It was a mystery because at first I didn’t realize that the erratic cursor movement is caused when your hand touches the touchpad while you are typing. It can get annoying pretty quickly when all of a sudden you find that you are typing the password in the username box all because the touchpad mistook the accidental contact as tap.

If you want to know how to disable the touchpad while typing, here are the steps:

On Windows

It is pretty straightforward to disable the touchpad in Windows. The settings can be generally accessed via the control panel. Open up Mouse Settings from the control panel, move over to the Device Settings tab and you can access touchpad settings in there.

Depending on the make and model of your laptop you will find options such as ‘disable touchpad when an external USB pointing device is connected‘ which is helpful if you use a USB mouse and want to disable the touchpad when a USB mouse is connected. You can also disable the touchpad entirely from here, or you can choose to disable only the buttons.

If enabling/disabling every time you are in for a bit of typing feels like too much work, you can look into the sensitivity settings for the touchpad and lower the sensitivity a bit. Although this doesn’t solve the problem in its entirety it helps to reduce it.

On Linux

Things get a bit more involved on the Linux side. You need to make sure that xorg.conf located at (/etc/X11/xorg.conf) contains the line: SHMConfig true under the input section.

• Fire up your preferred text editor and open up /etc/x11/xorg.conf. Look for a section like:
  

  Section “Input Device”
  Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
  …
  End Section

• This needs to contain the line Option “SHMConfig” “true”. Note that if you are using Jaunty Jackalope you would have to create a file /etc/hal/fdi/policy/shmconfig.fdi with contents as under

• If you added it to the file you need to restart the GUI. You can use Ctrl + Alt + Backspace. If that doesn’t work, just restart the system.
• Next open up the sessions manager. System > Preferences > Sessions and add an entry for syndaemon -i 1 -d. You can use man syndaemon to check out additional options like.

That should just about do it.  Syndaemon monitors the keyboard and as soon as you start typing it disables the tapping and scrolling action (according to the options you choose) on the touchpad. This means that you can still move the cursor, only you wouldn’t be able to accidentally tap it and thus wander off to another line.

I really like the Linux solution. You don’t have to do anything, it detects that you are typing and disables the tapping and scrolling while still letting you to move around the cursor and use the touchpad buttons to click. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a similar solution for Windows.

Maybe you are aware of one? Let us know in the comments how do you tackle the problem.

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Being a better computer user doesn’t require you to sign up for course at college or to read those huge books that geeks have on their desks. Truth is, we don’t read them either. We just refer to them every now and again when you stump us with a question.

Being a better computer user just takes a willingness to learn and to try. Here are a few computer tips for the beginner that should help you immediately.

1. Learn to Use Your Keyboard

Since PCs with a mouse attached were introduced, almost every user has become dependent on it. It seems like a good idea, but don’t you hate it when it dies, or gets clogged, or the right-click gets worn out? I know I do.

Learning how to type and use your keyboard shortcuts will help you to avoid the mouse. Remember, the keyboard was invented before the mouse, so everything you can do with your mouse, you can do with the keyboard.

There are plenty of freeware programs available for learning how to type, we mentioned several of them in our recently published productivity guide. It just takes patience and practice to master typing. When I started, I was a hunt-and-peck typer and now I can type almost anything without looking at the keyboard – which drives my wife nuts as I type and “listen” to her. She really hates it when I transcribe what she just told me. I don’t recommend doing that, guys.

Keyboard shortcuts are awesome. Possibly the biggest time saver is the Tab key. It might say Tab on it or it might have two arrows – one pointing right and one pointing left. What the Tab key allows you to do is to move your cursor from field to field. This is especially time-saving when going through a form. Try it, just hit the Tab key a few times to see where the focus ends up. You’ll see a dashed line around whatever you tabbed to, or a blinking cursor if it’s in a text field. If you go one field too far, hold down your Shift key and then hit the Tab key once to go back one element. I use these shortcuts all the time when the batteries in my mouse are dead.

You can get printable shortcuts for Windows, Mac OS X, Firefox, Gmail and several other programs by subscribing to our RSS feed. Look for MakeUseOf Downloads link.

2. Be Picky With Software

How many toolbars do you have on your web browser? Do you have toolbars from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and more? Just pick one – all the others do pretty much the same thing and just get in the way.

How did you end up with so many toolbars? Chances are you downloaded and installed something and didn’t read about the fact that the free software was going to install a toolbar as well. In the military, we had an initialization known as RTFQ – the G-rated version is Read The Full Question.

