Yikes!!! My Toshiba mouse trackpad stopped working!!!

I got my brand new Toshiba notebook computer (P50-AST3GX2) and it was working fine until suddenly the mouse cursor disappeared and would not come back.

 

Problem: This new PC features "One Touch Function Keys" which means that the normal PC F1 through F12 function keys behave as Toshiba system control keys by default rather than as PC function keys. You have to hold the "FN" key before hitting the function key to get the PC function keys. Evidently, I had probably hit F5 to refresh the browser or something like that, but Toshiba has assigned that key to toggle the enable of the mouse trackpad, so instead of refreshing the web page, the mouse trackpad became disabled.

 

Solution: Just hit the F5 key again and, presto, the mouse trackpad works again.

 

If you really need to perform the PC F5 function, hit the FN+F5 keys.

 

If you want to restore the PC function keys to their normal operation:

 

1. Go to the Windows Start screen.

2. Type "System Settings".

3. Select the system settings program.

4. Select the "Keyboard" menu item from the left panel.

5. Set the "Function Keys Mode" to "Standard F1-F12 mode" – as opposed to "Special function mode".

6. Click on "Okay".

7. Restart the PC for the change to take effect.

 

Sorry for the inconvenience! It's not my fault, really.

 

-- Jack Krupansky