We’ve shared some of our best tips for dealing with malware over the years, and now it’s your turn! Share your favorite tips for protecting against, or getting rid of viruses and other types of malicious software.

Unfortunately, if you’re a PC user it’s a given that you have to play defense against various forms of Malware. We’ve written several articles showing how to get rid of viruses and other forms of malware over the years using various strategies.

We have some excellent articles explaining how to get rid of Advanced Virus Remover, Antivirus Live, Internet Security 2010, and Security Tool – all of which disguise themselves as legit antivirus apps.

Now we turn it over to you to share your favorite tips and tricks for defending against malicious infections. If your computer has been infected, what steps did you take to get rid of it and clean up your machine?

Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!

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We’ve shared some of our best tips for dealing with malware over the years, and now it’s your turn! Share your favorite tips for protecting against, or getting rid of viruses and other types of malicious software.

Unfortunately, if you’re a PC user it’s a given that you have to play defense against various forms of Malware. We’ve written several articles showing how to get rid of viruses and other forms of malware over the years using various strategies.

We have some excellent articles explaining how to get rid of Advanced Virus Remover, Antivirus Live, Internet Security 2010, and Security Tool – all of which disguise themselves as legit antivirus apps.

Now we turn it over to you to share your favorite tips and tricks for defending against malicious infections. If your computer has been infected, what steps did you take to get rid of it and clean up your machine?

Leave a comment below and join in the discussion!

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If your computer crashes or you get a virus infection that makes it unrecoverable, doing a clean install can be a hassle, let alone getting your data back. If you’re backing up your computers to Windows Home Server, you can completely restore them to the last successful backup.

Note: For this process to work you need to verify the PC you want to restore is connected to your network via Ethernet. If you have it connected wirelessly it won’t work.

Restore a PC from Windows Home Server

On the computer you want to restore, pop in the Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore disc and boot from it. If you don’t have one already made, you can easily make one following these instructions. We have also included the link to the restore disc below.

Boot from the CD then select if your machine has 512MB or RAM or more.

The disc will initialize…

Then choose your language and keyboard settings.

Hopefully if everything goes correctly, your network card will be detected and you can continue. However, if it doesn’t like in our example, click on the Show Details button.

In the Detect Hardware screen click on the Install Drivers button.

Now you will need to have a USB flash drive with the correct drivers on it. It has to be a flash drive or a floppy (if you happen to still have one of those) because you can’t take out the Restore CD.

If you want to make sure you have the correct drivers on the USB flash drive, open the Windows Home Server Console on another computer on your network. In the Computers and Backup section right-click on the computer you want to restore and select View Backups.

Select the backup you want to restore from and click the Open button in the Restore or view Files section.

Now drag the entire contents of the folder named Windows Home Server Drivers for Restore to the USB flash drive.

Back to the machine you’re trying to restore, insert the USB flash drive with the correct drivers and click the Scan button.

Wait a few moments while the drivers are found then click Ok then Continue.

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The Restore Computer Wizard starts up…

Enter in your home server password and click Next.

Select the computer you want to restore. If it isn’t selected by default you can pull it up from the dropdown list under Another Computer. Make certain you’re selecting the correct machine.

Now select the backup you want to restore. In this example we only have one but chances are you’ll have several.

If you have several backups to choose from, you might want to check out the details for them.

Now you can select the disk from backup and and restore it to the destination volume. You might need to initialize a disk, change a drive letter, or other disk management tasks, if so, then click on Run Disk Manger.

For example we want to change the destination drive letter to (C:).

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After you’ve made all the changes to the destination disk you can continue with the restore process.

If everything looks correct, confirm the restore configuration. If you need to make any changes at this point, you can still go back and make them.

Now Windows Home Server will restore your drive. The amount of time it takes will vary depend on the amount of data you have to restore, network connection speed, and hardware.

You are notified when the restore successfully completes. Click Finish and the PC will reboot and be restored and should be working correctly. All the updates, programs, and files will be back that were saved to the last successful backup. Anything you might have installed after that backup will be gone. If you have your computers set to backup every night, then hopefully it won’t be a big issue.

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Conclusion

Backing up the computers on your network to Windows Home Server is a valuable tool in your backup strategy. Sometimes you may only need to restore a couple files and we’ve covered how to restore them from backups on WHS and that works really well. If the unthinkable happens and you need to restore the entire computer, WHS makes that easy too.?

