I found that if the image was clicked, it took the visitor to Top Of Page, which I don't want. Changing the LINK TO from just # to #nogo, kept that from happening. But, as you've found, just changing Web Properties to DO NOTHING if clicked, sent me off to a Page Not Found message.

And, as you've described, the hand still appears in either case, at least inviting a click from a site visitor....perhaps thinking as I did, that it might also advance the slide. My preference would be for the hand to appear only when hovering over the control buttons.

And, I agree about better control of the button strip. While playing with different images, it often blended in to the image background, so that I could barely see it.