What I suggest is to drop by an Office Depot kind of place if convenient and purchase a mouse that's either blue tooth enabled or has a USB dongle that can plug into the laptop. Batteries in the mouse will last a very long time. Emphasize long long time.
First time you fire up the laptop with the new mouse, the laptop will automatically recognize the new device and will activate on board drivers or download drivers via the internet. From my 30 year experience with laptops, this is the easiest and best laptop improvement that can be made. If you can, get a mouse with the scroll wheel on top and side buttons. Once you get used to the buttons and wheel, you can really zip through things fast with low effort.
See #12.