On a Windows Vista-based Tablet PC, you cannot type some special characters if you use the on-screen keyboard and a physical keyboard at the same time

On a Windows Vista-based Tablet PC, you cannot type some special characters if you use the on-screen keyboard and a physical keyboard at the same time.

For example, you cannot type the ã character by pressing ALT GR+~+A on a Tablet PC that has the on-screen keyboard enabled. Even after you close the on-screen keyboard, you cannot type the ã character in this manner.

When you type some special characters, you have to press the ALT key or the ALT GR key. This problem occurs for any language that contains these special characters.

This problem occurs because of an error in the interaction between the on-screen keyboard and the physical keyboard.

To resolve this problem, restart the Tablet PC, and then do not enable the on-screen keyboard. Then, type the special characters by using the physical keyboard.

To work around this issue, follow these steps by using the physical keyboard:

1. Start a text editor. For example, start Notepad. Or, put the pointer in an input field in an application.
2. To enable the numeric keypad, press the NUM LOCK key.
3. Press and hold the ALT key, and then press 0, 2, 2, 7 on the numeric keypad.
   
   The ã character is displayed in the text editor or in the input field.