Fix My Pen Makes your Wacom Tablet JUST WORK on Windows 7
Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 9:50AM [Update on 2012/08/18] for Windows 8 information go here: http://viziblr.com/news/2012/8/18/windows-8-rtm-and-wacom-tablets-better-but-flawed.html
Remember when your Wacom tablet worked on Windows XP? It was perfect.
- No rings
- No dynamic feedback
- No flicks
- No Tablet PC input panel
- No press and hold
On Windows 7 and Windows Vista you have to follow an arcane set of instructions like this. But I have an easier solution for you.
Try this tool I created called “Fix my Pen!”
INSTRUCTIONS
Download the latest version’s ZIP file here:
- The official location is on the Codeplex site: http://viziblr.codeplex.com/releases
- If you are having trouble accessng CodePlex try my SkyDrive: http://sdrv.ms/V7XqVi
Right-click on the ViziblrFixMyPen.exe file and select Run as administrator
The program will launch.
See all the settings are marked “bad”? We don’t want to see anything “bad”.
Click Make everything good
Close the program.
Log-out and log back in. Now you can use your Wacom pen without all the Tablet PC nonsense.
I have tested it on Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, and Home Premium.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
It just sets a bunch of registry keys.
WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT ONCE IT RUNS?
After your fix things with the tool and log back in…
The Flicks icon will no longer be visible in the Notification Area
The Flicks tab in the Pen and Touch control panel will look like this
The Tablet PC Input panel will no longer be visible on the Desktop
The Tablet PC icon will no longer show up next to text input boxes
The Tablet PC Input panel options in Control Panel will have several items disabled and grayed-out:
The Press and Hold value in the control panel will be disabled.
Dynamic Feedback (those stupid rings) will be disabled.
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
All this tool does is automate what used to be manual tasks. If you don’t feel it is work the risk then make the changes manually. If you use the tool you accept all responsibility liability if anything goes wrong. See the License Terms below.
LICENSE TERMS
This software is distributed under the standard MIT License. The text of the license is below.
Copyright (C) 2011 by Saveen Reddy Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
CAN I SEE THE SOURCE CODE?
Yes. It’s all up on on the Viziblr Dev project on CodePlex
DO I REALLY HAVE TO RUN IT AS ADMINISTRATOR?
Yes.
Reader Comments (36)
Worked just fine for me! I've been searching a solve for this for long. Thanks a lot! No more damn circles!
OH MY GOD THANK YOU
Yes! This is just what I was looking for!
It was a hassle-free, flawless solution to a problem that was getting on my nerves!
Thank you so very much for this!
You win!
Mother of god YES thank you so much, I was going crazy over this bullshit but this worked wonderfully
Thank you SO MUCH !!!
This is incredibly helpful!
It was ridiculous trying to get rid of these annoyances, and you've gone and made a little program that makes all of them disappear in one go.
Thank you so much for this! =D
Thank you very much for this (sigh of relief).
I dug out my Wacom Tablet to give it another try and hit all the common frustrations.
Much appreciation.
Thank you so much. This was soo helpful!
However I still get a lag when i try to draw with my Intuous 2 (windows 7) , it´s like every 10 seconds or so, the pen stops for half a second , it´s really annoying...any idea on how to fix this problem, please?
Thanks!!
There is a much simpler method of doing this that doesn't involve mucking around with the registry:
1) Go to Control Panel -> Programs and Features
2) Click "Turn Windows features on or off"
3) Uncheck "Tablet PC Components" and click OK.
@Nathan - The technique you describe has some negative consequences for a set of users. Specifically the technique you describe also disables *desired* features such as "inking" in Word and Excel. The reason I recommend using the tool (or following the manual steps I describe elsewhere) instead of uninstalling the Tablet PC Components is that my technique and tools remove the behaviors that Wacom users hate without removing the Tablet features PC some people really do want.
Hello again, i posted yesterday to you Saveenr, but for some reason my post has been deleted? not sure why, i was asking if your program disables wisptis.exe permanently, and if it also affects pressure sensitivity within photoshop ? id like to know bfore i try it out :) thanks for all you have done for all us designers!
ahh i see i missed the recaptur!! oh well :(
@alfie - the tool does *not* disable WISPTIS.EXE permanently. For example, even after the tool runs, WISPTIS.EXE will still be loaded by Windows. Leaving WISPTIS alone is a deliberate part of the tool because I don't want to remove any Pen input features (like Inking) that other applications might depend on.
And here I've been doing all this manually on every new os install. LOL
This is a real timesaver, many thanks.
Thank you so much!
You have no idea how awesome this is. I have ONE issue. Your fix works great for 90% of my daily uses. However, I also use AutoCAD from time to time. I have my Wacom driver set for the forward click on the switch to be "middle-click" which allows me to pan within CAD, and the back set to "right-click" so I can pull up context menus, etc. Right-click is also used in other programs, windows explorer, internet explorer, etc., etc... When I start AutoCAD, the toggle switch stops working completely. I can minimize CAD, and it doesn't work in other programs. However, when I close CAD, it starts working again. Any idea what might be going on? Thank you so much!
Windows 7 Home Premium x64, Wacom Intuos5 Touch, AutoCAD 2012
Thank you very much..this is so awesome..
Strangely enough, after downloading and running Fix My Pen, I still got the dynamic feedback on my pen. When I opened the application again and clicked Make Everything Bad, everything worked great! The rings and animations disappeared. Any idea why?
@Danielle - haven't heard of that happening for anyone before. My first guess would have been that sometimes Windows takes some time to implement the pen settings. I am curious to know if this change will last for you.
Thanks man, great little tool. Specially having in mind that with every new driver install you have to do the thing again :)