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You laptop doesn't come with that mouse you know from your desktop-computer days. Instead, it has a touchpad, which lets you do all those fun mouse-related things on your laptop, only it comes in a more travel-friendly form than the external mouse. You have to take care of (which sometimes means clean) your touchpad to keep it in good working order.
 | Carefully clean finger oils and dirt from your laptop's touchpad with a damp cloth; you can also add a small amount — less than 50 percent of the solution — of isopropyl alcohol. |
If a built-in pointer or touchpad fails, you can replace it as part of a new keyboard. Or, you can easily attach an external pointing device to work around the problem or upgrade your system.
Touchpads are sealed, so you probably don't have to worry about a touchpad problem developing because of dirt or dust. Touchpads can become slippery or sticky from the transfer of oils or other substances from the fingers of those troublesome humans who use them, though.
To clean your touchpad, follow these steps:
1. Tilt the keyboard up and to the side, and spray compressed air to dislodge dirt or crumbs.
 | You tilt the keyboard so that you can hold the can of air upright while spraying. If you hold the can at too sharp of an angle, some of the liquid propellant may mix with the air and make the situation worse. |
2. Clean the surface with a mild cleaning solution, such as a weak form of window cleaner.
 | If you don't know whether you should use a certain solution, test a tiny dab of the liquid on the bottom of your laptop's case to see if the solution dulls the case's surface or leaves a residue. |
3. Remove the tiny pointer (if your laptop has one) and soak it in cleaning solution.
4. Wash off the cleaner and let the pointer completely dry before you return it to its place.
Most laptop manufacturers sell replacement pointers for their laptops, and you may be able to find generic pointers at some computer supply stores.
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