I'm sorry, know this isn't what you want to hear--but when that happened to DD, she was told it was unfixable. Luckily, her computer was still very new, and they just replaced it with a new computer. That doesn't seem right to me--it seems to me that a little button SHOULD be fixable--maybe you'll run across someone who knows more than the GEEK squad does.

i am at a training until Friday- just got back from the hotel front desk- they have LOTS of spare cell phone chargers but no spare mouses/mice. Came back to the room trying to figure out HOW to make it work even temporarily. The pencil eraser would be too big so I decided to try Q-tip cotton. Kept having to pare down the amount but I finally got the cotton to fit through the little hole in the broken nub thingie and my mouse button is working again!!!! Not all that great but I think I maybe just can get it to work until I get home (found a website that suggests using a tiny spring and gluing it to the nub to put the "bounce" back in the button. I will let you know how that goes! LOL

Next time I will be bringing my full computer back- including the external mouse and the external 9-key pad!

I haven't opened a ton of notebooks and it'll vary with the brand and model. I'd doubt you could replace just the one button, repair it similar to what you're doing yes, but to get just the one button, I'm not sure you could. However you might be able to replace the assembly with both buttons or possibly the touchpad unit. I've replaced keyboards in notebooks before but never really paid too much attention to the touchpads.

Post the make and model number and I'll see if I can find anything for you.

FWIW the Geek Squad was good for laughs and profit when I had the store. They'd send all the machines they couldn't repair to us to repair. We could fix 99% of them. Anything more than using the restore disk was pretty much their limit at the time! They may have since improved, IDK for sure. In fairness, often it's not whether it can be fixed but whether parts are available. Most computers these days aren't made to be repaired, rather be replaced. Especially so with notebooks.

That little rubber thingy under the button is a snap acting conductive elastomer. When pressed down, it contacts two pads or strips on a PCB (printed circuit board) and causes the resistance between these two conductors to go low. Unfortunately, so far as I know, this is not a standard part and would be available only from the manufacturer, and only if that model of laptop was still in production. If your computer is over one year old, the expedient repair is total replacement of the computer. Excluding the processor and hsrd drive, there is only about $50 of parts in the computer. Therefore, it is cheaper for the manufacturer to replace the computer and swap in the processor and hard drive. The cost of labor is less and there is no need to reload the system since it is on the old hard drive.

You can continue using the computer with a failed left button by using a mouse provided that the left button is not "making circuit". An optical mouse plugged into a USB port works fine and in my opinion is superior to the touch pad. If you wish to use any optional buttons/features on the new mouse, you'll have to install the driver that came with it, otherwise, only the generic features will work.

Cynic, it is a Compaq Presario V6000. I found the keyboard units and wonderful picture directions on how to replace (down to the exact number of screws to find!) but nothing on the touchpad. So far so good with the cotton button. I used it for a few hours without the button but then I needed to do some "real work" and needed to full mouse to use my stats software.

Just get a wireless mouse. It connects to a USB port and the Microsoft ones we have cost under $20. We use them on our two desktops as well as a laptop and a netbook. Love 'em and since my granddaughter if a leftie, it's great for her as well.

This is certainly repairable but I'm not sure if I, personally, would bother, but if you wanted to go for it. This site shows how to take everything apart. I didn't dig too deep into it so I'm not sure if the touchpad itself can be separated from the top unit, but even so it shouldn't be an expensive part, relatively speaking, if you look at parts recyclers, ebay and the like. To buy the part from Compaq, if even available, it would be more than a new unit I'd be pretty sure.

Compaq goes for volume sales. There's likely a lot of units out there and being Compaq, there's likely a lot of junked out units so parts shouldn't be tough to find if you're willing to look and buy from a parted machine.

As far as a DIY project, if you have some basic mechanical skills and can follow directions you should have no trouble. The things to be careful about include remembering that this is a cheap, delicate unit so don't force anything. Keep good lighting available and a magnifying glass. Have heavy items like a cups or something to keep the small parts in and keep them in order so they don't fall down on the floor into the carpet. When you work on it, pick a time that you're not likely to be stressed or interrupted. Getting into the middle of a tearapart and leaving it to come back later to finish is not a good thing to do. Be rested and ready to go at it. I doubt this should take long to complete with any luck.

It gives a real sense of accomplaishment to do a job like this should you choose to tackle it. Or you might choose to just use a mouse! Good luck on whatever option you choose.

Didn't make it clear. I'm not sure it's a separate part or integrated but my guess is that it will separate. Probably a couple tabs or a couple screws holding it on. Either way doesn't really matter, it'd just affect whether you replace a smaller part or larger one.

FWIW, when I replaced the last keyboard in a Dell notebook the part cost from Dell was from $450-$650. I bought it from ebay for $15. Found a bunch of them available on the internet from about $25-$150. So, it can be done, just takes a little effort.