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I have a relatively small question about Windows [I'm using XP, but this question is probably not version-related] OS, for which I haven't found solution in any search engine. The problem is:

I have keyboard shortcuts assigned to some applications, such as Notepad: [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [M] and Calculator: [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Q]. When I use any of them, OS freezes for about 10-20 seconds and then quickly replays all of the actions I've made during that pause [any [Alt] + [Tab], clicks on the taskbar and so on] and opens desired program.

What causes such behavior and how can I force Windows to resolve my shortcuts without such delay?

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  • How are you assigning the shortcuts?
    – AttackingHobo
    Commented Dec 9, 2010 at 21:15
  • Executable's "properties", there is a field you can use.
    – Tomasz Kowalczyk
    Commented Jan 8, 2011 at 11:21
  • From Jorge Tuero: I've been having this very same issue with the Ctrl+Shift combo. So it's not esxclusive to the Ctrl+Alt combination
    – Canadian Luke
    Commented May 2, 2013 at 15:39
  • In Windows 7, this issue can be reproduced by suspending a process (e.g. using PsSuspend), then triggering the shortcut. Explorer will hang until the process is resumed. It seems to want to wait for a response, why I don't know.
    – jmiserez
    Commented Jul 23, 2018 at 8:40

1 Answer 1

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From Why Ctrl+Alt shouldn't be used as a shortcut modifier :

You may have noticed that Windows doesn't use Ctrl+Alt as a keyboard shortcut anywhere. (Or at least it shouldn't.) If a chorded modifier is needed, it's usually Ctrl+Shift.

That's because Ctrl+Alt has special meaning on many keyboards. The combination Ctrl+Alt is also known as AltGr, and it acts as an alternate shift key.

Most international keyboards remap the right-hand Alt key to act as AltGr, so instead of the finger-contorting Ctrl+Alt+Q, you can usually type RAlt+Q.

Sometimes a program accidentally uses Ctrl+Alt as a shortcut modifier and they get bug reports like, "Every time I type the letter 'đ', the program thinks I want to start a mailmerge."

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    Ok, but I do want to know what Windows is doing when i type [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Something] and why is it freezing - it is not freezing when I do [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del]. Not using that combination is not a solution because it does not solve the problem - only makes it working for some time.
    – Tomasz Kowalczyk
    Commented Oct 6, 2010 at 13:11
  • What it's doing is specific to the keyboard and Windows version. It may be launching some program, which in this case can be detected using Process Explorer of sysinternals (with slow View/Update speed). But I don't understand why you think using another combination than Ctrl-Alt will only make it work for some time.
    – harrymc
    Commented Oct 6, 2010 at 13:26
  • Ok, I understand that [Ctrl] + [Alt] may be wrong choice, but I'm at war with this problem for a long time so I want to know what causes it and how to fix that behavior, even if I switch to other combination.
    – Tomasz Kowalczyk
    Commented Oct 6, 2010 at 13:49
  • I can't reproduce the problem in my environment, so can't help. But you might even have come up against an undocumented "feature" in your Windows version.
    – harrymc
    Commented Oct 6, 2010 at 15:02

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