How much software do you need on your computer? Allow me to ask this another way. Do you put every scrap of paper that goes through your hands into your filing cabinet? If you did, how soon would it take for the filing cabinet to burst, leaving you to curl up in the fetal position wondering where your birth certificate went.

Same thing happens with your computer when you add every little piece of software you see to your computer. Be picky. If you aren’t going to use that software at least once a week – you probably don’t need it on your computer. If you haven’t used a piece of software in a few months, think about uninstalling it. Check out some uninstallers from Stefan’s post.

3. Find a Way To Get Organized

Carrying on with the file cabinet analogy, you also need to get your computer organized. I’m sure you’ve seen those computer desktops with a bajillion shortcuts on it. That’s no better than leaving papers all over your office. There’s a reason geek-speak calls them files and folders. Treat them like their real world companions and they will be easier to find, work with, and be more secure all at the same time.

For organizing your desktop, I recommend Fences by StarDock. It’s like setting up work-zones on your computer desktop and keeps it from getting cluttered. I’ve even seen people do this with their real desktops – setting up folders or taping off areas for specific ongoing projects to sit in. It can work, but you need to be vigilant. Entropy is a universal force – it cannot be overcome. But Fences sure can help!

Working on these three areas can only lead to a more productive day, with less effort and confusion. That means a lot less stress for you! And that’s a good thing.

Have you read the MakeUseOf Productivity guide? Do you have any beginner computer tips on being a better computer user? Have any of these ideas helped you out? I’d love to hear your suggestions and stories in the comments below.

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Although it may take anywhere from a couple of weeks to 2-3 month before you can master your keyboard it totally pays off in the long run. Plus there are plenty of free programs and websites that make it an easy and fun process.

Whether you’re a beginner or simply want to improve on your current typing speed, these free typing exercises can help you improve the accuracy and the overall typing speed. You will learn how to type fast, using all of your fingers, without looking at the keyboard. There is something for everyone here, from online games to excellent typing programs.

Practice Touch Typing Online

TypeRacer

TypeRacer is an online speed typing game. We have covered several online typing games before but this one is one of a kind. Here you can practice your typing accuracy and speed by “typeracing” against other people in real-time. The goal is to type-in the given text accurately and fast, and get your car to the finish point ahead of the others. Be warned, the game is quite addictive. Read more …

Keybr

This one has been my favorite online touch typing practice tool for a long time now. Not only does it help you improve on your typing speed but it also lets you learn to type without looking at the keyboard. This is one important feature that is not usually present in other online typing excercises. To get started, simply select the preferred keyboard layout and you’re good to go. Read more …

Free Touch Typing Software

My very first touch typing software is Bruce’s Typing Wizard. I used it to learn the keyboard layout. It can be used both by beginner and advanced level users. Depending on your present level you can start with typing lessons where you basically train your fingers to the keyboard layout or with Typing Practice to gain some speed. The program should work on any Windows machine.

Another good one is TypeFaster. Typefaster claims to teach you how to touch type within 20 dedicated lessons and one 3D game. FreeSoftwareMagazine covers it in detail here

When it comes to Linux users they might interested in HyperType. I couldn’t find any free typing program for Mac users, if you aware of any good ones please let us know in comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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QWERTY Wariors
fun 2D shooter game, where in order to shoot the bad guy you have to type the word appearing underneath him.

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TyperShark
same story here, stay safe by typing right word for each shark

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Alphattack
save NY city from falling bombs by typing letters displayed on each of them

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FlowWords 2
type words formed by eggs before they fall off the conveyor bolt

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Axis of Evil
Action-packed typing game for die hard American patriots

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Barracuda
type words as they float through the river. More words you miss darker the river gets.
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TypingMasterBubbles
type letters shown on the falling bubbles.
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Maximum Typing
punch, kick or knee flying cubes by typing right letters.

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FreeTypingGame.net
6 more typing games; Keyboard Triathlon, Spacebar Invaders, Save the Sailboat Race, Outerspace Fleet Commander, The Frogs are Off Their Diet! and Meteor Typing Blast

E N J O Y

Technorati Tags: typing, touch typing, flash games

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If you are starting from scrath you will have to go through following sections; Typing Lessons(to learn layout of the keyboard), Typing Practice( working with real sentences) and Play Game(to gain some speed). You may also skip some levels depending on your experience.

Overall I think it is user friendly and very smartly designed application. It can be downloaded from here, and it is free. If you like the program, you can drop Bruce a note by writing to typing[at]qcalculus.com. There is also support for non english keyboards, read more on how to go about it in the documentation that comes with download.

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