When I start my computer it run a task called ctfmon what is it..

It is part of Office XP (Office 2002) Something to do with User interfacing I believe. It should be removable through the Office XP set-up, but I have that purly on say as I don't have office xp

mcpt is right. But I find that I cannot automatically disable ctfmon.exe from the start-up folder using msconfig (I'm using WinME)-damn persistent devil,this! So,what I did was I copied the original ctfmon.exe (it's in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder where C is the drive you installed your operating system)and saved in in a different folder.Next, I renamed the original ctfmon.exe to ctfmon.ex_ -in fact you can rename it by removing any or adding any alphabet as long its not *.exe And presto,I saved some invaluable RAM and my web browsing was faster. REGARDS andrew

BTW - Whenever you do Office Update for XP Ctfmon.exe re-appears. So you will need to disable it again.

Just go to msconfig and disable it from starting up it should't cause any damage

from the microsoft.com/office knowlegdge base all you need is here !!! :) OFFXP: What Is CTFMON and What Does It Do? no keysno keys---------------------- The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Access 2002 Microsoft Excel 2002 Microsoft Outlook 2002 Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Microsoft Word 2002 no keysno keys---------------------- SUMMARY When you run a Microsoft Office XP program, the file Ctfmon.exe (Ctfmon) runs in the background, even after you quit all Office programs. This article answers some of the frequently asked questions about the Microsoft Text Services Ctfmon.exe file, which is loaded after installing Office XP Alternative User Input features. This article answers the following questions: What is the Ctfmon.exe (ctfmon) file? What does the Ctfmon.exe file do? Can I remove the Ctfmon.exe file? Why won't Ctfmon.exe go away when I remove it from MSConfig? When I uninstall the alternative input items from Office XP, Ctfmon.exe still loads. What else do I need to do to keep it from running? What amount of system resources is used when Ctfmon.exe is running? Can I load Ctfmon.exe on demand instead of all the time? Will I break something if I click End Task on the Ctfmon.exe process? Does Ctfmon.exe work the same on all operating systems? MORE INFORMATION What is the Ctfmon.exe (ctfmon) 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 these steps. Step 1: Uninstall Alternative User Input To uninstall the alternative user input feature, set the installation state to Not Available in Office XP Setup. Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0: Quit all Office programs. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click to select Microsoft Office XP product, where Office XP product is the name of the specific Office product being used. If you are using a standalone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list. Click Add/Remove. In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box. Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features to expand it. Click the icon next to Alternative User Input, and then select Not Available. Click Update. NOTE: If you have multiple Office XP products installed, for example, Office XP Professional and Publisher 2002, you must repeat the preceding steps for each installed product. Microsoft Windows 2000: Quit all Office programs. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs. In the Currently installed programs list, click to select Microsoft Office XP product, where Office XP product is the name of the specific Office product being used. If you are using a standalone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list. Click Change. In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box. Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features to expand it. Click the icon next to Alternative User Input, and then select Not Available. Click Update. NOTE: If you have multiple Office XP products installed, for example, Office XP Professional and Publisher 2002, you must repeat the preceding steps for each installed product. Step 2: Remove Alternative User Input Services from Text Services Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In the Control Panel, double-click Text Services. Go to the Installed Services section, and, one by one, select each input item listed, and then click Remove to remove the item. All items should be removed except the following input service: English (United States)- default Keyboard United States 101 Step 3: Run Regsvr32 /U on the Msimtf.dll and Msctf.dll Files Click Start and then click Run. In the Run dialog box, type the following command: Regsvr32.exe /u msimtf.dll Click OK. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the Msctf.dll file. Why won't Ctfmon.exe go away when I remove it from MSConfig? Removing Ctfmon.exe from MSConfig does not disable Ctfmon.exe. For more information about disabling Ctfmon.exe, refer to the "Can I remove the Ctfmon.exe file?" section earlier in this article. When I uninstall the Alternative Input features from Office XP, Ctfmon.exe still loads. What else do I need to do to keep it from running? Unlike the Alternative User Input features, Ctfmon.exe is a system component that cannot be uninstalled. For more information about disabling Ctfmon.exe, refer to the "Can I remove the Ctfmon.exe file?" section earlier in this article. What amount of system resources is used when Ctfmon.exe is running? Ctfmon.exe uses little of the system resources if Advanced Text Services are not running. Advanced Text Services are those input technologies (speech recognition, handwriting recognition, and Input Method Editors) that are being controlled by Ctfmon.exe via a TIP. Can I load Ctfmon.exe on demand instead of all the time? The Alternative User Input system is not designed to be loaded and unloaded on demand. Can I click "End Task" in the Task Manager dialog box or "End Task" in the Close Program dialog box for the Ctfmon.exe process? No. It is not recommended that you manually close the Ctfmon.exe process. It is recommended that you use the steps in the "Can I remove the Ctfmon.exe file?" section if you want to stop the Ctfmon.exe process. Does Ctfmon.exe work the same in all operating systems? Generally, yes. Ctfmon.exe performs the same tasks on different Microsoft Windows operating systems. Additional Information Ctfmon.exe is the file that is responsible for controlling the Alternative User Input technologies. It starts the Language Bar component (in the Systray) and remains running in the background even after you quit an Office XP program. It also starts each time Windows is started and remains in the background, regardless of whether an Office XP program is started. CTFMON.exe is designed to continue to run in the background during Windows sessions after the Office XP Alternative User Input components are installed. Additional query words: WD2002 prb COrg2002 PPT2002 PPT OFFXP inf Keywords : kbdta Issue type : kbhowto Technology : kbWordSearch kbOutlookSearch kbExcelSearch kbAccessSearch kbPowerPtSearch kbWord2002 kbWord2002Search kbAccess2002 kbExcel2002 kbPowerPt2002 kbAccess2002Search kbPowerPt2002Search kbOutlook2002Search kbExcel2002Search kbZNotKeyword3 kbExcelWinSearch Last Reviewed: August 24, 2001

Removing ctfmon, via the process outlined above, will disable the speech recognition tool. It does take a healthy amount of memory so if you aren't going to use it you might as well remove it.