Software for Chinese

[Zhen's Tiger]

Thanks David.

I stumbled across my error moments before your reply.

I have had this loaded on my computer for some time now, but now that my SO is here and she wishes to write to her family via emails when I use this when writing pinyin it only inserts the Chinese characters that it sees fit.

For example, when we write the pinyin word for road "lu" the character it chooses is not correct.

I have used a free internet program in the past that when I write a word in pinyin a window opens and I can scroll through the choices of characters until I find the correct character. I choose it and it is inserted into my emails, etc.

My SO used this free website also to write to me, but does not recall what the name or web address is that she used nor do I. The internet cafe employees set her up with the site some time back.

After following your instructions in the post I was hoping that I would find the same window of choices of characters, but it remains the same as before.

Perhaps someone knows of this website I speak of.

Thanks again.

Clayton

 

Hi Clayton (and anyone else who may need this in the future),

 

OK, 2 answers, 1 short & 1 long¡¡

 

Short Answer: Here's the website to type Pinyin and choose the correct characters: http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/ime.html

This is ideal if all you want to do is type an email, but not great for Chatting / IMing & impossible for offline use. Also, this only seems to work with IE, not Firefox...

 

Long Answer: But if you need something to create Chinese documents offline in any Word Processor, or something that works in any Browser, or need something for Chatting / IMing that is much faster than going back & forth between the above website & your IM App, or if you have tried all of the above & she is still not happy with the results, I believe I can help you.

 

Like you, my wife was not happy after I installed everything as I thought it should be - all the Chinese language inputs that come with XP, etc. She kept saying it was not Chinese, haha, although it was, it just wasn't what she wanted. ¡¡What she really wanted was a little program, that as you said, opens a window after you hit 'Ctrl+Shift' and you start typing characters... although I do not believe you are actually typing Pinyin with this App, but rather a propietary (I think) Chinese Input Method used by many people in China, especially in Guangdong. I know all Zhen's family & friends use it everyday when they type Chinese.

 

Anyway, the file name that installs the program is called: jpwb66B0111.exe. Once installed, all you have to do is hit 'Ctrl+Shift' when you are ready to type and it will allow her to pick from a number of choices anytime she writes something. I have it installed on all our PCs, although I personally cannot use it as you must first learn the Input Method, which is like learning another language in itself! But if this is what she is used to using, she already knows how to use it. My wife even has a cheat-sheet with all the keystrokes for this App that she refers to when she needs to.

 

You can Google for the file name & find a suitable place to download it from or I can send you the Zipped file for it if you want me to, just PM me with your email. BUT!!! If & when you decide to install it, please note it does come bundled with some irritating spyware-type addons as a 'bonus' , but they are easily gotten rid of during the Install process¡¡ - just make sure you UNCHECK every available box (4 in total) while you are installing it and in the end all you will get is the Input Method without the bundled extras. You have been warned, haha. Seriously, it is completely harmless as long as you do what I just said or I would not have allowed it on our computers!

 

I really hope this helps you guys, I know it works for us! Good luck!

 

Steve & Zhen

[Chinese Wife!!!]

 

 

1) Click START

2) Go to 'Control Panel' Click

3) Click 'Regional and Language Options'

4) IN REGION OPTIONS Tab:

- Set the Region option dropdown selection to Chinese-PRC. [ If it does not show up, you need to continue on and install Asian support... and come back to this step to later]

5) IN LANGUAGES Tab:

- make sure you click 'install for East Asian language', if not selected.

[You may be prompted to insert the Windows XP CD]

]

 

I get to this point and its all stop. My HP computer did NOT come with the Windows XP CD. Computer HAD the ability to install "East Asian Language" before it got fried and went to the shop. (Now the wife's fully loaded Chinese language laptop has taken a dump and repair efforts seem to be a ways off).

 

Anybody know of an easy and inexpensive way to overcome this i.e., a site location to enter at this prompt or a way to download a fix?

 

Spent 2-3 hours at Microsoft and HP sites but it's beyond my ability.

