We have an Acer Aspire 3000 series. The keypad is too sensitive and has been driving me crazy for a while, but we've just worked around it. Any suggestions on how to fix this are welcome.

The main problem is that recently the keypad/mouse stops working when the computer is plugged in and charged-- it just freezes up. When this happens, we unplug the computer and let the battery die. When a message comes on saying the battery needs to be charged/changed, then the mouse will work again and we can plug the computer back in. Is this a sign that we need a new battery? Or is indicative of some other problem?

I search for Acer Aspire 3000 and it shows a desktop unit. I go to Acer's site and there is no Aspire 3000 series laptops. Are you sure that's what you have? Maybe I missed something

I'm sure that's what I have...

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspir...7-31532504.html

You could try downloading an updated touchpad driver HERE
Also open Control Panel and open the device and check all of the settings.
Do you use Standby or Hibernate? Try disabling them and see if that makes a difference
When you go to Acer's site use Internet Explorer. Mozilla acts REAL strange