How can I get Chinese/Japanese characters to display properly instead of squares?

Anonymous
2009-11-25T18:51:47+00:00

I'm using Windows 7 x64 Ultimate and I have some songs in Chinese and Japanese.  In Windows Explorer, the characters would SOMETIMES show correctly and sometimes they would be blocks.  Whenever I use iTunes, they're always in blocks and in other programs (ex. synctoy 2.1 and google chrome). I've already installed the Chinese (Trad. and Simplified) and Japanese language packs but the file names still show up in blocks. I also restarted several times after installation of the languages to see if that fixed things but it didn't. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2010-03-16T00:54:57+00:00

Okay fine.... I stopped being lazy and found the solution by trial and error. So the trick is to change the system locale to Chinese (PRC) and then changing the system locale back to English (United States). I can now see the Simplified Chinese characters correctly in my buddyllist as well as in browser titles. I've attached a screenshot of the menus to get to the system locale. Basically go where you changed your input method and follow the screenshot below:

http://www.twitpic.com/18uhgc

This is a bug with the IME, I think, but nothing a few changes and reboots won't fix! Good luck!

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-23T18:27:09+00:00

    I might have the solution for it. i think the problem may have involve with the font.

    for view by "Category"

    Go to "Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Fonts" 

    for view by "Small & Large icons"

    Go to "Start > Control Panel > Fonts"

    On the left side click "Font settings"

    UNCHECK "Hide fonts based on language settings"  press "OK"

    and than RESTART your computer.

    I hope that will help.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-05-27T19:53:09+00:00

    Hi TimChoi89, 

    I had been experiencing the exact problem, except I have WIndows 7 home premium. Although, you seem to have figured out a solution, here is what i did and it seems to have worked for me.

    I noticed if i had a file/folder name in a foreign language (eg.japanese/chinese) on my desktop, i never seemed to have problems with foreign fonts from turning into boxes. So, i renamed my recycle bin in japanese and I haven't had a problem since.

    Hope this helps,

    Gyel.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-04-18T14:46:36+00:00

    Hi MichelleLien,

    Click on Start > Control Panel > Region > Select the Location tab

    You can then select your Home location from the dropdown.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-04-17T09:51:55+00:00

    Hi, what did you click on to go to the region language? Thx.

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