Comment 73 for bug 489830

Workaround for this issue from question at http://askubuntu.com/questions/64334/gpointing-device-settings-lost-on-reboot:

In dconf-editor you can edit the settings like this:

Go to org/gnome/settings-daemon/peripherals/touchpad There you can select e.g. two finger scrolling instead of boarder scrolling, disable while typing, tap-to click and all the other nice usability-enhancing features.