Non-unicode program on Microsoft Windows Vista - PPStream

Characters not displaying properly on non-unicode programs such as PPStream

I've came across a problem when I installed PPStream on my laptop running on Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium. Apparently after having it installed, and eagerly waiting for it to launch...the PPS program displayed unrecognizable characters (as shown in the picture above) and nothing works.

At first i thought that this could have been due to my version of Vista doesn't have the Chinese language pack or LIP / MUI installed. After i tried searching for it on the Microsoft website and even tried a third party LIP / MUI...it did not work at all!

Eventually I found out that there's an easy and often OVERLOOKED easy way to solve my problem. It was just there all along! Ughh...Vista can sure be very user "FRIENDLY"....

What to do:
1) Go to your control panel. Access it through Start -> Control Panel. Double click on the Regional and Language Options (the icon of a globe with a clock).


2) It will open up with a few options, click on the Administrative tab. You will see the "Current language for non-Unicode programs". If it's in another language other than the intended language of the program you wish to run, in my case would be Chinese characters PPStream, change the option in the next step.


3) Click on the "Change system locale..." and select the appropriate language you need.


4) Once you have selected the correct language, click OK.


5) It will prompt for a system reboot. Just save up anything you're working on and click on "Restart now"


6) DONE! Your non-Unicode program should now display properly.