How do you disable finger input in Windows 8?

Anonymous
2012-10-29T13:08:11+00:00

From what I understand, disabling finger input in earlier builds of Windows 8 was as simple as it was in Windows 7. But with the release of Windows 8 last week, this is no longer the case, and that solution no longer exists. Was it moved to a more obscure location or removed entirely? To be clear, I (and many others) am looking to disable finger input while still maintaining stylus functionality.

Hopefully, if it is as impossible as it seems, a fix will be on the way within the week. The lack of this feature has nearly converted my tablet to nothing more than a neat toy. I have to strap cardboard to my hand so that resting it on the screen doesn't make my cursor flip out while I'm trying to work in Flash!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Search, touch, and mouse

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Anonymous
2012-10-30T08:29:14+00:00
  1. Yes, exactly. In Windows 7, the option is in plain sight in the Pen and Touch settings. In Windows 8 the option is no longer there.
  2. Yes, I'm looking to disable finger input while still being able to use the stylus for input. Most of the options I found only disable the touch screen entirely.
  3. It's a Samsung 7 Series Slate PC, model number XE700T1A-A01US.

Thanks for your assistance in advance! I was actually able to find a working solution with some extra digging, which unfolded in a thread over here. Although, this causes some major faults like being unable to use input at all on screens like the login screen (for some reason, no stylus support there). So of course, a much more elegant and direct route to the option would be just incredible for the artists like myself looking for this feature.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-04-25T01:33:57+00:00

    I use an Asus eeSlate 121 EP and have exactly the same problem with Windows 8.

    I need to turn off finger input and have stylus input only for programs like Manga Studio, Z-Brush and Artrage. I work as a professional Illustrator and use the eeSlate to work out of office on location under extreme time pressure mostly.

    As much as I would like to have Windows 8 running on the tablet PC, I had to switch back to Windows 7 because I found no working solution and the automatic pen detection is not reliable enough-- there will be moments when the pen is too far away from screen because of a pause in workflow and the back of the hand still rests on the tablet and--whoossh-- lines appear out of nowhere in the art applications (and if I do not notice them fast enough to  press UNDO this can be seriously sabotaging my work, so I need to be able to disable the possibility of this happening)

    Microsoft: please make the option to turn off finger input completely when a stylus is installed available again. It is important for professionals in the art field. I have read that the feature was there in the Win 8 preview, so it should be no big deal to re-implement it.

    Or has the "turn off finger input" switch been re- installed again with one of the recent updates? (I have no longer access to a working Windows 8 since my Windows 8 is waiting on an USB Stick to be re-activated when there is a solution available again-- that was not what I had in mind when I bought the update, I wanted to have better support for touch devices and pens, not worse).

    Greetings,

    Oliver

    I am in the same boat as you. I have an EP121 and it drives me crazy that I have to go into the device manager and disable the digitizer in order to do this. There really needs to be an easier way to disable touch. The method that existed in Windows 7 and in the Windows 8 beta is much better than what we have now but it would be ideal if this option were accessible via the charms for ease of access.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-04-25T18:14:45+00:00

    Sadly, I think I'm going to also need to downgrade my Slate back to Windows 7. It's really too bad, because WIndows 8 makes the Slate so much better... Microsoft doesn't seem to really be taking digitizers very seriously, which is also another tragedy, since this is the one primary distinguishing factor over anything from Apple. I have a Surface Pro, and the Stylus doesn't work quite right either. The palm rejection works better, but that's because the digitizer in the Surface Pro reacts a little over an inch from the display, unlike the EP121, which is more like a half inch. It doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-04-25T19:10:33+00:00

    Hi,

    Open Control Panel > More Settings (left corner)

    Navigate to Hardware and Sound

    Select Pen and Touch

    Select Touch Tab

    Uncheck "Use Your Finger As An Input Device"

    Click Apply

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-04-25T19:20:39+00:00

    The GUI option is gone but you can do this:

    1. Open Regedit
    2. Browse to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Wisp\Touch
    3. Modify TouchGate to 0 (0=disable touch)
    4. Logoff
    5. When you log in, touch should be disabled but the stylus still work
    6. If it is still enabled, try a reboot

    You could potentially, export 0 and 1 values and run them as needed and logon/off.

    Not as elegant but should work.

    This was the solution that worked for me. The GUI option was missing like it is for a number of other people.

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