Why do Chinese filenames displays as boxes in Windows 7?

Question

I'm running Windows 7 Professional (UK), and trying to get filenames containing Chinese characters to display correctly in Explorer.

I can create Chinese filenames in explorer by pasting text from a webpage or using the Chinese IME to rename files, but the characters just display as boxes (Unicode 'missing character' glyph).

The Chinese fonts are installed on the system, and web pages display OK in the browser. In particular, I can see the correct Chinese filenames by pointing chrome at file://C:\, for example.

Answer 1

There's a possible solution posted at How can I get Chinese/Japanese characters to display properly instead of squares?

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

Answer 2

There is another workaround:

• go to control panel, choose "Fonts"
• choose "Font settings"
• uncheck "Hide fonts based on language settings"
• reboot Windows

Answer 3

Here's the solution I found, but it seems wholly bizarre. I'd welcome comments or confirmation that this works for others...

Step 1: Go to Control Panel/Region and Language/Administrative and select "Change System Locale". Select one of the Chinese options.

Step 2: Reboot. You should now see Chinese file and folder names correctly.

This is odd enough, as surely Explorer is a Unicode application, so shouldn't be affected.

Step 3: Go back to the previous dialog, and reset the Locale to English, or whatever you had before.

Step 4: Reboot.

To my surprise, after step 4, Explorer still shows Chinese names correctly.