Removing ctfmon From MsConfig
What Is the Ctfmon.exe File?
Ctfmon.exe activates the Alternative User Input Text Input Processor (TIP) and the Microsoft Office Language Bar.
What Does the Ctfmon.exe File Do?
Ctfmon.exe monitors the active windows and provides text input service support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, keyboard, translation, and other alternative user input technologies.
Can I Remove the Ctfmon.exe File?
Removing the Ctfmon.exe might cause problematic behavior in your Office XP programs, so removing it is not recommended. To prevent Ctfmon.exe from running, follow the steps below.
Why does ctfmon keep showing up in my msconfig screen even when I uncheck it and reboot?
Because ctfmon is used by 2 programs, MS Office and Windows, and must be disabled in both.
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NOTE: If you have multiple Office products installed, for example, Office Professional and Frontpage, you must repeat the following steps for each installed product.
NOTE: This guide is written for Windows XP
This guide is a 3 step process:
1. Disabling ctfmon in MS Office
2. Disabling ctfmon in Windows
3. Disabling ctfmon in the System Configuration Utility (msconfig window)
Disabling ctfmon in MS Office:
Open "Control Panel"....open "Add or Remove Programs"
Locate and click on your MS Office product and click "Change"
When the "Office Setup" window opens, select "Add or Remove Features" and click "Next"
When the next "Office Setup" window opens, select "Choose advanced customization of applications" and click "Next"
When the next "Office Setup" window opens, click the "Plus" icon next to "Office Shared Features" to expand the sub-listing
Click the arrow to the left of "Alternative User Input" to open the drop-down menu and select "Not Available" and click "Update"
When this finishes, close all windows.
Open "Control Panel"....open "Regional and Language Options"
Select the "Languages" tab and click "Details"
When the "Text Services and Input Languages" window opens
Select "Speech Recognition" and click "Remove"
Click "Apply" and "OK" to close that window
Click "Apply" and "OK" in the "Regional and Language Options" window
Then close the "Control Panel"
Disabling ctfmon in the System Configuration Utility (msconfig window):
Click "Start"...."Run" and type "msconfig" and click "OK"
When the "System Configuration Utility" window opens, select the "Startup" tab
Uncheck the box next to "ctfmon" and click "Apply" and then click "Close"
When the confirmation window opens, click "Restart" and your pc will reboot
Once you computer has rebooted, ctfmon should now be disabled.