
> you need _Change mouse settings _
> or _Make the mouse easier to use_
> and so on...
>
> I hope this hepls.
>
> Jdr

Thanks. I'll give that a go.

Regards,
Robin

"Robin McInnes" <billyzonex-gt9393@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:#PsfcAWuHHA.5036@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
> computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
> voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)
>
> One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
> over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts as if
> you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon relates
> to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.
>
> My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
> used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
> consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
> moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.
>
> This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
> absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to and
> she is getting very confused and frustrated.
>
> Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be switched
> off please?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Robin
> Cheshire, UK

after looking at the help the other poster said, have in mind that
there so auto-click only auto-select in the options

Carbomite wrote:

>
> after looking at the help the other poster said, have in mind that
> there so auto-click only auto-select in the options

Erm... I can't seem to make out what you're saying here. Can you explain
more clearly please? Thanks.

It could be that the touchpad is overly sensitive, as well.
That happens a lot with laptop and oftes is responsible for the kind of
problem you describe. Maybe there's a way to notch down the sensitivity of
the touchpad.


"Robin McInnes" <billyzonex-gt9393@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:%23PsfcAWuHHA.5036@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
> computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
> voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)
>
> One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
> over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts as if
> you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon relates
> to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.
>
> My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
> used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
> consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
> moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.
>
> This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
> absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to and
> she is getting very confused and frustrated.
>
> Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be switched
> off please?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Robin
> Cheshire, UK

Carbomite wrote:
>
>
> "Robin McInnes" <billyzonex-gt9393@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:#PsfcAWuHHA.5036@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
>> computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
>> voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)
>>
>> One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
>> over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts
>> as if you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon
>> relates to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.
>>
>> My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
>> used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
>> consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
>> moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.
>>
>> This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
>> absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to
>> and she is getting very confused and frustrated.
>>
>> Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be
>> switched off please?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Robin
>> Cheshire, UK
>
> after looking at the help the other poster said, have in mind that
> there so auto-click only auto-select in the options

If she's using the touch pad and the "auto-select" feature
highlights the program and it launches she may be hitting the
touch pad to hard. Tapping the touch pad acts as a mouse click.
I think there is a way to change the sensitivity of the touch pad.

gls858

I don't believe Vista has the "feature" you describe, at least I'm not aware
of it. It seems more logical, especially given the comment about using the
touch pad, that most touchpads are set to recognize taps directly to the pad
itself (i.e tapping the pad does the same as a left click) this can be
confusing at first, especially if your elderly neighbor is somewhat shaky or
timid in using the pad. her finger could simply be "bouncing" along the pad
and the laptop is interpreting it as clicks.

The laptop will have some sort of utility to control the touchpad, find it
(probably running in your taskbar) and disable the setting to "click via the
touchpad"


"Robin McInnes" <billyzonex-gt9393@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:%23PsfcAWuHHA.5036@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to teach an elderly neighbour how to use her very first
> computer, and it came with Vista pre-loaded -so it is something of a
> voyage of discovery for both of us. (I use XP myself.)
>
> One 'feature' I've noticed in Vista is that if one places one's cursor
> over an icon, the system seems to pre-empt what you want to do, acts as if
> you have already clicked the icon and launches whatever the icon relates
> to. I'm not sure what this feature is really called.
>
> My neighbour's mouse skills are currently extremely poor, (she's never
> used one before, and actually finds the touch-pad easier to use), and
> consequently her cursor often lands in the wrong place and doesn't get
> moved quickly enough to stop this 'feature' activating.
>
> This is making the task of teaching her how to use her new machine an
> absolute nightmare, because it is doing things she has not asked it to and
> she is getting very confused and frustrated.
>
> Can someone advise on exactly how this feature in Vista can be switched
> off please?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Robin
> Cheshire, UK

KDE wrote:
> I don't believe Vista has the "feature" you describe, at least I'm not aware
> of it. It seems more logical, especially given the comment about using the
> touch pad, that most touchpads are set to recognize taps directly to the pad
> itself (i.e tapping the pad does the same as a left click) this can be
> confusing at first, especially if your elderly neighbor is somewhat shaky or
> timid in using the pad. her finger could simply be "bouncing" along the pad
> and the laptop is interpreting it as clicks.
>
> The laptop will have some sort of utility to control the touchpad, find it
> (probably running in your taskbar) and disable the setting to "click via the
> touchpad"
>

Yes, thanks to you all for the advice regarding 'tap to click' on the
touch pad. I hadn't thought of that; I will make sure tap to click is
disabled, and then see if it still does what it was doing last night.

Although, as I recall from last night, things weren't selected
immediately we touched (or tapped) the touch pad. It seemed to happen
after the cursor had been hovering over something for a couple of
seconds. This time delay in itself added to the confusion...

Regards,
Robin

Robin!