Increasing mouse sensitivity past the max

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
I just got a Dell Latitude with the pointing stick and the sensitivity is beyond atrocious. I have to push hard enough that it's pushing on the adjacent keys just to get the darn thing to move. I already have the sensitivity maxed out in control panel and their additional software.

I'm coming from a Thinkpad, and I must say that trackpoints are so much superior than Dell's pointing stick. There are more choices in nub shapes, it's not recessed into the keys like the Dell one, the buttons aren't tiny with high resistance. There's a center scrolling button. And most importantly, the sensitivity isn't so shitty.

So is there any additional hacks I can use to up this sensitivity?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,327
10,035
126
Having never used a Dell with a pointing stick, I guess I had always assumed that they simply licensed the TrackPoint from IBM. Now you are telling me that it is a different, inferior, implementation?

Now I wonder whether the pointing stick on the Unicomp buckling-spring keyboard is a trackpoint like the IBM M-13 keyboard, or a Dell variant.
 

Ben90

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2009
2,866
3
0
I don't know how well you can edit it using the registry, but I found this using google:
http://www.activewin.com/tips/reg/mouse_4.shtml said:
If you want to tweak the settings for the three mouse-speed settings (MouseSpeed, MouseThreshold1, and MouseThreshold2), launch the registry editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse\.

Along with a few other settings, you'll see the three mouse-speed values in the right panel. Mouse-Speed is a multiplier that is set from 0 (always run at the basic speed) to 2 (multiply the calculated speed by 4). MouseThreshold1 indicates the number of pixels you must move the mouse between interrupts to automatically double the basic speed (unless MouseSpeed is not set to 0). By default, MouseThreshold1 ranges from 0 (do not introduce speed-doubling) to 10 pixels, but you can set its value to higher than 10 if you like. Setting the value closer to 1 makes Windows introduce speed-doubling sooner, which causes your pointer to pick up speed.

The last of the three pointer values, MouseThreshold2, behaves like MouseThreshold1 except that it causes Windows to again double the mouse's speed.
If that doesn't help you any, you can always brute force it with an AutoHotKey script. I would return the windows sensitivity back down to 1:1 and have AHK move the mouse maybe like 5 pixels for every one count it senses of movement. (11/11 is 3.5 pixels for every 1 count of input)
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
Having never used a Dell with a pointing stick, I guess I had always assumed that they simply licensed the TrackPoint from IBM. Now you are telling me that it is a different, inferior, implementation?

Now I wonder whether the pointing stick on the Unicomp buckling-spring keyboard is a trackpoint like the IBM M-13 keyboard, or a Dell variant.

Yup, it's WAAAY ahead. I'm starting think the one on mine must be broken or doesn't work right with Windows 8. There's no way this is usable in the form it is now. I'm pushing it the hardest I could and it's barely fucking moving at all. The only way I could get it to move is if I dig my nails into it.

With my thinkpad, I could effortlessly make the mouse cursor run circles around the border of my screen, and the sensitivity is currently at 75% now. On the dell, with maximal effort, I could make it spin about a 1-2 inch wide radius.
 
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yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
I don't know how well you can edit it using the registry, but I found this using google:

If that doesn't help you any, you can always brute force it with an AutoHotKey script. I would return the windows sensitivity back down to 1:1 and have AHK move the mouse maybe like 5 pixels for every one count it senses of movement. (11/11 is 3.5 pixels for every 1 count of input)

I just tried it. It looked promising and I was excited. But after about 20 reboots with many different settings, I don't feel a difference. I saw on sites that supposedly 2 for mousespeed, and 0, 0 for the two threshold settings is the fastest. I don't notice a difference. :\