First thing to do is to download and install the specific touchpad driver (usually Synaptics) as the default Microsoft one isn't always the best with certain touchpads.
Secondly, some laptops, when you squeeze the front left or right corner, it makes the touchpad go screwy. Re-squeezing the laptop sometimes resets things.
Finally, if you find (like me) that your palm sometimes touches the touchpad when typing, you will need to turn it off. This is done in the BIOS usually, and sometimes things can be set so that the connection of an external mouse disables the internal touchpad - this is a good compromise sometimes, as it means you can just plug in a mouse if things are annoying you too much.