TIA Richard

Edited January 29, 2008 by Chinese Wife!!! (see edit history)

[C4Racer]

Thanks David.

I stumbled across my error moments before your reply.

I have had this loaded on my computer for some time now, but now that my SO is here and she wishes to write to her family via emails when I use this when writing pinyin it only inserts the Chinese characters that it sees fit.

For example, when we write the pinyin word for road "lu" the character it chooses is not correct.

I have used a free internet program in the past that when I write a word in pinyin a window opens and I can scroll through the choices of characters until I find the correct character. I choose it and it is inserted into my emails, etc.

My SO used this free website also to write to me, but does not recall what the name or web address is that she used nor do I. The internet cafe employees set her up with the site some time back.

After following your instructions in the post I was hoping that I would find the same window of choices of characters, but it remains the same as before.

Perhaps someone knows of this website I speak of.

Thanks again.

Clayton

 

Hi Clayton (and anyone else who may need this in the future),

 

OK, 2 answers, 1 short & 1 long¡¡

 

Short Answer: Here's the website to type Pinyin and choose the correct characters: http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/ime.html

This is ideal if all you want to do is type an email, but not great for Chatting / IMing & impossible for offline use. Also, this only seems to work with IE, not Firefox...

 

Long Answer: But if you need something to create Chinese documents offline in any Word Processor, or something that works in any Browser, or need something for Chatting / IMing that is much faster than going back & forth between the above website & your IM App, or if you have tried all of the above & she is still not happy with the results, I believe I can help you.

 

Like you, my wife was not happy after I installed everything as I thought it should be - all the Chinese language inputs that come with XP, etc. She kept saying it was not Chinese, haha, although it was, it just wasn't what she wanted. ¡¡What she really wanted was a little program, that as you said, opens a window after you hit 'Ctrl+Shift' and you start typing characters... although I do not believe you are actually typing Pinyin with this App, but rather a propietary (I think) Chinese Input Method used by many people in China, especially in Guangdong. I know all Zhen's family & friends use it everyday when they type Chinese.

 

Anyway, the file name that installs the program is called: jpwb66B0111.exe. Once installed, all you have to do is hit 'Ctrl+Shift' when you are ready to type and it will allow her to pick from a number of choices anytime she writes something. I have it installed on all our PCs, although I personally cannot use it as you must first learn the Input Method, which is like learning another language in itself! But if this is what she is used to using, she already knows how to use it. My wife even has a cheat-sheet with all the keystrokes for this App that she refers to when she needs to.

 

You can Google for the file name & find a suitable place to download it from or I can send you the Zipped file for it if you want me to, just PM me with your email. BUT!!! If & when you decide to install it, please note it does come bundled with some irritating spyware-type addons as a 'bonus' , but they are easily gotten rid of during the Install process¡¡ - just make sure you UNCHECK every available box (4 in total) while you are installing it and in the end all you will get is the Input Method without the bundled extras. You have been warned, haha. Seriously, it is completely harmless as long as you do what I just said or I would not have allowed it on our computers!

 

I really hope this helps you guys, I know it works for us! Good luck!

 

Steve & Zhen

 

Another Chinese IME is available free for download from Google.

Here is the link.

 

http://tools.google.com/pinyin/

 

It now only allows for typing pinyin, but provides some shorthand methods for entry. It will also bring up subsequent characters based on Chinese grammer.

[Chinese Wife!!!]

Thanks for the reply Michael BUT I believe my problem is in the basic operation of my computer.

 

Almost all the IME links in this post and anything in CFL that have Chinese charaters will only display as either squares or random symbols. Wife again attempted to open her Yahoo email and it's all squares also. We tried switching to the China international version- same thing.

 

I seem to think that my basic need is to SOMEHOW restore the ability to install the "East Asian Language" package back onto my computer system FIRST then proceed from there (i.e., IME's in this and other threads).

