Email disappears while typing it

I just bought a sony vaio laptop running windows 7 with intel chip. Almost all my computing experience is with desktops so the mousepad thing takes a lot of getting used to.

I have an annoying problem (I did a search here but didn't find a similar thread). I open up the network providers internet based mail account which is how I do all my emailing. When I hit reply the message box opens and I can start typing a reply. Sometimes , tho I'm not aware of depressing anything, while I'm typing if I move my hands/fingers a certain way over the keyboard mousepad area, the message I'm typing disappears, invariably it's when the message is nearly complete, it completely vanishes and I have to start over, any thoughts as to what I'm doing to cause it?

Thansk
Chris

 

I'm a bit of a newb but here are a couple of thoughts. The touch pads on some laptops are so sensitive that they will enter commands without you realizing it. Your sleeve passes over the pad and drags on it etc. There are many posts about this problem (in reviews of laptops) and as a result people either don't buy the respective unit or they use a mouse. Usually if a command is given that makes a letter disappear, it can still be found in "drafts" or "outgoing" or the like. Have you looked there? Found one more thing. If there is a small button near the touch pad, it will likely toggle the pad input off & on.

 

Also try hitting CTRL-Z, which will generally do an "undo" operation. If it really was a cut or delete operation, that should restore it.

However, if you inadvertently sent a browser back command, you're at the mercy of how the web based software was implemented. Some will allow you to push forward and go back to what you had, but with too much javascript on a page, you generally will lose everything.

 

One potential is that while typing you inadvertently touch the pad, which can select text, and when you continue typing (without realizing it) you are now typing over the selected text, deleting it.

Was an issue on my DV6 because of the size of the touchpad.

 

Thanks for alll the useful tips guys! I'm probably going to start using a wireless mouse. It'd be nice if you could adjust sensitivity of the keys!

Chris

 

Yeah, this a problem with many laptops, there is supposedly software out there that turns off the touchpad as you are typing... however i never looked into it myself and i think the last person who did said he got a trojan from downloading one of those. In any case, if you do want to look for the software, read cnet or pcworld for their review of it, then download it from whichever link they provide.

 

You can adjust the sensitivity on some models. Assuming yours is one, go to control panel, select 'hardware & sound', then under 'devices & printers' select "Mouse". On the mouse properties page, select 'device settings', and on that page, click 'settings'. On the page (properties for synaptic touch pad) select from the left side menu, 'pointing', then 'sensitivity' and then 'touch sensitivity'. To the right of the menu there should now be a self explanatory article with a slider to adjust touch pad sensitivity.
Here is another one. Under sensitivity, click 'palm sensitivity'. This will allow you to adjust a feature called "palm check", which guards against operating the touch pad accidentally. This is the first time I have been into this myself and I have been thinking about checking it out for a while. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Thanks fixer, That'd be just the ticket unfortunately it appears that I don't hvae the touch sensitivity option on this system.

Chris

 

Okay try this, double click on the synaptics icon in your taskbar at the bottom right of screen. It should open "mouse properties" then go to the "Device Settings" tab. Then double click on the Synaptics Touchpad VX.X in the box. That should open "Properties for Synaptics Touchpad...".

In the menu, expand the "Pointing" list and then "Sensitivity" then you can modify the option for PalmCheck and Touch Sensitivity

This is what fixer is saying to do, but for a Vaio Z

 

Look to see if you have this setting shown in the picture below.

Gary

 

Thanks guys, mine seems to be a slightly diff version of viao but I did find ways to adjust the mouse stuff.
Also, scuderia - mine DOES have the Tap off when typing box checked, is that correct/
Thanks again for all your help!
Chris