LinuxQuestions.org - new guy mouse trouble

Ok so ive been fiddling with slackware for fun for awhile now and im finally making progress i think.....i had my X up and running and i had my kde setup and my internet working but i was still getting weird little problems that i figured were from all the errors i had during installation. well i figured out how to reinstall so i did that and got all of the packages to work this time except kdeoffice (ill figure it out later).
however now my mouse doesnt work im using a dell inspiron 8200 touchpad/eraserhead joystick thing.....it worked yesterday i dont know what i changed i set up xorgconfig with a microsoft mouse before and it worked now it doesnt. when i try to move the mouse it moves but its all crazy and does circular out-of-control things. Anyone know what i did wrong?
and really dumb down any ideas you might have like especially if you want me to look at a config file i dont know what program to use in konsole to view them.