Anyone know the command to disable the touch pad? When using a mouse, I keep swiping the touch pad with my thumb. I would like to map a Tile to the start screen to turn the touchpad on and off. It's available in the settings charm, but you have to go through a lot of clicks to get to it.
Command for Disabling Touchpad?
- Thread starter kozak79
- Start date
There's one way, it may be more involved than you like. You can write a batch file to disable the device (or toggle the device). This requires devcon, google will be good in explaining this further. I did this with some of my tablets for disabling the touchscreen so I could toggle pen-only input. If you want additional help and no one knows of an easier method I can be more detailed about the process at a later time.
Here's something very simple to get you started. It is possible not all surface pro 3's will be set up the same (but my assumption is they are), so maybe someone can let me know if it works for them? Make sure the three files remain together in a folder. Open 'enable' to enable the touchpad and 'disable' to disable it. If it doesn't work, try right clicking on devcon.exe and click the compatibility tab and check 'run as administrator'.
Its not the prettiest solution but it may be easier for you then going into settings.
edit: I downloaded my own file and it looks like windows doesn't like it. Gave me a warning, so I understand if you dont want to try it (you can force it by clicking on 'more info'). After you run it once, the annoying popup wont occur again. All it is is microsoft's devcon program and simple batch files which can be opened in notepad.
Its not the prettiest solution but it may be easier for you then going into settings.
edit: I downloaded my own file and it looks like windows doesn't like it. Gave me a warning, so I understand if you dont want to try it (you can force it by clicking on 'more info'). After you run it once, the annoying popup wont occur again. All it is is microsoft's devcon program and simple batch files which can be opened in notepad.
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enable.bat is
devcon enable HID_DEVICE_UP:000D_U:0005
disable.bat is
devcon disable HID_DEVICE_UP:000D_U:0005
the text in red was my hardware ID for the touchpad, which can be found in device manager. I assumed it would be the same for all surface pro 3's but you can check for yourself. It will be dependent on the detection of the devices in windows on different machines, but again, might be the same on all SP3's.
devcon can be obtained by downloading the windows 8.1 dev kit (WDK). Its a hefty download which can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/hardware/gg454513
devcon enable HID_DEVICE_UP:000D_U:0005
disable.bat is
devcon disable HID_DEVICE_UP:000D_U:0005
the text in red was my hardware ID for the touchpad, which can be found in device manager. I assumed it would be the same for all surface pro 3's but you can check for yourself. It will be dependent on the detection of the devices in windows on different machines, but again, might be the same on all SP3's.
devcon can be obtained by downloading the windows 8.1 dev kit (WDK). Its a hefty download which can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/hardware/gg454513
Here is a TechNet article on devcon
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/en-us
Note: the version linked in the article does not work on Windows 8.1
Edited, removed link to the download.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/en-us
Note: the version linked in the article does not work on Windows 8.1
Edited, removed link to the download.
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For some energetic Powershell types an article on device management with Powershell... this has potential ...
http://blogs.technet.com/b/wincat/a...owershell-cmdlets-sample-an-introduction.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/wincat/a...owershell-cmdlets-sample-an-introduction.aspx
devcon has many versions, the one you linked cannot be run on windows 8.1 for some reason. it was the first one i tried. the version I found to work is 5.2.3790.1830
Disclaimer: I thought it might be useful to share these but I haven't tried them with Surface Pro
A couple third-party touchpad-management programs are available at no cost. For example, a tool such as TouchFreeze or Touchpad Pal can disable the touchpad whenever it detects that you're typing, and reenable the touchpad once you're done.
There's also Touchpad Blocker. You can grab it from the Touchpad Blocker website.
This freeware program blocks accidental taps and clicks while you type. The touchpad actually stays on but dynamically disables itself as it detects keystrokes. There are some settings to tweak and configure custom hotkey combinations to toggle the program on and off.
A couple third-party touchpad-management programs are available at no cost. For example, a tool such as TouchFreeze or Touchpad Pal can disable the touchpad whenever it detects that you're typing, and reenable the touchpad once you're done.
There's also Touchpad Blocker. You can grab it from the Touchpad Blocker website.
This freeware program blocks accidental taps and clicks while you type. The touchpad actually stays on but dynamically disables itself as it detects keystrokes. There are some settings to tweak and configure custom hotkey combinations to toggle the program on and off.
If you search on that version member you can find a download for just the exe without downloading the entire WDK.
null4end
Member
Probably old news now, but just in case you haven't seen it there is a setting included with this week's MS Update that does what you are looking for.
Open the settings Charm and go to PC and Devices -- Mouse and touchpad
Then just toggle "Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected" setting.
Open the settings Charm and go to PC and Devices -- Mouse and touchpad
Then just toggle "Leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected" setting.
I don't have that setting.
