Thread: How to Use the screen keyboard for entering special characters

Foreign characters are necessary for a few applications, e.g. when programming dialog boxes or when translating texts. A standard German keyboard does not help you much when it comes to this.

It is best if you use a screen keyboard whose key lettering corresponds to the desired input language. Use 'Start/Run' in Windows XP for calling the screen keyboard and enter the command in 'Open' dialog box of the same name. Confirm this instruction with 'OK'. Click 'Start' in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and write the same command in the 'Start search' field or in 'Search Programs/ files'. Windows displays the search result directly on the start menu. Then double click 'osk.exe' in the 'Programs' area.

The screen keyboard appears on the desktop. Its keyboard layout corresponds to the current country setting of the operating system. The software keys are over all the applications in the foreground. You can change this functioning in XP and Vista versions of Windows via 'Settings/Always in the foreground'; however, the basic setting is suitable for most of the applications. In Windows 7 navigate to 'Start/Control panel' and click on 'Change keyboards or other input methods'. Switch the Tab to 'Keyboards and Languages' and click 'Change keyboards'. Click on 'Add' and select the desired language from the following menu. You should now be able to view the language bar on the right side of the task bar. When you select the desired language the virtual keyboard and the normal keyboard changes with the country chosen. Now, position the cursor on the document for adding the alphabet and then click the desired character on the virtual keyboard.

Note: To activate more languages on your system, right-click the icon of the current language displayed in the language bar and select 'Settings'. Click on 'Add' put a checkmark in front of the desired languages in the 'Add Input language' tree structure of the dialog box. Confirm with 'OK'.