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It is possible to control applications through a speech interface, which can be conveniently for some. Microsoft have included this feature in Windows XP along with Office XP/2003, but if you don't use this feature then it is recommended to disable it. The speech recognition needs to make hooks into all applications to forward the commands from the speech interface to the applications, and many times this causes conflicts with the applications.

To disable the builtin speech recognition (Sapisvr.exe/ctfmon.exe) in Windows XP:

• Press Start-button, Settings and open Control Panel
• Double click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
• Choose the Languages-tab and click Details in the Text services and input languages-box
• Click the Language Bar in the Preferences-box
• Unchek the Extend support of advanced text services to all programs-box
• Check the Turn off advanced text services-box
• This should be reflected with these registry entries:

  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \CTF]
  Disable Thread Input Manager = 1
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \CTF \Langbar]
  ExtraIconsOnMinimized = 0
  ShowStatus = 2
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \CTF \MSUTB]
  ShowDeskBand = 1
  

More Info MS KB Q313176
More Info MS KB Q316215
More Info MS KB Q316768
More Info MS KB Q827323

To uninstall speech recognition (ctfmon.exe) from MS Office (All Windows versions):

• Quit all Office programs
• Press Start-button, Settings and open Control Panel
• In the Control Panel double click Add/Remove Programs-applet
• On the Install/Uninstall-tab and select Microsoft Office ???? Product and press Add/Remove
• In the Maintenance Mode Options-dialog choose Add or Remove Features and click Next
• In the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools-dialog expand Office Shared Features
• Set Alternative User Input to Not Available and click Update

More Info MS KB Q282599
More Info MS KB Q326526
More Info MS KB Q823586