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I dual boot Windows 7 and MacOS X on my iMac.

Recently I needed to type some text in a non-English keyboard layout in Windows. I installed the second keyboard layout the way I usually do, but when I pressed Alt-Shift to switch, nothing happened. After playing around with the settings a bit more, I was able to switch to the other keyboard layout, but not back to the regular American English layout. No language bar either.

alt+shift does not work, nor does Ctrl+shift, nor does specifying a separate key combination for each layout like Ctrl+0 | Ctrl+1 | Ctrl+shift+0

Interestingly, the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box dies with I select the United States (Apple) layout and click on Properties.

I am running W7 64-bit on an 20" early 2009 iMac. I have the version of the wired, USB Mac keyboard without the keypad and the middle group of keys. Bootcamp is up to date.

Update

I did a bit more troubleshooting and discovered that for some reason, ctfmon.exe, which I believe is the process that handles switching between keyboard layouts and displaying the language bar, isn't running. I also encountered several other posts on the Net with people complaining of similar issues when running Windows under Bootcamp, but unfortunately no solution.

Anyway, trying to run ctfmon.exe manually (from the start menu or Run dialog) or adding it to the Run section in the registry does not fix the isssue because ctfmon.exe simply refuses to run.

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  • Is that a bluetooth keyboard? Do you have a normal USB keyboard that we can test with?
    – TheWellington
    Sep 12, 2011 at 20:55
  • I neglected to specify that what I'm using IS a wired USB keyboard. The question has been edited to stress this.
    – dandan78
    Sep 13, 2011 at 8:53
  • Can you still change the keyboard layouts using the mouse by clicking on the keyboard icon in the System Tray in the lower-right corner of the Windows desktop? (you have to enable this in the Control Panel settings)
    – user9290
    Sep 13, 2011 at 15:41

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I had this problem and fixed it by: Control Panel -> Regional Settings -> Keyboard and Languages (tab) -> Change keyboards (button) -> Selelct the top language added: (English United States) -> then click "Add" -> Navigate between the options to (English United States) -> click on "keyboard" -> now check the option "US"

This solved my problem, I hope it solves yours

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  • Yup, that was it. Haven't needed to boot into Windows for ages so I completely forgot about this problem. Thanks.
    – dandan78
    Apr 3, 2012 at 8:35
  • Sadly, I cannot double-upvote you :) I had this problem for an year now and just got used to just using the US keyboard, but today I finally found your post and it solved the problem. Seems the problem is with Apple's keyboard layouts. They are somehow breaking the CTFmon, which is responsible for the language bar.
    – bisko
    Apr 28, 2012 at 17:16
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I'm to some extend sure that this is a problem with the Apple English Keyboard dll. Here is why I think so. Go to "Text services and input languages". If "United States (Apple)" is among the input languages, try to double click it. If it crashes the dll host then you have the same problem as me which I think has something to do with bootcamp drivers.

I tried to solve this by remove the afformentioned keyboard layout and add another English keyboard. Now the language bar is visible.

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