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General discussion

Language problem: windows XP home:

Feb 13, 2009 4:45PM PST

Hey everyone!
I donno what has happened to my PC but from around 3 months I've been facing this problem of language...
Directly to the point. Control Panel's name in start menu is as it is but when i open it, on the top of the window the name is as Panneau de configuration!
this happens with quite many other things too! but most of them are microsoft products that are affected!

I've taken screenshots of my problem and as I see theres no way to post images here, I uploaded them over here( http://ksgandharva.googlepages.com/cnet ) , please see it and tell me any solution for this! Thank you

Discussion is locked

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Tell us more about this computer
Feb 13, 2009 9:13PM PST

Where did you get it from, and did it come with Windows XP already installed?

Did you install anything around about the time that this appeared? Software Informer seems to suggest here that this "Panneau de configuration" is Apple software, but that may be a red herring.

I don't recognise that language but it seems to be a form of East European, although the Panneau de configuration appears to be French. A strange.combination.

What happens when you open the Language option in the Control Panel, (Regional and Language Options)?

Mark

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About my computer...
Feb 13, 2009 11:25PM PST

Yes Its a DELL Laptop, and yeah got Windows XP with it.. I can re install and check whether the problem still continues or not but I've many important files that I don't want to lose...
And when I open regional and language settings I see no language problem in that window, but I found something unusual( or usual I donno) that there is check mark for "Install files for East Asian languages"
I'll try unchecking it now after this post because it requires a restart.
Any more details needed? And I don't remember installing any softwares before this appearance, but as far as i remember, I think its because of some topthemes XP i used few months back to make my XP look like Mac OSX, it did look, but only for a day! So i uninstalled that but some files didn't get deleted( I think that this language problem is due to this) Possible like this maybe the reason?

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Tried, but in vain...
Feb 13, 2009 11:43PM PST

I did try unchecking that and restarting the PC., It didn't work! heres a screenshot of the Regional and language settings window.
http://ksgandharva.googlepages.com/cnet ( third image from top in this site)

And I remember installing Mobile Me once.. Yes I did install it! But I'm now having a doubt that whether this language problem is there from before the installation or it came after installing it! stupid my brain is!... sorry

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No problem
Feb 14, 2009 4:59AM PST

I don't really see why MobileMe would change any language settings, but I don't know what it is so I can't say. it was just a link I found in Google for that phrase, and it didn't make sense.

I see it now; "MobileMe is the online service from Apple that automatically keeps your email, contacts, calendar, bookmarks, and more in sync across multiple computers, your iPhone, iPod touch, and a suite of web apps on www.me.com."

You didn't by any chance download and install the French version did you? Happy
Some options to try;

1] In the Regional and Language Options in the Control Panel, make sure all the options are set to your language; eg in the Languages tab, click the Details button, Settings tab, and ensure your language is selected. In the Advanced tab there, see if "Turn off advanced text services" is selected. if not try selecting it. It probably makes no difference but worth a try.

If your own language is East Asian, then don't do that.

Back to the Regional and Languages console, Advanced tab, make sure your language is selected for non-Unicode programs.

2] It's a Dell, so do you have the original XP installation disks?

If so, try running the System File Checker, SFC. It may ask for the XP CD to be inserted. SFC checks the system files and replaces them if necessary. To run it, goto Start > Run, type in sfc /scannow (note the space between sfc and /scannow), and click OK.

3] If that doesn't fix it, see if any other account on this computer has the same problem. If not, then you could create a new account and transfer your account profile details across to the new account. The Microsoft link below will explain it, but make sure you understand the limitations, regarding email.

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile in Windows XP.

See if any of that works.

Just one other thing though, about those important files you can't lose. You do have backups? In situations like this, or worse where a hard drive fails, those backups become invaluable.

Mark