Computer "forgets" Keyboard Setting

[SteveD]

4 months old Acer desktop PC. OS Windows 8.1.

I live in Belgium and the system is set to English (United Kingdom) and the (Belgian Azerty) keyboard to Belgian French. There have been no problems till recently when, on booting up the PC, it reverts to English keyboard. In other words, it "forgets" the keyboard setting.

I have reset it in Control Panel and by pressing the Windows key and space but it does not retain the setting I apply.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Buenchico]

Are you actually clicking 'Apply', rather than just 'OK'?

[SteveD]

In Control Panel.....Language options, I see neither "OK" nor "Apply". At the bottom right of the screen, it currently shows "ENG BEFR". If I press the Windows key and the space bar, I am offered 3 options:

FRA French (Belgium)
Belgian French keyboard

ENG English (United Kingdom)
UK United Kingdom keyboard

ENG English (United Kingdom)
BEFR Belgian French keyboard

It's the last one that I want. Clicking on it sets it to what I want but there is no "Save" or "Apply" etc.

[Buenchico]

Aaaagh! Ruddy Window 8!!!

From the Microsoft website:
"Your default keyboard layout or input method is the one that’s automatically used with the language you see Windows in (for example, the QWERTY keyboard for British English). If you want to keep your Windows language the same but use a different keyboard automatically, follow these steps:

Open Control Panel by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Control Panel in the search box, and then tapping or clicking Control Panel.

Enter Add a language in the search box, then tap or click Add a language.

Tap or click Advanced settings.

Under Override for default input method, choose the keyboard layout or input method that you'd like to be your new default, then tap or click Save"

[SteveD]

Thanks for the help. I followed the Microsoft instructions and, when I booted up the PC this morning, in the bottom right hand corner of the screen I see "FRA" not ENG BEFR as I used to see. However, when I write something, all seems well apart from the fact that about 50% of the words I am writing now are underlined with a wavy red line as though there are spelling mistakes. cheval horse (neither of those words is underlined). I'm lost but it seems to work so I'm going to proceed on the principle tht if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Buenchico]

There's no connection between your previous problem and the new one, which is a very common malware attack. (I've had it happen twice myself and I've answered dozens of questions about it here).

Download, install and run the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/
That usually fixes the problem.

(NB: When installing that program, take great care to deselect the pre-ticked option to take a free trial of the Premium version).

[Buenchico]

OH, HANG ON A MOMENT!!!

SECOND THOUGHTS!!!

Red lines under words which you see within a web page are, indeed, the result of a malware attack. However, on re-reading your post, it looks as if the program you're typing in (which I assume is your web browser) is using the wrong dictionary.

Since I don't know which browser you're using, I can't guarantee that I can offer a solution straight away but in Firefox (for example) you can change the dictionary simply by right-clicking on an underlined word and going to 'Languages'.

Sorry about the confusion!

[SteveD]

OK. I have done that and it found 5 "Threats": PUP.Optional.Home page helper.A each categorised as "Potentially unwanted programs".

[Buenchico]

Quarantine anything found by Malwarebytes but then change your dictionary as well!

[SteveD]

I'm using Internet Explorer 11 which has always worked fine for me ("not broke = no fix"). Right clicking on underlined words offers "Manage language" which, in turn leads to Control panel. I'll try leaving things as they are for now and see how things go over the next few days.

Comparing the English and French pangrams as I write here:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume

no French words are underlined and only brown and lazy are underlined in the English one.

[Buenchico]

The problem with Internet Explorer (or, more accurately, one of the many problems with Internet Explorer) is that it shares many of its settings with Windows. (i.e. you can't have one setting for Windows in general and another for Internet Explorer). So you might find that you can't change the dictionary in Internet Explorer.

Firefox is far, far better!
https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/new/