Troubleshooting Windows 2000 MultiLanguage Version

This article contains troubleshooting information for Windows MultiLanguage Version.

Where to Begin Troubleshooting

If a problem occurs when you change the user interface (UI) back to English, use the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional Options.
2. In the Menus and Dialogs box, click English.
3. Log off and then log on to the computer.

If performing these steps does not resolve the behavior, the issue is probably not related to the multilanguage user interface (MUI) component of Windows MultiLanguage Version. If performing these steps resolves the behavior, begin the troubleshooting process by uninstalling and reinstalling the appropriate language using Muisetup.exe.

Text That Was Previously Displayed in the Appropriate Language Is Now Displayed in English

• The .mui resource file may be missing or damaged. If the program's associated resource file is obvious (such as Notepad), the Notepad.exe.mui file may be causing the problem. Troubleshooting becomes more difficult when the test string comes from a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file, because its source may not be apparent. In this case, remove the language using Muisetup.exe and reinstall the language.
• The MUI performs build checking, so there is a potential for version mismatch between the .exe/.dll and the .mui file. When a version mismatch occurs, the .mui file is not used, and text is displayed in English.

Some Text Is Displayed in English and Other Text Is Localized

There are many parts of Windows that do not display in localized languages under the MUI. For example, items on the Start menu and certain tools in Control Panel may be displayed in English.

Some text comes from the registry, hard coded in some files (*.ini, *.inf, *.txt, *.adm). This behavior is by design, and is not expected to appear in the localized language.

To locate the non-localized text, search the registry using Regedit.exe to locate text coming from the registry. You can use the findstr command to locate the text. For example, type the following command:

Question Marks (??????) Are Displayed Instead of Readable Text in the UI or Program

The component may not be compiled as Unicode. If the program is not Unicode aware, the localized ANSI text is matched against the default system locale's code page, which can cause text to be improperly displayed.

Files and Configuration Items That MUI Needs to Work Properly

Files

• %SystemRoot%\Mui\Fallback\LangID\*.mui
  (this folder contains the bulk of MUI-related files)
• %SystemRoot%\Web\Mui\LangID\*.*
  (this folder contains files for the Web interface of Internet Explorer)
• %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem\Mui\LangID\*.mui
  (this folder contains WMI-related files)
• %SystemRoot%\System32\Mui\LangID\Hhctrlui.dll
  (this folder contains an HTML help-related DLL)
• Program files\Internet Explorer\Mui\LangID\*.dll
  (this folder contains Internet Explorer-related plug-ins)
  
  These files are installed with MUI, but they are not a native component. The files come from Internet Explorer localization support packs and are sometimes referred to as PlugUI or Pluggable UI components. The technology that Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office 2000 uses to provide localization support is different than MUI, and MUI uses that native multilanguage support rather than *.mui files for Internet Explorer and Office 2000.

Registry

The following list shows currently installed MUI languages: The following value always reflects the current LangID parameter: After you choose a new user interface, the pending default is located in the following registry key: NOTE: Language IDs (LangID) are four-digit hexadecimal codes representing languages that MUI installs.

How to Determine if You Have a Font or Codepage Problem

Font Problem

A font problem usually causes a default character to be displayed in place of the unavailable text. This varies from font to font, but is commonly represented with a character that looks like a vertical bar, similar to a pipe character (|), but a bit thicker.

Codepage Problem

A codepage problem commonly causes text, file, or folder listings to appear as question marks (?). If this behavior occurs, you may be able to resolve the problem by changing the computer's default system locale to the language of text that cannot be displayed. To change the computer's default system locale, use the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional Options.
2. On the General tab, click Set Default.
3. In the Select System Locale dialog box, click the locale that is native to the unreadable files.

NOTE: In situations where the same computer supports multiple locales (especially locales that use double-byte character set (DBCS), such as Chinese and Japanese, or complex scripts, such as Arabic or Hebrew) you may not be able to successfully support non-Unicode files from all locales.

For additional information, please refer to the following Microsoft Web sites:

• Windows 2000 MultiLanguage Version Frequently Asked Questions:
  http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/MUIFaq.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/MUIFaq.mspx)
• Microsoft Global Software Development Home Page:
  http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/default.mspx)