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Thanks Ethel
The Gericom laptop, using the buttons did not work but when I took the battery and reinstalled, the touchpad worked. (Thanks very much because if I could not use the touchpad then the laptop was useless.) I had already had the Usb port fixed once and its broken again with the guarantee expired.
The other laptop my kids use with the mouse, the touchpad was not working and when I held the FN and F7 it worked.
Thank you very very much for your help. Very grateful.