Disable Pointing Stick on Laptop

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

I have two Dell latitudes C600/C610. I would like to disable the pointing stick/ball etc....

I can disable the pointing stick/ball in the BIOS, but it also disables the touchpad which I DO NOT want to do.

I would to accomplish this without using a third party app.

[bristols]

I don't know how to disable the pointing stick via software. But I believe you could simply disconnect the cable that connects the pointing stick to the motherboard (I haven't tried it with a C600/610 but I think all C-series Dell laptops have the same keyboard).

On the underside of the laptop, remove all screws which have embossed on the case next to them a letter K. Then you can gently lift the keyboard, which itself is connected to the motherboard via its own cable.

Here are a couple of tutorials that might help, about dissembling C-series Dells. They're not specifically about disabling the pointing stick, but they should help if you want to try this manual method:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090131095351/http://powerbrixx.com/reference/dell/cpx_keyboard_removal.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20070816033943/http://www.electroblog.com:8090/laptop/index.shtml

Edit - I haven't looked inside a c-series Dell for a little while - I'm not 100% sure that the pointing stick is connected independently from the keyboard and touchpad. So, please consider this as just a possible solution.

Edited February 12, 2012 by bristols