How to prevent Windows XP from stealing my input Ctrl-Space which is meant for Emacs?

Question

I am learning and using Emacs. What I found annoying is that Ctrl-Space input will be stolen by Windows XP to switch the language bar instead of setting the mark in Emacs.

Answer 1

I found this post and it works for me on Vista.

• open "regedit.exe" in run dialog
• Browse the registry editor to the location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Input Method\Hot Keys\
• Now delete registry entries that with the name: 0000007x (x indicates any number)

Answer 2

http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DisableImeForEmacs

Answer 3

I've been aware of this Windows bug for years. After tons of unsatisfying workarounds and fruitless searching the one or two times a year I attempt to find a solution, I finally have it!

Procedure

1. Go to Start > Type in regedit and start it
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Input Method/Hot Keys
3. Select the key named:
   • 00000070 for the Chinese (Traditional) IME - Ime/NonIme Toggle hotkey
   • 00000010 for the Chinese (Simplified) IME - Ime/NonIme Toggle hotkey
4. In the right sub-window, there are three subkeys.
   • Key Modifiers designate Alt/Ctrl/Shift/etc and is set to Ctrl (02c00000).
   • Virtual Key designates the finishing key and is set to Space (20000000).
5. Change the first byte in Key Modifiers from 02 to 00
6. Change the first byte in Virtual Key from 20 to FF
7. Log off and log back on. I don't think it's necessary to restart.
8. Do not change the Hot keys for input languages in Control Panel, unless you want to do this all over again.

Notes: Symptoms

Each registry key (thing that looks like a folder) is for each specific hotkey setting that you would normally find in Control Panel > Region and Language > Keyboards and Languages > Change keyboards... > Advanced Key Settings > Hot keys for input languages. The recurring bug is the hotkey being automatically reset to Ctrl+space even if changed via the GUI.

This is for Windows 7 64-bit, though from my research, it looks like it may work for XP and Vista as well.

Sources:

Traditional Chinese Pocket IME Hot Key Registry Settings

Simplified Chinese MSPY 3.0 IME Hot Key Registry Settings

Answer 4

Go to the Regional and Language Options Control Panel. Click the Languages tab, then the Details... button. Click the Key Settings... button. Double-click each entry in the "Hot keys for input languages" list and make sure the checkboxes are not checked. (If they are, uncheck them and click Ok.)

You do not need to disable the language bar, just the hot keys.

Answer 5

Found the solution to this problem as I just experienced it. So here goes even if the question is old.

Applies to Windows 7 and maybe others. I had added Chinese, Japanese and Korean input languages as I needed these for some development. After that I removed them again via Control Panel "Change keyboards...". I removed them all in one go and closed the dialog. After this all the languages still showed in the Language bar and I had the Ctrl-Space problem.

To fix it I did the following for each language one at a time: 1. Open Control Panel applet "Change keyboards..." 2. Add the keyboard for the language (i.e. chinese) 3. Click OK and exit control panel 4. Open applet again and remove the keyboard.

The problem seems to be a bug that appears when removing multiple keyboards at the same time.

Answer 6

You can also change the hot key for the language bar.