Download Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore CD

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If your computer crashes or you get a virus infection that makes it unrecoverable, doing a clean install can be a hassle, let alone getting your data back. If you’re backing up your computers to Windows Home Server, you can completely restore them to the last successful backup.

Note: For this process to work you need to verify the PC you want to restore is connected to your network via Ethernet. If you have it connected wirelessly it won’t work.

Restore a PC from Windows Home Server

On the computer you want to restore, pop in the Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore disc and boot from it. If you don’t have one already made, you can easily make one following these instructions. We have also included the link to the restore disc below.

Boot from the CD then select if your machine has 512MB or RAM or more.

The disc will initialize…

Then choose your language and keyboard settings.

Hopefully if everything goes correctly, your network card will be detected and you can continue. However, if it doesn’t like in our example, click on the Show Details button.

In the Detect Hardware screen click on the Install Drivers button.

Now you will need to have a USB flash drive with the correct drivers on it. It has to be a flash drive or a floppy (if you happen to still have one of those) because you can’t take out the Restore CD.

If you want to make sure you have the correct drivers on the USB flash drive, open the Windows Home Server Console on another computer on your network. In the Computers and Backup section right-click on the computer you want to restore and select View Backups.

Select the backup you want to restore from and click the Open button in the Restore or view Files section.

Now drag the entire contents of the folder named Windows Home Server Drivers for Restore to the USB flash drive.

Back to the machine you’re trying to restore, insert the USB flash drive with the correct drivers and click the Scan button.

Wait a few moments while the drivers are found then click Ok then Continue.

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The Restore Computer Wizard starts up…

Enter in your home server password and click Next.

Select the computer you want to restore. If it isn’t selected by default you can pull it up from the dropdown list under Another Computer. Make certain you’re selecting the correct machine.

Now select the backup you want to restore. In this example we only have one but chances are you’ll have several.

If you have several backups to choose from, you might want to check out the details for them.

Now you can select the disk from backup and and restore it to the destination volume. You might need to initialize a disk, change a drive letter, or other disk management tasks, if so, then click on Run Disk Manger.

For example we want to change the destination drive letter to (C:).

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After you’ve made all the changes to the destination disk you can continue with the restore process.

If everything looks correct, confirm the restore configuration. If you need to make any changes at this point, you can still go back and make them.

Now Windows Home Server will restore your drive. The amount of time it takes will vary depend on the amount of data you have to restore, network connection speed, and hardware.

You are notified when the restore successfully completes. Click Finish and the PC will reboot and be restored and should be working correctly. All the updates, programs, and files will be back that were saved to the last successful backup. Anything you might have installed after that backup will be gone. If you have your computers set to backup every night, then hopefully it won’t be a big issue.

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Conclusion

Backing up the computers on your network to Windows Home Server is a valuable tool in your backup strategy. Sometimes you may only need to restore a couple files and we’ve covered how to restore them from backups on WHS and that works really well. If the unthinkable happens and you need to restore the entire computer, WHS makes that easy too.?

Download Windows Home Server Home Computer Restore CD

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Every so often we all need to look at a map for reference purposes or to get directions. If you are looking for a great quick reference app then join us as we look at the Mini Google Maps extension for Google Chrome.

Mini Google Maps in Action

While this may look like a rather basic map extension there is more to it than meets the eye at first glance. Here is the default view when you open Mini Google Maps for the first time. Things that we really liked about this extension were:

• Three different aerial views available (Map, Satellite, & Terrain)
• Three different viewing sizes available (and the extension remembers your chosen size)
• The ability to get directions in combination with a map

We decided to try each of the viewing sizes available…here you can see the “Medium Setting”. Notice that the scale stays the same but you get more territory included to view.

Then the “Large Setting”…which we infinitely preferred to the others. Once again look at the amount of territory included by default…very nice.

Switching over to the “Satellite View”…

Followed by the “Terrain View”.

For our first example we decided to peek at Vancouver, British Columbia. After zooming out a little bit we had a very nice looking map.

For the next test we asked for directions from Vancouver to Toronto. Both the directions and map turned out very well.

And just for fun we looked up Paris, France with the “Satellite View”.

Conclusion

If you find yourself needing to view a map or get directions often then the Mini Google Maps extension will be a very useful tool for you.

Links

Download the Mini Google Maps extension (Google Chrome Extensions)

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If you use Windows 7 Media Center to record live TV, you’re probably interested in skipping through commercials. After all, a big reason to record programs is to avoid commercials, right? Today we focus on a fairly simple and free way to get you skipping commercials in no time.

