Can't type text in Edge windows

[KellyF2]

JohnK14,

Yeah, I'm still having problems... Incredibly slow boot times. I often have to boot multiple times just to get task bar icons to show. I ended up having to purchase another Windows Pro license for $200 just so I could spin up a new VM because of the problems I've been having. It got so bad that when I was coding, there was a half-second delay between each keypress in a text editor. And I'm running this on a high-end 5k iMac with 32GB RAM and SSD. There must be issues beyond ctfmon.exe. I can report that a clean install of Windows and P12 doesn't have that problem but a $200 fix plus the hours and hours to replicate my Windows environment is hardly a suitable solution.

 

[KrisJ1]

Found this thread when I came across the issue myself today. I can also confirm that the workaround of running C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe fixed it for me (no idea if it survives a reboot). I find it funny AND sad that Parallels support appears to be "happy" about this solution in this thread. HEY PARALLELS, WAKE UP!! This is a serious bug and you should be RELAYING THIS INFORMATION to your Engineering dept, not saying "we're glad to hear that!". The "fix" is just a band-aid and the real problem exists IN YOUR SOFTWARE. SO FIX IT ALREADY.

Indeed. This seems like an ad hoc fix that does not address the real reason for this issue popping up in the first place. My system was working fine prior to my most recent PD12 update.

Now, the whole installation is effectively rendered useless... Performance is bad, no typing in modern apps... nothing.

 

[KrisJ1]

ctfmon.exe is the Microsoft process that controls Alternative User Input and the Office Language bar if that particular service is not running then it is a Microsoft Issue.

You are misrepresenting things a bit.

My VM was set up for single language use. After the most recent PD12 update, my machine suddenly becomes unresponsive after signing in. For minutes on end, the task bar and start menu will flash and be totally unresponsive. After things settle down, I still cannot type anything until I manually start ctfmon.

While a manual start of ctfmon might re-enable typing (until the next boot) it does not negate the possibility that something in PD12 of Parallels tools is causing this to happen in the first place.

All over these forums, there are postings of various random 'fixes' that might or might not work, depending on the user. The real core of the problem is not addressed.

While I did not change anything on my VM for months in terms of software, other than PD12 updates, my system became useless from one day to the next.

A better response is in order...

 

[KrisJ1]

Just an update.

Yesterday, I had a support session with someone from Parallels.

The person did a great job in handling the procedure, no complaints there, but at the end of the day everyone from Parallels sees adamant this is somehow a 'Windows issue'.
Oddly enough, I do not see this on any other W10 installation in my office or elsewhere.
Only there are scattered reports of ctfmon.exe not running and/or executing well and manually starting ctfmon.exe gets rid of all the issues until the next reboot.
However, if this is all in fact a Windows issue, it should be reported to Microsoft as well as clearly, this is not normal... Maybe also the PD dev team could reach out to Microsoft. I can imagine they might have more direct access to the Windows team given the importance of Windows in the Parallels ecosystem.

It would be refreshing to see this happen.

 

[Nemensi]

Did you try to downgrade Parallels Desktop to a previous version? I'm using still 12.0.2 with Windows 10 (Creators Update) and can not reproduce your problems.

 

[KrisJ1]

Did you try to downgrade Parallels Desktop to a previous version?

I eventually might but if you think about it... Parallels should seriously look at this and consider other solutions than mere workarounds.

If not, potentially all future versions are going to suffer from this going forward...

Ultimately there are also benefits to new releases and I would like to be able and enjoy these worry free.

I am continuing with PD support but the whole process is quite cumbersome. If you need support on anything non trivial it takes a very long time to get in touch with someone with the actual know-how to understand potential causes for this issue.

 

[Nemensi]

Ultimately there are also benefits to new releases and I would like to be able and enjoy these worry free.

You are right. The limitation to 4 CPU/8 GB per VM introduced in Parallels Desktop 12.1 is one of these benefits. I'm pretty sure that most users enjoy it.

 

[KrisJ1]

You are right. The limitation to 4 CPU/8 GB per VM introduced in Parallels Desktop 12.1 is one of these benefits. I'm pretty sure that most users enjoy it.

Perhaps don't make this thread about something else.
Update:

I was in touch with a second level support engineer. They finally were able to acknowledge this issue was something out of the ordinary.

The working hypothesis is that this is something that specifically happens with installations that have seen an update from 1607 (Anniversary) to 1703 (Creators).

I am in the process of checking this...

 

[MikeB13]

Just want to keep this alive - same issue with latest PD12.2.1 (41615). Started about a week ago - with the previous minor release of PD. Been upgraded to Creator for a couple weeks with no issues until now. Task bar locks and icons appear and disappear a number of times until finally stabilizes. Edge and Cortana would not work until I run ctfmon. Something jacked up here.

 

[MWS1]

You are misrepresenting things a bit.

My VM was set up for single language use. After the most recent PD12 update, my machine suddenly becomes unresponsive after signing in. For minutes on end, the task bar and start menu will flash and be totally unresponsive. After things settle down, I still cannot type anything until I manually start ctfmon.

While a manual start of ctfmon might re-enable typing (until the next boot) it does not negate the possibility that something in PD12 of Parallels tools is causing this to happen in the first place.

