subject: Set Different Speeds For Your Trackpad And External Mouse [print this page] Your laptops got a trackpad, you use a mouse for gaming, and youre tired of manually switching settings constantly. Heres how to separate both devices and how to set up a hotkey to switch between two settings on one device.
If while working on your laptop, you frequently need to switch between the touchpad and an external mouse, youd have experienced the irritation that accompanies when the operating system applies the same cursor movement speed and settings to both of them. One speed may be fine for an external mouse, but it may prove to be extremely slow for the touchpad (I experience that on an almost daily basis). If only Windows could save mouse profiles just like power profiles!
These days, most modern mice come with some driver/user software, but if youre looking for a universal solution to this issue, the developers behind Mouse Speed Switcher have got one for you. This free application saves two (or more) different sets of cursor/pointer settings on your laptop (or even PC) that you can quickly switch between, giving you control and flexibility over the input hardware that youre using.
Two Devices, Two Speeds, Two Options
There are two programs that can do this for you, each one with caveats. The first is Mouse Speed Switcher, a simple utility that allows for multiple input devices and multiple settings.
Mouse Speed Switcher supports hotkeys, too. Unfortunately for us, its nagware; youll get both full functionality and reminders every so often to register/buy a product key, which costs 7.50.
Our second option is Autosensitivity, a .NET-based utility thats targeted at laptops that manages separate speeds between your trackpad and your external mouse.
The issue here is that its still in development and there are a few known issues, such as it detecting an external mouse when waking from sleep. On the other hand, its free and doesnt nag you. Personally, I use Autosensitivity and Ive had no real issues. It works great for when I want a high speed on my touchpad, but I can turn my laser mouses sensitivity down a bit when Im playing Minecraft.
AutoHotKey Script
What if youve only got one device but want to switch between two sensitivities quickly? Sounds like a job for AHK! Heres a simple script that will do what you want quickly.
Youll see that this is a DLL call, as the more straight-forward approach of just changing registry values doesnt quite work. The important values are the UInt values here, the third number in each row. How did we get those numbers? Well, lets take a quick look at the pointer settings pane:
The little tick marks that Ive outlined in red are the key. The value of the first one is 0, and the others add 2 points to the score. My touchpad setting from the screenshot is on the eighth notch, which is a value of 14. If you look at the AHK script above, Ive set my hotkeys as follows:
Win+F1: Normal mouse sensitivity; mine is 14.
Win+F2: Low mouse sensitivity; mine is 6. If you turn yours all the way down, that value is 0.
Win+F3: High mouse sensitivity; mine is turned all the way up to 20.
You can edit the script to your liking from the .zip below, or if you dont mind my settings, you can use the bundled .exe.
Mouse Speed Switcher is free for personal usage, but will keep giving irritating reminder messages (nagware) to purchase unless a license key is entered (which is not free, by the way). When you launch the software for the first time, it will present the settings dialog where you can tweak settings for all the profiles.You can set up a third profile as well, but it is disabled by default.
The software comes with a built-in check for updates, so that is an added benefit. The program has been written in C++ and works with all versions of MS Windows OS, from XP to Windows 7. We tested it on a 32-bit system.
Everyone has their own preferences of course, but I think the default mouse cursor speed is way too slow for most experienced computer users. The advantage of higher cursor speeds is that you dont need to physically move the mouse as much to get the cursor to go the same distance on the screen.
On my PCs slowest mouse speed setting, I have to move the mouse about 28 cm to move the cursor from one side of the screen to the other (acceleration is turned off). I have no idea whod want to use such a slow setting. But at the fastest speed setting, I only need to move the mouse about 3 cm to accomplish that same cursor Compaq HSTNN-Q60C battery movement. The default setting is somewhere in the middle. This is a wide range, meaning that at the lowest speed, I have to move my hand nearly 10 times as far to get the same cursor movement as the highest speed. Thats a lot more potential wrist strain.
You can also fiddle with the acceleration setting. Higher acceleration with lower speeds allows you to move the mouse across large areas quickly while gaining finer control for slow movements. Even the slowest mouse speed with some decent acceleration can be workable.
Currently I use the fastest mouse speed setting with low acceleration, and I think I could handle even faster settings if the driver would allow it. I gradually ramped up my speed from the default setting by two notches at a time (there are 10 notches total). At first my accuracy plummeted with each speed increase, but I got used to the faster speed and finer motor control movements after a couple days, and my accuracy improved.
Aside from reducing wrist strain, I found the faster speeds to be more efficient once I got used to them. It takes a lot less Compaq HSTNN-F01C battery wrist movement to zoom the cursor from one corner of the screen to another.
I cant handle max speed on my laptops touchpad though because its too inaccurate, but Im fine at max speed if I plug in an external mouse.
Faster speeds are easier if you have a good quality mouse. Mine is a Logitech cordless optical mouse. It eats batteries for breakfast, but I can never go back to using a corded rollerball mouse the cord and the grimy ball reduce accuracy too much and force me to slow down.
This isnt likely to be deemed the productivity breakthrough of the decade, but given how much you use your mouse each day, might it be worthwhile to push HP HSTNN-Q22C battery yourself to go faster? Isnt it time you stopped jerking your wrist around so much?