In Windows 7, the .wtv file format has replaced the dvr-ms file format used in previous versions of Media Center for Recorded TV. The .wtv file format, however, does not work very well with commercial skipping applications.?

The Process

Our first step will be to convert the recorded .wtv files to the previously used dvr-ms file format. This conversion will be done automatically by WtvWatcher. It’s important to note that this process deletes the original .wtv file after successfully converting to .dvr-ms. Next, we will use DVRMSToolBox with the DTB Addin to handle commercials skipping. This process does not “cut” or remove the commercials from the file. It merely skips the commercials during playback.

WtvWatcher

Download and install the WTVWatcher (link below). To install WtvWatcher, you’ll need to have Windows Installer 3.1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

If you get the Publisher cannot be verified warning you can go ahead and click Install. We’ve completely tested this app and it contains no malware and runs successfully.

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After installing, the WtvWatcher will pop up in the lower right corner of your screen.

You will need to set the path to your Recorded TV directory. Click on the button for “Click here to set your recorded TV path…”

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The WtvWatcher Preferences window will open…

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…and you’ll be prompted to browse for your Recorded TV folder. If you did not change the default location at setup, it will be found at C:UsersPublicRecorded TV. Click “OK” when finished.

Click the “X” to close the Preferences screen.

You should now see WtvWatcher begin to convert any existing WTV files.

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The process should only take a few minutes per file. Note: If WtvWatcher detects an error during the conversion process, it will not delete the original WTV file.?

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You will probably want to run WtvWatcher on startup. This will allow WtvWatcher too constantly scan for new .wtv files to convert. There is no setting in the application to run on startup, so you’ll need to copy the WTV icon from your desktop into your Windows start menu “Startup” directory. To do so, click on Start > All Programs, right-click on Startup and click on Open all users.

Drag and drop, or cut and paste, the WtvWatcher desktop shortcut into the Startup folder.

DVRMSToolBox and DTBAddIn

Next, we need to download and install the DVRMSToolBox and the DTBAddIn. These two pieces of software will do the actual commercial skipping. After downloading the DVRMSToolBox zip file, extract it and double-click the setup.exe file.? Click “Next” to begin the installation.

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Unless DVRMSToolBox will only be used by Administrator accounts, check the “Modify File Permissions” box. Click “Next.”

When you get to the Optional Components window, uncheck Download/Install ShowAnalyzer. We will not be using that application.

When the installation is complete, click “Close.”

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Next we need to install the DTBAddin. Unzip the download folder and run the appropriate .msi file for your system. It is available in 32 & 64 bit versions.

Just double click on the file and take the default options. Click “Finish” when the install is completed. You will then be prompted to restart your computer.

After your computer has restarted, open DVRMSToolBox settings by going to Start > All Programs, DVRMSToolBox, and click on DVRMStoMPEGSettings.

On the MC Addin tab, make sure that Skip Commercials is checked. It should be by default.

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On the Commercial Skip tab, make sure the Auto Skip option is selected. Click “Save.”

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If you try to watch recorded TV before the file conversion and commercial indexing process is complete you’ll get the following message pop up in Media Center. If you click Yes, it will start indexing the commercials if WtvWatcher has already converted it to dvr-ms.

Now you’re ready to kick back and watch your recorded tv without having to wait through those long commercial breaks.

Conclusion

The DVRMSToolBox is a powerful and complex application with a multitude of features and utilities. We’ve showed you a quick and easy way to get your Windows Media Center setup to skip commercials. This setup, like virtually all commercial skipping setups, is not perfect. You will occasionally find a commercial that doesn’t get skipped.

Need help getting your Windows 7 PC configured for TV? Check out our previous tutorial on setting up live TV in Windows Media Center.

Links

Download WTV Watcher

Download DVRMSToolBox

Download DTBAddin

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Want to keep in touch with your Facebook friends throughout the day?? Here we’ll show you how to easily add Facebook chat to the popular multi-protocol chat client Pidgin.

Facebook has recently added support for XMPP chat, which means you can easily add it to popular chat clients such as Pidgin.? Previously you could only add Facebook chat to Pidgin through a plug-in that didn’t always work correctly.? Here we’ll walk you through setting up your Facebook account in Pidgin.

Getting Started

First, make sure you have a username for your Facebook account (link below).? This is a relatively new feature for Facebook, so if you’ve had your account for a while you may need to choose one.?

