Changing Mouse Scroll Wheel Settings on Windows XP

Chances are good that the mouse connected to your PC includes a scroll wheel between the right and left mouse buttons. Using the scroll wheel to navigate up and down within programs like Microsoft Work or your web browser is certainly helpful, much easier than grabbing for the vertical scroll bar at the right-hand side of the screen.

While most users are familiar with the purpose of the scroll wheel itself, many don’t realize that the manner in which the wheel performs can actually be customized to better suit one’s needs and preferences. By default, scrolling the wheel will scroll the screen three lines at a time in the direction you specify. This can be changed to a higher number of lines for faster scrolling, or even to a page at a time if that’s your preference.

To change the scroll wheel settings for your mouse, open Control Panel, open the Mouse applet, and then click the Scroll tab. Use the settings on this tab to adjust how your scroll wheel mouse performs to better suit your preferences.

Author: Dan DiNicolo

Dan DiNicolo is a freelance author, consultant, trainer, and the managing editor of 2000Trainers.com. He is the author of the CCNA Study Guide found on this site, as well as many books including the PC Magazine titles Windows XP Security Solutions and Windows Vista Security Solutions. Click here to contact Dan.