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Windows Vista

Disable Tablet PC Ink and Pen Input if Not Needed

SUMMARY: If you don't need Windows Vista's ink and pen support, turn off the unnecessary service.

Most editions of Windows Vista except Windows Home Basic come built-in with support for digital ink and pen input.

For tablet PCs this provides alternate input methods that can be used with character recognition capabilities. If you do not have a tablet PC and/or do not need this feature, however, consider disabling it.

Disabling this task may free up CPU cycles for other tasks.

You must be logged on as an Administrator to perform this tip. As mentioned above, disabling this service will render some features of Windows inoperable.

Read the disclaimer.

1. Click on the Start button.

2. Type in services.

3. Click the "Services" link that appears.

4. If the "User Account Control" dialog box appears, click "Continue".

User Account Control Dialog Box in Windows Vista

5. The "Services" window appears. Scroll down to "Tablet PC Input Service" (the whole name may not be visible due to the column width) and see if the value underneath the "Status" column is "Started". If so, double-click the item. If the service is not started automatically, ignore the rest of this tip.

6. Click on the "Startup type" pull-down and change the value to "Disabled".

7. Click the "Stop" button to stop the service.

8. Click "OK" on the dialog box, then close the "Services" window.