How to fix an ACER track pad

One day my trusty Acer travel laptop was misbehaving – I wanted to use it without a mouse but the trackpad was not responding. A quick online search turned up numerous helpful suggestions, from updating drivers to reinstalling Windows, but none of them were the sort of simple solution I was looking for.

In fact it turned out they were all targeting complex problems when the reality was very simple. While reading the umpteenth set of technical specs I saw a mention of a Function Key. In all the advice out there no one, including ACER support itself, suggested clicking the F7 Function Key. On these laptops, it activates and deactivates the trackpad..

So, if you encounter this problem, on any computer, check the Function Keys first!