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

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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
    2010-03-01T06:48:41+00:00

    Yes, I can still type in the other languages, but then later the characters revert to squares.  For example, file names and media information for CDs in my Windows Media Player, and content of some webpages can't be viewed because they're in another language (such as Chinese).  The other user who is asking about this issue (TimChoi89) has the same problem, and he uses Windows 7 Ultimate.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-03-01T05:39:07+00:00

    I don't even want to type in another language. I can type just fine in Chinese just fine, but sometimes the names of folders or filenames that are in Chinese or Japanese will show up as squares. Sometimes it doesn't show up as squares.

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  3. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2010-03-01T04:31:19+00:00

    That should operate the same as it has from before.  My sister uses Windows 7 Home Premium, and her OS is always english, but she witches to other languages often to type with the language toolbar on the taskbar.  I'm not sure how many, at least 3 I think.  Does that ring a bell?  I'll ask her what exact feature she is using.

    If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-03-01T03:20:52+00:00

    I already have Ultimate and I don't want to change the whole OS language. I just want the characters to show up consistently on folder names or file names.

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