Settings aren't taking effect

It seems to be just touchpad related settings that won't change. If I uninstall and re-install the driver, do I have to have a spare mouse to hand to be able to use the laptop without the touchpad driver?

If you have a mouse use that, it is a lot better than using a touchpad. Believe me :)

Fished out my USB mouse and tried uninstalling the driver and re-installing it. No difference. Tried uninstalling it and installing a previous version (the only one listed). Still no difference. The funny thing is that while the driver is uninstalled (after restarting) the touchpad still works without having to use the USB mouse. I can move the pointer (it actually seems a bit more responsive) and click. And it's the only thing so far that fixes the problem - I can type and move the cursor to my heart's content with no annoying delay. But I can't use any gestures, so I can't use the mouse to scroll or anything which is a big downside for me - does anyone know if there's a way I can keep the pathetic synaptics thing uninstalled, and somehow activate the multitouch gestures? Is there something else I could download to support the gestures?

Other than that - I get that a mouse does tend to work better/more accurately than a touchpad. But for me it's pretty inconvenient since for the most part I don't use my laptop on flat surfaces and it seems a bit silly to go to a desk every time I want to play a casual game. Plus I'm left-handed but after spending most of my childhood using a mouse the right-handed way, I'm at an awkward place in my life where neither left- or right-handed mousing feels quite right... hahaha. But so far I'm actually having a decent amount of success with it on the arm of the sofa and it's just a cheap laser mouse... so we'll see.

Still welcoming solutions to my problem please!

Is there a way to temporarily disable the synaptics driver? That way I could just disable it before I play Minecraft and re-enable it after... thought I could possibly do it from the Programs and Features window but I can't see a way.