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Fix Hyphen Key Issue

Section titled “Fix Hyphen Key Issue”

The - hyphen key (main keyboard, not numpad) intermittently fails to insert in some apps.

Diagnostic Findings

Section titled “Diagnostic Findings”
  • Multiple keyboard devices showing “Unknown” status in Device Manager (Logitech Unifying + other HID devices)
  • LilySpeech running 3 processes - speech recognition hooks keyboard input
  • Lightshot and TextInputHost have high CPU usage, actively monitoring keyboard

Troubleshooting Tasks

Section titled “Troubleshooting Tasks”

Test 1: Is it LilySpeech?

Section titled “Test 1: Is it LilySpeech?”
  1. Temporarily disable/quit LilySpeech (close all 3 processes)
  2. Test typing hyphens in multiple apps
  3. If fixed → LilySpeech is the culprit; check its settings for punctuation handling

Test 2: Fix Keyboard Drivers

Section titled “Test 2: Fix Keyboard Drivers”
  1. Open Device Manager: devmgmt.msc
  2. Expand Keyboards section
  3. Look for devices with yellow warning icons or “Unknown” status
  4. Right-click each → Update driver → Search automatically
  5. If issues persist, try Uninstall device then reboot (Windows will reinstall)

Test 3: Quick Isolation Tests

Section titled “Test 3: Quick Isolation Tests”
  • Does hyphen work in Notepad? (minimal hooks)
  • Does numpad minus work? (different scan code)
  • Does hyphen work when AutoHotkey is suspended? (Ctrl+Alt+H to toggle)
  • Note which specific apps fail

Test 4: Check Lightshot Hotkeys

Section titled “Test 4: Check Lightshot Hotkeys”
  1. Right-click Lightshot tray icon → Settings
  2. Check if any hotkey uses the hyphen key
  3. Disable or change conflicting hotkeys
Section titled “Related Context”
  • Issue started in last few weeks
  • Coincided with increased WSL usage and Kopia addition
  • System had disk space issues (C: at 6GB, D: at 0GB) - now resolved