Windows 7: Articles

The inventor of the mouse, Douglas Engelbart, changed the way computers worked, from specialized equipment that only a trained person could use, to a user-friendly instrument that anyone can use.

This easy to use device, the computer mouse, is called a mouse because the tail came out the end.

The earlier versions of the Mouse had one or two buttons. Today’s mouse sports more than the two buttons. Most versions always contain a “scroll” wheel.

There are three types of Mouse you can buy.

One of the beauties of the Mouse is that you can configure making it work the way you want. For example, left-handed users can switch the left and the right buttons over.

Changing the Mouse Properties

In Windows XP you could configure these Mouse features:

• Buttons
• Pointers
• Pointer Options
• Wheel
• Hardware

You can do the same in Windows 7.

Some types of mouse have additional options available. One of mine, a Microsoft IntelliPoint Mouse has two extra options available, Activities and Wireless.

The standard Wireless Mouse has only five.

No you may well say, “What’s all the fuss about? I only want to change a few features.” And you’re right of course.

So let’s get down to the “nitty-gritty”. What important changes can you make?

You can make many changes, some good (changing the size of the mouse pointer) and others you’ll regret (switching the left and right buttons – fine if you are a “lefty”) we’ll concentrate on three areas that make sense.

• Changing the Mouse pointers
• Changing the Scrolling speed
• Adjust the mouse pointer speed

To make these changes you need to bring up the Mouse Pointers Property dialog box.

Accessing the Mouse Pointers Property dialog box
You can make the changes to any mouse settings by opening the Control Panel and selecting Mouse.

However, in Window 7 it is quicker to do the following:

1. Right click on a blank area of the Desktop.
2. In the Context menu, select Personalize.
3. This opens the Personalization window.

4. In the right-hand side, click Change mouse pointers.
5. This opens the Mouse Pointers dialog box.

Changing Mouse Pointers
Personally, I like large mouse pointers; these are available in the Pointers tabbed window.

1. Select the Pointers tab.
2. In the section labelled, Scheme, click the down arrow button. A list of optional pointers appears.

3. Select the pointer you want.
4. Then click the Apply button.

Changing Scrolling Speed
Another area I like change is the speed of Vertical Scrolling. I don’t like it too fast.

1. Select the Scrolling tab.
2. To change the speed of vertical scrolling, move the slider bar to the right for faster or left to slow it down.
3. Then, click the Apply button.

+Note: In some Mouse Properties dialog boxes, the Scroll Wheel configuration is in the tab labelled, Wheel.

Adjusting the mouse pointer speed
Some users find the mouse too slow or too fast. You can adjust the mouse speed from within the Mouse Properties dialog box.

1. In the Mouse Properties window, select Pointer Options tab.
2. In the top section, labelled Motion, you will see a slider.

+ Note: Moving this to the left makes the mouse pointer go slow and to the right fast.