free tibet! also my computer from chinese characters.

[theotrain]

about a year ago i installed software for learning mandarin on my computer. i since got rid of it but still i have situations where chinese characters insist on popping up and making it hard for me, since i cant read them.

my computer shows english 99% of the time, but certain dialog boxes, like adobe install/uninstall, quicktime update and such show chinese. i just installed a router (or tried to) and when i connect to the router to change the settings ALL the pages are in mandarin (and theres no language option anywhere!).

under "regional and language settings" i have US english and thats the only language i see.

so where could that setting be hiding? where can my computer be getting the idea, only it seems in certain dialog boxes, that it ought to display mandarin?

 

[SimonDavies]

Check the languages on IE as well, Tools\Options and if it's IE7 it's on the first page.

Did you also add the Chinese language pack when you installed the application, did it? Have a look in the add\remove Windows options for any additional language packs there.

SimonD.

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[theotrain]

i had checked the language in IE. only US english is there.

i tried checking in add remove - under "programs and features" i dont see any weird programs and under "turn windows features on or off" there arent any language packs showing.

i checked the install/remove language packs dialog by going to LPKSETUP from dos prompt. it showed english as the only installed language. damn.

 

[Nelviticus]

Damn, I don't have Vista or any Vista virtual PCs here at work but in XP, the 'Regional and Language Options' item in Control Panel has an 'Advanced' tab with a 'Language for non-Unicode programs' drop-down. The description for this says it "enables non-Unicode programs to display menus and dialogs in their native language".

I have no idea where or if this option appears in Vista but it sounds like a setting you might want to change if you can find it.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ettienne]

I take it your quest to learn Mandarin did not go so well.
In Vista go to Control Panel and click Classic View (I'm a creature of habit), Regional and Language Options, Administrative. Change your System locale if it is not English.

 

[theotrain]

no my quest to learn mandarin did not go well. anyway i went to india instead.

ive tried all the suggestions here.

it occurred to me its probably a font-mapping issue? maybe windows is mapping some system font (probably a crappy monospace it doesnt use very often) to a mandarin font. in the registry editor i found nothing suspicious under "fontSubstitutes".. but under "fontMapper" i found a few chinese fonts. im not really sure what the fontMapper stuff does, it doenst really say anything. the fontSubstitutes seem pretty clear... replace one font with another. fontMapper just shows a list of fonts??

i put up a page where you can see all the places ive checked my language settings. theres also registry editor image showing where i found some chinese fonts, which ive since deleted (and restarted the computer) to no avail.

any other ideas?

 

[linney]

Anything applicable in here that you have missed doing?

Permanently changing default language
thread1583-1478876

windows xp change accented caracters
thread779-1086691

Is it the same problem for all users on your machine?

Some of these programs, such as Adobe etc., were they Chinese language versions?

If the Router is speaking Chinese, that may indicate a setting in IE?

Have you tried setting IE back to the Default Settings, or running it with "No Add-ons"?

How is the Router from "Safe Mode with Networking"?

You could try the System File Checker program.

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228