can not turn off onscreen keyboard by ANY MEANS, for Windows 7

Question

For months, I have been trying to turn off the onscreen keyboard and I have yet to find actual Technical Support verses user instructions.

I'll make it simple for those who want to talk to me like a first time computer user.

I'm a software engineer. I was IT support for 14 years before that.

Therefore, please be clear that I mean exactly what I say. As an user with Adminstrative Rights and creating another profile with Administrative Rights, the a) Login Screen lower left menu, b) Control Panel Ease of Use options, c) Start Menu Accessories dropdown, d) Start-up Keyboard e) Logged-on Keyboard and f) OSK.EXE Registry Value application interfaces have no effect.

I am one step away from deleting the osk.exe. It is that annoying, persistent It does not show up under 1) Windows Features, 2) CMD: Path, 3) Appearance and Personalization, 4) Ease of USE [which is obviously corrupt], 4) Services [under any user friendly name], 5) Device Manager or 6) any other listing.

I ended up turning off all CPU processors, but one, the osk.exe accesses, which I don't think will have any effect.

Now, I have renamed the C:\Windows\System32\osk.exe and moving the file, so it can't be found. (That s perhaps redundant. However, this thing is hard to kill and keeps coming back. the onscreen keyboard "IS" the Walking Dead. The "Process" refused to be "killed.") Each reboot starts the horror all over.

There HAS to be a better way. Sometimes I actually use it, when my keyboard batteries are dead are the wireless connection falters.

After four months and 5 dedicated hours tonight, I have seem over a hundred complaints and every response was "introduction to first time computer user assistance" and EACH time the responder completely missed the mark. We are talking about a corrupt process, not "where is the off button." Each time, the writer became more and more agitated and upset from the lack of comprehension by the off-the-cuff responses that failed to actually read the problem as opposed to seeing the words Turn Keyboard Off." Today, every child that can reach a keyboard knows about the upper right hand "X", File>Close/Exit and menu options.

The closed any of these responders came was the osk.exe Registry Value. However, that had no effect, either. It has gone total "Sara Palin." This rouge application is not obeying any UI system commands to just simply shut up and shut down, ...for good.

Therefore, in closing. Again, how do I stop this corrupt "persistent process?"

I now concede the floor to those wiser than I.

Answer 1

I doubt I'm any wiser than you, but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help. Here are some things to try:

1. Check to see if you have any virtual input drivers, such as for a pen tablet. If so, update that driver from the manufacturer's support site, or disable or uninstall it.

2. Try disabling Tablet PC Components in Windows Features, or from the commandline:

   dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:TabletPCOC
   

   Alternatively, you could try selectively disabling Tablet PC functions in:

   Group Policy Editor > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Tablet PC
   

3. If you suspect a corruption of Ease of Access, of course you'll want to have run sfc /scannow from the commandline to check if Windows can detect such a corruption.

4. Try these registry keys:

   [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Accessibility\Keyboard Preference]
   "On"="0"
   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\Keyboard Preference]
   "On"="0"
   

5. Download and run Microsoft's Autoruns as an Administrator. Analyze the results for anything relating to input, keyboard, accessibility, "tabtip", "osk", tablet, mobility, etc.

6. Take ownership of "osk.exe" and revoke the Read & Execute permission for the TrustedInstaller service and the System user.

7. Don't delete it: Windows will restore it from the system image automatically. Just prevent the process from running. Here are a few ways to do that:

   1. You could use Group Policy Editor to blacklist the app:

      User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Don't run specified Windows applications
      

      Set this policy to Enabled, go to Show..., type in "osk.exe", and click OK twice.

   2. You can do the same thing in Registry Editor:

      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
      "DisallowRun"=dword:00000001
      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun]
      "1"="osk.exe"
      

   3. You should be using a Standard User account for day-to-day operations anyway, using an administrator account solely for tasks that require elevation on a case-by-case basis. So, you could use Windows 7's parental controls feature to blacklist osk.exe:

      Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > Set up parental controls for any user
      

      Under Parental Controls, select On, enforce current settings, click Allow and block specific programs, select [username] can only use the programs I allow, then select the programs you want to allow.

   4. Give Process Blocker a try, which purports to be "able to prevent running any Windows application." I just installed and tested it: it worked well and it worked simply! "Process Blocker is free unless you require extended functionality such as whitelisting or user-specific rules."

   5. Give Task Catcher a try. This one is from the original developer of the much-loved application WinPatrol. Don't be put off by the 90s-style website. A good developer ≠ a good designer. The program design itself is fine. I have myself purchased and use WinPatrol. I haven't, however, tried Task Catcher, and it is currently only about to enter public beta, but it is stable enough for purchase, and the developer has received backing for improvement and enhancement of the project.

      "Task Catcher allows you to efficiently monitor programs running on your computer without slowing you down or hogging all your memory. It's so tiny you'll never know Task Catcher is even running. Task Catcher will block unwanted programs from running and restart your favorite programs if they are disabled or crash."

Answer 2

Scott Hanselman's method worked for me on Windows 10 laptop.

Disable the service named - Touch screen keyboard and handwriting panel

Answer 3

We are using Windows 7 Embedded on a display TV with a touchscreen driver. The onscreen keyboard mini window drove me nuts.

The solution we found was to open the onscreen keyboard (somehow). - This will launch the onscreen keyboard (of course). - On the top left hand side there are a few buttons, one of them is Tools> Options, or Options> Tools. - Nested within are check boxes to disable the onscreen keyboard. - I ticked off 2 boxes, and like magic, it disappeared.

Hope you find it and that it works for you.

My next challenge is removing the tiny little cursor that looks like e tiny star.

Answer 4

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to post my solution after experiencing the issue of not being able to turn of the onscreen keyboard that I had just this past weekend.

I was working on an HP G4 1117dx laptop that had other issues. I hate laptop scroll mouse and had plugged in a USB-connected mouse in the USB port that is next to the power cord. I ran several malware scans on this unit and rebooted many times. Each time, the onscreen keyboard popped up and had to be closed with the X at the upper right -- even though it was turned off in the Ease of Access center.

I researched and actually found this thread and tried the solutions posted here. What more or less 'fixed' this issue for me was not posted here.

I simply unplugged my external USB mouse and rebooted and after a couple of times, started using the scroll mouse pad on the laptop and no more onscreen keyboard popped up. There must be a conflict with the mouse I plugged into the USB port. Now, I can't say if it is with the specific port I used or if it will come back on the other ports available, as I had to send this unit back to the client.

Thought I'd share.