 

Problem here is that HP computers ship WITHOUT CD's. (Note: My system was totally wiped out and the computer repair guy got me back-up and running but WITHOUT the "East Asian Lang." capabilities I USED to have. ) Richard

Edited January 30, 2008 by Chinese Wife!!! (see edit history)

[MikeandRong]

Thanks for the reply Michael BUT I believe my problem is in the basic operation of my computer.

 

Almost all the IME links in this post and anything in CFL that have Chinese charaters will only display as either squares or random symbols. Wife again attempted to open her Yahoo email and it's all squares also. We tried switching to the China international version- same thing.

 

I seem to think that my basic need is to SOMEHOW restore the ability to install the "East Asian Language" package back onto my computer system FIRST then proceed from there (i.e., IME's in this and other threads).

 

Problem here is that HP computers ship WITHOUT CD's. (Note: My system was totally wiped out and the computer repair guy got me back-up and running but WITHOUT the "East Asian Lang." capabilities I USED to have. ) Richard

 

Go to the HP site and order the system restore CD (costs money). You should also order the Windows service pac CD too (free), they mail it to you.

 

Also, at the startup of your computer when you first turn it on, you can press F11 for system restore (but the computer guy probably erased it (the original) with his CD and did not load the other drivers from online you need).

 

If you made a CD of your HP system restore when you first bought your computer, then you can load that (but sounds like you did not, so too late now).

[Sebastian]

OK -

 

this was a problem for me as well during my trip to Wuhan/Chengdu.

 

Sure - install the language support files.

But -

now you have to choose an INPUT METHOD for the IME.

For Chinese, there are 6 different ones.

 

I stayed at an internet cafe with one of their techs, mapping out

chinese names of IME's to English Names of IME's.

 

The one that worked for my lao po was 'quan pin'

 

The MS PinYin 3.0 IME was useless for her.

 

but hey -

you have to ADD them.

click on the language you just installed - then click ADD, you'll see the additional IME's available to install.

 

I installed all 6, then we went through trial and error until she found the one that she knows.

 

Again, she knows the Quan Pin IME .

 

Good Luck ! If I have time next week, I'll do some screen shots . This wasn't as straight forward as I thought, and I'm a gear head.

Edited January 31, 2008 by Darnell (see edit history)

[Chinese Wife!!!]

 

Go to the HP site and order the system restore CD (costs money). You should also order the Windows service pac CD too (free), they mail it to you.

 

Also, at the startup of your computer when you first turn it on, you can press F11 for system restore (but the computer guy probably erased it (the original) with his CD and did not load the other drivers from online you need).

 

If you made a CD of your HP system restore when you first bought your computer, then you can load that (but sounds like you did not, so too late now).

Thanks Mike

 

This is more the direction I need to go in. I was hoping something more expedient could be done than order restore discs thru HP. Tried this in the past (between repair guys #1 &2) and they sent me FRENCH disks, had a heck of a battle to return these/get credit then was told that they no longer stock the English versions and I had to get them through a secondary source??? System seems to be operating fine after the second repair- just don't have the East Asian Language package. Kinda hoping I could somehow download or get a disc just this portion.

 

The first "Computer expert" I took it to for a "corrupt system 32" wiped EVERYTHING- after him the F-11 funtion was gone and the MORON installed "Windows ME" without any Word programs and the like. He also seemed to think restore was F-10??? Some expert!!! This crap repair took him 6-7 days instead of the 1 he promised.

 

After the HP French disc episode went to a second guy- seemed up to speed and got everything back to the XP originally installed but minus the East Asian stuff.

 

I did miss the fact of making my own copies due to the salesmans hype when I bought this thing. "No discs come with it because the restore function is automatically built in".

 

As other lessons I life I'm learning through the school of hard knocks !

 

I might just go ask the second repair guy if he can fix and how $$$. Richard

Edited January 31, 2008 by Chinese Wife!!! (see edit history)

[Sebastian]

After the HP French disc episode went to a second guy- seemed up to speed and got everything back to the XP originally installed but minus the East Asian stuff.