All over these forums, there are postings of various random 'fixes' that might or might not work, depending on the user. The real core of the problem is not addressed.

While I did not change anything on my VM for months in terms of software, other than PD12 updates, my system became useless from one day to the next.

A better response is in order...

Exactly the same issue here. We have spent hours and hours in fixing it but nothing helped. Even if we do a reimage, the same shit happens just a month later.
This is such a waste of time and resources.

 

[ClaudiaT1]

I suffer similar problems. Windows 10 ran totally trouble free the last few months but after the last Parallels Update the problems started. At first, there was the issue with Search bar and other Windows apps where no longer any keyboard input was possible. I solved that by loading a backup VM as all other attempts including an inplace update were not successful. But though the backup ran fine for about a day I experienced crashes and freezes. The last one this morning where Windows suddenly froze when I tried to open a doc file in Word. But it wasn't Windows that had frozen but Parallels. There was no possibility to stop it (the same happened during the weekend several times and when I tried to revert to a snapshot) and as I was on a tight deadline I had to force restart my MacBook, something I don't like at all. Put it that way, I had no problems with the Mac-Parallels-Windows combination during the last few months. Now, something nasty happens about every hour. Just the last week I lost over a day's work by several freezes or extreme slow downs. The speed of my VM is alarmingly slow and this wasn't the case before. It never froze, and I'm using it only for a handful of applications, e.g. Trados Studio, Office and a dictionary app. The last update appears to be a disaster. Please fix this soon.

 

[ScottCol]

Restarting c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe got me working again as well. Thanks for the suggestion. This could very well be a parallels issue I imagine - but it is worth saying that issues with typing in the Cortana search bar (and Edge) are everywhere on the internet for just plain ol' Windows 10. I can't believe how many articles like this one are out there: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-taskbar-search-not-working-windows-10

 

[Swati@Parallels]

Restarting c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe got me working again as well. Thanks for the suggestion. This could very well be a parallels issue I imagine - but it is worth saying that issues with typing in the Cortana search bar (and Edge) are everywhere on the internet for just plain ol' Windows 10. I can't believe how many articles like this one are out there: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-taskbar-search-not-working-windows-10

Glad to hear that issue has been resolved. This issue is completely related to Windows operating system and it can happen with the real PC. The steps which we have provided to resolve the issue is taken from Microsoft community.

 

[DavidF13]

I'm also experiencing this issue and it only started happening after updating to the Creator's Update and upgrading to the latest hotfix of parallels AFTER the Creator's update. I would guess that something parallels tools are doing in Windows is causing ctfmon.exe to get hung. Perhaps the parallels tools don't initialize something early enough in the boot process that ctfmon is now expecting to be initialized? Either way, I don't think this is a Windows only thing. I don't doubt that it could happen to a Windows host OS, but my money is that parallels is doing something that is causing it to happen with as many people that are posting about it here.

 

[PaulChristopher@Parallels]

I'm also experiencing this issue and it only started happening after updating to the Creator's Update and upgrading to the latest hotfix of parallels AFTER the Creator's update. I would guess that something parallels tools are doing in Windows is causing ctfmon.exe to get hung. Perhaps the parallels tools don't initialize something early enough in the boot process that ctfmon is now expecting to be initialized? Either way, I don't think this is a Windows only thing. I don't doubt that it could happen to a Windows host OS, but my money is that parallels is doing something that is causing it to happen with as many people that are posting about it here.

Hi @DavidF13, Parallels Tools is the driver software for Parallels Desktop. If it is able to communicate the text input processor, it should installed successfully. Ctfmon.exe activates the Alternative User Input Text Input Processor (TIP) and the Microsoft Office Language Bar.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. It's purely Windows oriented issue. You may check out this article.

 

[totvos]

I can confirm that:

1. Text input used to work just fine in things like Cortana and OneNote.
2. I updated PD12 to 12.2.1 (41615) a week or so ago, and text input stopped working. I first noticed it in OneNote, which I use about once a week.
3. I ran the ctfmon workaround and it restored text input.

Sorry, but I fail to see how this is a Microsoft issue.

 

[ZainH]

This worked like a charm for me:

1. Press Win + R (to open Run )
2. copy paste and press enter to run this program. "C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe". it brings back the language bar and for me it allowed me to type in windows search, start menu and WINDOWS 10 apps again

Thanks! You were a big help

 

[AshleySilver]

This worked like a charm for me:

1. Press Win + R (to open Run )
2. copy paste and press enter to run this program. "C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe". it brings back the language bar and for me it allowed me to type in windows search, start menu and WINDOWS 10 apps again

This definitely worked and saved me hours of frustration - I don't expect bugs like this especially when you need the capability to solve problems like this without having to type and cut and paste from notepad to search in Edge!

 

[CraigS4]

This definitely worked and saved me hours of frustration - I don't expect bugs like this especially when you need the capability to solve problems like this without having to type and cut and paste from notepad to search in Edge!

This is the only solution I've found that works. In fact, I made a shortcut to this app in the task bar, and click it every restart:

 

[JustinB4]

I registered to come here and keep this thread alive - I'm experiencing this exact problem as well and I have only observed it in Windows installations within Parallels. This led to lots of lost productivity until I discovered the ctfmon.exe fix in this thread.