NuclearVision linux mint here, this guide is for ubuntu users but i should work for linux mint. windows 7 here
Fischer i read the win 7 post before, it says "In the new window that opens, click the Device Settings tab at the top. It should be the last one on the right." the thing is when i open main.cpl i see the mouse properties, it has 5 tabs: buttons, pointers, pointer options, wheel, hardware there's no such thing as "Device Settings tab"
NuclearVision click start type device manager then right-select your mouse and click disable, if that does not work you should have a button on your keyboard to disable mouse, on my laptop i press fn+F7.
Fischer the fn f7 works on toshiba, not on my hp, i tried all the fn f buttons none works as for the device manage, i also tried it before asking the question here, in my device manager "mice and other pointing devices" i have "hid compliant mouse" which is the touh pad, i can't disable it, i can uninstall it and i don't want to do that coz i might use it at some point i also have "ps/2 compatible mouse" this is the mouse that i use, i can disable this one but i don't want to
rolf If you're having trouble with your hand activating the touchpad while typing on the keyboard, I'm using a little thing called TouchFreeze in Windows 7. Linux has by default something that disables the touchpad when you type on the keyboard (It's called syndaemon).