 

I did miss the fact of making my own copies due to the salesmans hype when I bought this thing. "No discs come with it because the restore function is automatically built in".

 

As other lessons I life I'm learning through the school of hard knocks !

 

I might just go ask the second repair guy if he can fix and how $$$. Richard

 

Can I knock some more ?

look at http://www.craigslist.org for your city in the computer section, and http://www. ebay.com in software section.

 

Do a Search for 'HP Restore Disk'

Buy something that matches your machine.

 

On Wipe Outs ? You lose your disk again ?

Take it to someone who knows hardware, mount as second drive in another computer, copy all data on YOUR DRIVE to CD or DVD or even another hard drive BEFORE you attempt the silly 'restore cd reinstsall' .

[C4Racer]

System seems to be operating fine after the second repair- just don't have the East Asian Language package. Kinda hoping I could somehow download or get a disc just this portion.

 

This portion is located in the I386 folder of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD. It is sometimes easy and other times hard to pick out just the files you need. The East Asian language should be in the Lang Folder, but you just might need some other files elsewhere to program the interface. It is better to get the whole I386 folder (586 Meg) so you don't miss anything.

 

If you can wait until Tuesday evening after my blazing fast Internet install is done, I can provide you a link to download this folder. Otherwise, PM me. I could also burn you a CD and send it to you.

Edited February 1, 2008 by C4Racer (see edit history)

[Chinese Wife!!!]

System seems to be operating fine after the second repair- just don't have the East Asian Language package. Kinda hoping I could somehow download or get a disc just this portion.

 

This portion is located in the I386 folder of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD. It is sometimes easy and other times hard to pick out just the files you need. The East Asian language should be in the Lang Folder, but you just might need some other files elsewhere to program the interface. It is better to get the whole I386 folder (586 Meg) so you don't miss anything.

 

If you can wait until Tuesday evening after my blazing fast Internet install is done, I can provide you a link to download this folder. Otherwise, PM me. I could also burn you a CD and send it to you.

 

Thank You Micheal!

 

We got HER laptop back sooner than expected. Chinese friend of a friend thing over in Las Vegas. She can now read her e-mail in Chinese. Pressure is off me now but I would still like to get my 'puter back up W/Chinese.

 

For mine, I might try finding the I -386 Lang. folder within my system today. I went to the Windows site days back seeming to recall that XP SP 2 and/or updates had some type of Lang. options (computer guy MAY thought it un-necessary???). If I am unsuccessful I'll PM you about the file on Tuesday. Thanks Again! Richard

[izus]

Zachary of "Zachary And Lychee made a really good video of how to...

for anyone that needs more help.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=315036

 

 

http://www.kaidllc.com/chineseinput/

[Chinese Wife!!!]

Zachary of "Zachary And Lychee made a really good video of how to...

for anyone that needs more help.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=315036

 

 

http://www.kaidllc.com/chineseinput/

Izus,

Thanks for the reply BUT I have tried this repeatedly- I DO NOT have a disc (or download location) to facilate the installtion of either the Thai or East Asian Langage packages. When I check the boxes for either I get a message similar in wording to "Insert system cd or list download location". C4Racer seems to be on the right track for my problem. I have spent a couple more hours at Microsoft trying to find a "East Asian Language" download package but so far they are all tied into an "authenticated" copy of "Office". I *MAY* have had "Office" ORIGINALLY installed before repairs but...... it's long gone as is the language package that WAS definintely on my computer before. Richard

Edited February 2, 2008 by Chinese Wife!!! (see edit history)

[yanping]

Hello

I need to download software for my computer so my SO can write Pinyin and write english as well. She had that on her computer in china, but I can not get it to work on mine.

 

Carl & Haixia

216918[/snapback]

You probably need to install the East Asian language support for your computer. Here are the steps for XP.

 

Goto Control Panel -> Region & Language Settings

Goto the Language tab

Check Install East Asian Language

 

You will need your CD.

Does anyone know how to do this on Vista? Vista home premium does not have chinese as an option in Asian Languages.