Windows not recognizing foreign languages

Hi there, everybody!

My computer is not recognizing text written with Cyrillic letters (Russian, Ukrainian etc.).
It is making almost impossible to install some programs, because I can't read anything that is written in installation window.

I've searched on the internet for solutions, but only solution was to change system locale, but it won't help in my case, because I'm using programs in multiple languages. Every language has different character set and it would be taking a lot of time switching locale all the time.
It is the same with many text files (txt, docx etc.).

I have Windows 7 Home Premium SP1
Does anyone know solution to this?

Windows should be able to cope with most languages as data - except in certain areas. However, in the shell, Windows would require shell support for those lanugages, which is only available in Ultimate.

It sounds to me as if you may be using a hack called Vistalizator to achieve similar functionality in Home Premium, and (unsurprisingly) it's broken a few things.


Please follow this tutorial and post an MGADiag report - then we can see what the problem is.

https://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/234159-windows-genuine-activation-issue-posting-instructions.html

Ignore errors produced when clicking on the Copy button - they simply mean that the tool could not create the backup files for some reason. The data is still copied to the clipboard for pasting to your response.

NoelDP, I doubt that problem is a result of a Vistalizator activity, because we are talking about system locales/codepages here, not MUI packages.

Mel14, what would be those languages in programs you are using?
Windows-1251 codepage should cover all cyrillic-based languages,
whereas Windows-1257 - all the Baltic languages and possibly German(?) and Polish(?).

That is tiresome to switch between these codepages (locales) all the time.

There is an unofficial unsupported solution offered by ceok777 here
How to change Multiple languages for non-Unicode programs? - Microsoft Community
Please scroll down to his/her post.

Mine won't read Japanese kana in ID3-tagged MP3 files.

I mean, it WILL work (once), and Winamp will read some of it, but then the title display is just horrendous!

HoneycombAG said:

Mine won't read Japanese kana in ID3-tagged MP3 files.

I mean, it WILL work (once), and Winamp will read some of it, but then the title display is just horrendous!

HoneycombAG, if you are using only English and Japanese characters, solution for your is very easy (unlike for OP). You just need to set Japanese as a language for non-unicode programs.
Language for Non-Unicode Programs - Change in Windows