Disable hardware ad-hoc

I am running Parted Magic doing some data recovery, that I am finding myself concurrently using for some other minor tasks also. Problem being, typing is a nightmare, as the trackpad is enabled (No hardware way of disabling it), and seemingly very sensitive. Just wondering: 1. Generally is there is any way to disable hardware in Linux, without restarting X, or the machine (i.e., Ad hoc)? 2. Are their any options to address this specific problem, if not by disabling the device, perhaps redirecting it's output