The reason is simple: Manufacturers set the input sensitivity for touchpad devices to a high level to improve the touchpad’s responsiveness. These values are often however to sensitive for mice.

If you connect a mouse to a laptop with touchpad you may experience that the mouse cursor moves to fast on the system. While it is possible to change the sensitivity whenever you connect a mouse – and back when you disconnect it – you may prefer an automated solution that changes the sensitivity automatically whenever the input device is switched.

Auto Sensitivity is a free program for the Microsoft Windows operating system that automates that process. It allows you to define different sensitivities for the computer’s touchpad and connected mice.

Just run the program on your computer and use the sliders to set the different sensitivity levels. A click on get current moves the slider to the current system sensitivity setting. It is usually necessary to test different sensitivity levels during configuration which may require you to connect and disconnect the mouse several times during the process.

How does the program work? The program sets the sensitivity to the selected touchpad value unless a mouse is connected to the computer. If you connect a mouse it will automatically switch to the selected mouse sensitivity, and when the mouse gets disconnected it will switch back to the touchpad sensitivity. Please note that the touchpad will use the mouse sensitivity whenever a mouse is connected to the PC.

You can configure the program to start minimized and at system startup.

Auto Sensitivity is a specialized tool that is useful for laptop users who experience speed issues when they connect a mouse to their laptop.

The Open Source program requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5, it can be downloaded from the project’s Codeplex website.

The free software program Mouse Speed Switcher is able to do that. The application can configure up to three different computer mice individually.

Configuration of each mouse is handled in the main application window that pops up after start. The mouse speed can be configured individually for each mouse with a slider. There is only one additional option, to enhance pointer precision.

There is an additional option to configure hotkeys to quickly switch between mouse speed layouts without having to use the system tray menu. But that’s optional. Most users will probably switch between different mice by clicking on the program’s tray icon.

The program has no built in option to automatically switch the speed if the user switches the mouse, e.g. from an USB connected mouse to a laptop’s trackpad.

Verdict

Mouse Speed Switcher is an excellent tool for users who need different mouse speeds for different input devices. The application displays a nag screen every now and then, which can be closed immediately when it appears. Users can register the application for €7.50 to get rid of the nag screen.

Mouse Speed Switcher Download and Compatibility

The download is available at the developer website. It is fully compatible with most Windows operating systems. Mouse Speed Switcher has been tested on a Windows 7 Professional 64-bit system.

Mouse Speed Alternatives

Automatic Mouse Switcher is an Open Source alternative for that purpose. As the name suggests, it detects the active mouse or trackpad automatically and switches speeds accordingly.

The add-on is actually not only compatible with Firefox but also with the email client Thunderbird and other Mozilla based applications such as Seamonkey, Songbird or Flock. The extension will automatically change the mouse scrolling speed in the application it was installed in.

The options of the add-on provide access to very extensive parameters that can be used to fine tune the scroll speed. Available are both basic and advanced settings.Basic mode contains settings to change the speed and step size. Speed ranges from very slow to turbo while the step size ranges from 1/10 page to 1 page or 10 pixels to 500 pixels. It might take a few tries before the ideal scroll speed settings can be found but it is very well worth it in the long run.

Holding down the alt or shift key will increase or respectively decrease the scrolling step size to allow for a bigger or smaller scrolling area. Additional options are available in the basic settings window like enabling the same scrolling speed when using the computer keyboard to scroll. The advanced settings on the other hand can be configured to change adaptive duration and steps and a fps limit. SmoothWheel is a great add-on for users who are not satisfied with the mouse scrolling behavior of Firefox or other Mozilla software programs.

SlowMousion comes to the rescue. The software sits quietly in the system tray upon installation and provides the user with one feature: To slow down the computer mouse speed. It makes use of a global hotkey to slow down the computer mouse. By default that hotkey is the Windows key but it can be changed to other keys, and the left-, middle- and right-mouse buttons.

The mouse speed is reduced to a fraction of the normal speed upon pressing the hotkey which has to be pressed continuously for the effect to last.

SlowMousion does not (unfortunately) come with options to adjust the slow down factor which would definitely be a recommended setting for an updated version.

The software program is compatible to windows2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.