Install East Asian Language Support for Windows XP
If you like to use Firefox to surf the web (and who doesn’t?) and you have ever stumbled across a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean site, you might have thought that it seemed to contain a suspiciously large number of question marks. No, the author was not confused when he wrote it. Your computer just doesn’t know how to deal with east Asian alphabets. This guide aims to remedy that situation.
Steps
- Insert the Windows XP Service Pack 2 disc into your CD drive. If a window titled "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" opens, close it by clicking the "Exit" button.
- Navigate to the Control Panel by clicking the Start Button, then clicking "Control Panel." If you are using Classic View, you should click the Start Button, then "Settings," then "Control Panel."
- Click on "Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options," then click on "Regional and Language Options." If you are using classic view, "Regional and Language Options" will be available directly from the Control Panel. A new window will open.
- Click on the tab labeled "Languages," then click the checkbox labeled "Install files for East Asian Languages." A window will pop up to warn you that you will need at least 230 MB of free disk space to install the files. (See "Related Articles" to learn how to check this)
- Click OK to close the popup.
- Click OK on the “Regional and Language Options” window to begin the installation. Be patient, as it can take several minutes. Once all the files have finished copying, a popup window will tell you to reboot your computer to complete the installation.
- Before you reboot, remove the CD from your CD drive.
- Reboot your computer.
- Launch Firefox and browse to the East Asian web site of your choice to test out your new language packs.
Tips
- Microsoft Internet Explorer can display Japanese characters in web pages by default, even if the rest of Windows cannot. Strange as this may be, it is useful if you need to view only one or two pages, or if you don’t care about using Firefox.
Warnings
- If you don’t remove the CD before rebooting, your computer may try to boot from it. While this is not harmful, it is annoying and you will have to reboot again.
Things You'll Need
- Windows XP CD
