Windows – How to reprogram the extra buttons of a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball under Windows 7 with left/right keys swapped

trackballwindows 7

I've got my Expert Mouse trackball situated to my left (right hand is bugging me lately). If I just plug the thing in, it works, but I've no control over the extra two buttons. With no extra software, the one acts like clicking the scroll wheel in a regular mouse, and the other is a 'back' button.

I grabbed Kensington's software (Version 1.1.18 at the moment), and I found that it will install in Windows 7 (64 bit), BUT if I also turn on 'switch primary and secondary buttons' (which I must do, as Kensington's software supports no such thing), it acts as though the secondary button is held when I move the ball!

Prior to using the trackball, I had a Logitech mouse which had two spare buttons that ended up mapped to 'back' and 'forward' in browsers and such

Any good ideas on how to re-map the buttons?

Best Answer

First off, the logitech mouse I used apparently had it's 'back' and 'forward' buttons emitting 'mouse button 4' and 'mouse button 5', while the Kensington trackball is emitting 'middle mouse button' and 'mouse button 4'.

To rectify this, I found X-Mouse Button Control. Using the 'Simulated Keys' option, I mapped 'Middle button' to 'Mouse Button 4' and 'Mouse Button 4' to 'Mouse Button 5'. Thus, I get my back and forward buttons where I want them on the trackball.

I suspect that if I had other mouse-type devices plugged in at the same time, I might not be happy with the result, but since I'm only using the trackball right now, it works fine.

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After fiddling for quite a while, I came up with this script that works fairly well. Holding down CapsLock enters into "mouse wheel" mode. It's also possible to hold CapsLock+Ctrl to get alternate behavior (like zooming), depending on the app. The script needs to constantly reset the mouse position to keep it on-screen, so it hides the cursor for the duration of the mode (grab the cursor-hiding script as well).

CoordMode, Mouse, Screen

*CapsLock:: 
    MouseGetPos, xposinit, yposinit
    xposlast := xposinit
    yposlast := yposinit

    SystemCursor("Off")

    SetTimer, ButtonHold, 10
    KeyWait, CapsLock
    SetTimer, ButtonHold, off

    MouseMove, xposinit, yposinit, 0
    SystemCursor("On")

    Return

    ButtonHold:
        MouseGetPos, xpos, ypos

        if (ypos > yposlast) {
            MouseClick, WheelDown
        } else if (ypos < yposlast) {
            MouseClick, WheelUp
        }

        MouseMove, xposlast, yposlast, 0

Windows – Achieving precise mouse movement despite trembling fingers

I have never used this on Windows, but I know it from being a very useful Mac feature, so I went in search of a Windows equivalent..

Mouse Keys turns your 10-key numeric keypad into a 'mouse tracker' giving movement up/down/left/right using 8 2 4 6 , diagonals on 7 9 1 3 & a click on 5 [with modifiers * - or + ]

It doesn't remove your actual mouse functionality, it's enabled in addition, so as it's a little cumbersome for large movements you can use either or both methods to get near your intended target, then fine-tune that with the mouse keys. One tap is one pixel, just about; press & hold for larger movements.

Best Answer

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