How do I disable the touchpad on my laptop?

OK, so I just recently reformatted my laptop and reinstalled Windows Vista, now I just need to know how to disable the touchpad. Normally, if I connect a mouse into it, there'd be a popup that shows up saying that there's another pointing device connected onto this machine and there'd be some kind of window showing some options or something that would let me disable the touchpad. Now it doesn't do that.

I can't remember how to disable the touchpad. Can someone help me out here? If this is any useful information, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Go to control panel and click on Mouse properties icon. Now click the device Select tab and check "Disable Touch Pad when USB Pointing Device is present.".

There's nowhere I can't reach.

it might also be a "security" setting in your BIOS. on the G1S it is, and can be disabled that way.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Or you could hit the touchpad a few times with a brick. That tends to slow them down a little.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Try going to the manufacturer site and downloading drivers for it. That's what I had to do for my Dell laptop to get the touchpad control panel where I could disable it when an external mouse was hooked in.

I was speaking idiomatically.

To permanently disable the Touchpad, llmercll's solution is correct. Boot into BIOS, and tick the setting which disables Touchpad (usually called a PS/2 Device) whenever an external mouse has been plugged in.

A Windows alternative would be to disable all "PS/2" devices in Device Manager. I don't have Vista, so your mileage may differ.

Kaleb's software recommendation will work as well. Get the latest Synaptics drivers so you can disable your touchpad there.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?