Recently I had to use some software (specifically, UCSF Chimera, but this solution should be relevant to any program) that makes extensive use of the middle mouse button. For those of us with a mouse, this presents no problem.
For some people (trackpad users and those owning mice that utilize unusual drivers) the middle mouse button may be fairly elusive. If you require a middle mouse button, I highly recommend getting a standalone mouse (or replacing the one you have that isn't working correctly). In the meantime, use this workaround:
Requirements:
Windows laptop with touchpad and Synaptics Touchpad Driver
Go to your control panel and find your mouse settings. It should be a window with multiple tabs like "buttons", "pointers" and "pointer options". The last tab should have a red icon and say "device settings".
Go to the device settings tab and hit the "settings" button. Go to the menu called "tapping" and enable "tap zones" by clicking on the words "tap zones" and checking the box. Now, pick the area of the touchpad that you'd like to act as your middle mouse button (I prefer the bottom left). Once you click it, there should be a list of actions that tapping the specified area will perform. Select "middle mouse button" and hit OK. If the options on this menu are gray, it's because you didn't enable Tap Zones.
Now you've got a makeshift middle mouse button.
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