CTFMON.EXE requirement and dependencies?

Passion · Post by **Passion** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:26 am

What functions in actual Windows use depend on ctfmon.exe, msimtf.dll and msctf.dll ?
I haven't gotten good answers on that based on what Microsoft writes about it. I read http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282599 but it's still not clear to me WHAT its functionality is. (And if it applies to XP64.)

If my users never use The Language Bar, never install any version of MS Office and will not even use Wordpad, is it required to have ctfmon.exe and those dlls on my system?

What is the "Alternative User Input Text Input Processor (TIP)" ? Is that necessary for inputting with different keyboard layouts than US-International? And if so, which types of input media depend on these files?

crashfly · Post by **crashfly** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:48 pm

The short answer is, yes and no.

Now, to fill in the details. In general, no it is not required to have ctfmon running if you are not using the language bar. However, I have heard that removing it causes issues with MS Office installs in the way it deals with codepages, etc. Do realize I have not tested this, but I not remove it either. Stopping it from loading is not an issue though, from what I can see.

User · Post by **User** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:51 pm

crashfly wrote:Stopping it from loading is not an issue though, from what I can see.

If you do try to set a tweak to stop it loading (delete the Run registry entry, or use this: http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) then you notice after a reboot, the cheeky little
thing is listed there again and starting up again!

Why would MS make a file startup even when you deleted the Run key?

Seems very dubious.

redxii · Post by **redxii** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:02 pm

Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages -> Details -> Advanced -> "Turn off advanced text services"

It is for inputting another language for which you don't have a keyboard for; I use it to input Japanese. Japanese has been romanized so I can type "ku" to change it into "く" or "ク" and any kanji suggestions.

Although I don't use it right now because for some stupid reason it prevents the monitor from turning off/shows through full screen video; neither of which were problems before SP3.

code65536 · Post by **code65536** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:09 pm

User wrote:Why would MS make a file startup even when you deleted the Run key?

Seems very dubious.

I don't know for sure, but here's a guess: Seeing as how this is a component that is vital to user input in many non-US locales, it makes perfect sense from a "let's reduce the likelihood of tech support calls from users who make stupid mistakes (i.e., users just knowledgeable enough to try to try to "clean" the registry but who are too clueless to understand what the hell they are doing)". Apple loves doing stuff like this. It's how they are so "user-friendly". It's not like it takes up a large amount of resources.

vmanda · Post by **vmanda** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:35 pm

To remove the language bar and turn of advanced text services unregister the folowing dll's:
Regsvr32.exe /u msutb.dll
Regsvr32.exe /u msimtf.dll
Regsvr32.exe /u Msctf.dll

Also total removing of ctfmon.exe it is not recomanded by microsoft

You will find some other infos on Microsoft site

And you can safe stop two services MDM (Microsoft Debug Manager) and ose (Office Source Engine ).
I use this with office 2k3 and work nice:
sc.exe stop MDM
sc.exe delete MDM
sc.exe stop ose
sc.exe delete ose