Mouse on lappy

[aka pixi]

Is it okay to install a mouse on my lappy and plug it in and take it out regularly without it affecting the touchpad?

I've taught my 3 year old granddaughter how to use my lappy and she has a bit of bother with the touchpad when she has to hold down the button and move the pointer at the same time...like when shes on a painting programme. Yesterday I took her to nursery and noticed that she could use a paint programme really easily as they use a mouse.

I thought about getting a mouse but as it will only be used when she is wanting to play on my lappy Im unsure whether it would be okay to bob it in and out all the time. Also if it is okay, once its installed would I just plug it in and it would work straight away without having to re-install it all the time?

thanks

[bekka]

My grandson uses a 2 button optical scroll mouse with a retractable cord...plug and play...it's very small suitable for small hands...no roller ball so very easy to use...just move the mouse and use the two buttons.

I use it on one of the older laptops also...no touchpad.

On the bottom right of the screen where the clock etc is there's an icon to safely remove hardware...click this and you get a box showing what hardware to remove...on the older lappy it shows 'safely remove USB'...so i click it to stop before removing it.

On the newer laptop it doesn't show as hardware so i just plug in and out as needed.

Check by clicking the icon when the mouse is plugged in...be very careful you don't stop the CD/DVD drive though.

[Ethel]

I am constantly plugging and unplugging a mouse in to my laptop with no problems.

Works as soon as it is plugged in. I don't recall ever installing any software, but I may have done.

[fo3nix]

As the above say, it should just work straight away.

You can probably even disable the touchpad when the mouse is plugged in if you want, to avoid her accidentally touching the touchpad and clicking on something she didn't mean to.

[aka pixi]

Thanks everyone :)

It took me ages to teach her how to use the touchpad because I overlooked the fact that she is lefthanded, as soon as I showed her how to do it with her left hand she was able to play point and click games in seconds. The tantrums came when she couldnt control the touchpad enough to use the paint programme. She is so excited when I let her use my lappy because to her its a 'magic box' I have a couple of spare mice (is that the correct word lol) and I can't wait to see her face when she next asks to play her games and sees there is a mouse to use :D

[ACtheTROLL]

bekka's suggestion sounds good ... one of the ikkle mices will fit ikkle hands much better

what the others have omitted to warn you about is ....
as soon a you do plug in the mouse ..... you'll never get to use the lappy again!!!! (at least while GD is there)

kiss it goodbye grandad!!! ;-)

[aka pixi]

erm Im a nana AC lol Yeah I agree the little mouse is a great idea. I did think about never getting it back off her but only for a split second cos it was a really scary thought :s

[kevo2k7]

aka pixie wot paint programme do u use 4 ur grandaughter? im lukin 4 a few free programmes and games 4 my 3yr old niece 2 play ya see x

[aka pixi]

Its the paint programme thats in accessories kev, its pretty basic but is fine for a little un. If you google free paint programmes theres tons of them. I dont know which would be the best cos Ive not looked at any of em yet, I was waiting til she could do it before I got one. Have fun :D

[fo3nix]

If anybody's interested in getting a really cheap laptop for use by a young child, they should check out Edubuntu.

It's an entire operating system, like Windows, and very secure. It's made to be kid-friendly, with pre-installed games and educational software.

Totally free.

You could install it on your current laptop too, in a separate partition to Windows (and when you start the laptop, boot into Edubuntu and not Windows).

http://www.edubuntu.org

[ACtheTROLL]

sorry nan!

just a thought .... give the little dear her own user ID ... with a "user" profile

that way if she get's a little excited she can't delete the whole machine ;-(

[aka pixi]

thats sounds like a great idea fo3nix but I dont know what you mean about installing it into a seperate partition :S I am completely crap with pc's lol

AC giving her her own user ID is a brilliant idea. Thanks for the suggestion.

If you all never hear from me again, that means I forgot and she did indeed get excited and delete my entire lappy lol eeeeekkkk

[fo3nix]

Basically, your hard drive in your laptop where all your stuff is installed can be split to that it acts like separate drives. This is called partitioning, with each part being a separate part.

I think that downloading and burning edubuntu to a disc and then putting that in when restarting your laptop will let you install it, and the installer will probably let you choose to install to a separate partition.

But, you may need to have someone who knows a bit about this stuff there with you.