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If you already have one, you should see it listed instead.

Now, open Pidgin, and click Manage Accounts.

Click Add…

Then select XMPP from the Protocol list.

Now, enter your Facebook username without the facebook.com part (e.g your.facebook.username, not http://www.facebook.com/your.user.name).? Then, enter chat.facebook.com for the Domain, and enter your standard Facebook password.? You can check the “Remember password” box if you’d like Pidgin to automatically sign in to Facebook chat.

Now, click on the Advanced tab, and uncheck the “Require SSL/TLS” box.? Also, make sure the Connect port is 5222.? Click Add, and your Facebook account is added to Pidgin.

Now Facebook will show up in your list of accounts, with the username your.facebook.username@chat.facebook.com.

Your Facebook friends will show up directly in your Buddy list, complete with their full name and Facebook profile picture.? Any users that are not in a group will show under your standard list, while ones in a Facebook group will be shown in a separate group.? You can move which groups your Facebook friends show up in, just like you can with other chat contacts.

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And no matter if your friend is logged in on the standard Facebook website or through another chat application, it will work the same as always.

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This is a great way to keep in touch with your Facebook friends throughout the day.? If you like Facebook chat and already use Pidgin, now you can keep from switching between programs and just chat with all your friends from a central location.

Links:

Download Pidgin

Set your Facebook username

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Now that the new version of Firefox is out you probably have a favorite extension or two that has not updated yet. You can get that extension working again, test it, and report back to Mozilla on how well it does with the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension.

Before

For our example we chose a great extension that unfortunately has not been updated yet. As you can see here Firefox is refusing to let the extension install.

After

As soon as you install Add-on Compatibility Reporter you will be presented with an information page on how the extension works and what you can do with it. You should definitely take a moment to read this as it is very helpful.

After trying our non-compatible extension again we were able to proceed with the install process. Notice at the bottom that “compatibility checking” has been overridden.

Success!

As soon as we restarted our browser it was easy to see the “non-compatible icon” in the “Add-ons Manager Window”…but the extension did install though (terrific!).

Clicking on the extension’s entry will reveal a new button in the lower right corner. Using the “Compatibility Drop-Down Menu” you can report if the extension is working as well as before or if it is actually having problems. The extension that we used for our example had no problems whatsoever so good news there.

Whichever option you choose you will be presented with a small “Report Window” with information about the extension, your browser’s version number, and your operating system. Click “Submit Report” to send it on its’ way.

You will see a confirmation message letting you know that your report was successfully submitted.

While the extension itself has not been altered in any form at least you have it working again and have helped verify whether it still works well or not. Notice the “notation” present now in place of the “Compatibility Button” that lets you know that you have already taken care of that particular extension.

Looking great…

Conclusion

If you have a favorite extension that you miss using in the newest release of Firefox then this is definitely an extension to add to your browser. Not only will your extension start working again but you can let Mozilla know how well it is working and (hopefully) help get the extension updated.

Links

Download the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension (Mozilla Add-ons)

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If you use Windows Home Server to backup the machines on your network, your in luck if you accidentally delete important files or they become corrupted. Today we take a look at getting your data back from backups on your home server.

Open Windows Home Server Console and click select the Computers and Backup tab. Right-click on the computer you need to restore files for and select View Backups.

This will open a list of your recent backups. Highlight the one you want to open, then click the Open button in the Restore or View Files section.

If this is the first time you’re restoring a file, you’ll be asked to verify installation of the device software. Check the box next to Always trust software from Microsoft Corporation and click Install.

Now wait while the backup data is retrieved.

After the backup data has been retrieved, an explorer windows opens up to drive (Z:) which is the backup data. It’s just like if you were opening a drive on your local machine. Now you can browse through the backup and find the files your missing. You can open the files directly, or drag them onto your machine to the location you want to restore them.

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Restoring your data is actually a very easy process with Windows Home Server. Of course you’ll want to make sure the computers on your network are being backed up to WHS. if you need help with that, check out our article on how to configure your computer to backup to WHS. If you want to backup your home server shares, check out our article on how to backup WHS folder to an external drive.

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Do you regularly need to type in multiple languages in Windows?? Here we’ll show you the easy way to add and change input languages to your keyboard in XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Windows Vista and 7 come preinstalled with support for viewing a wide variety of languages, so adding an input language is fairly simply.? Adding an input language is slightly more difficult in XP, and even requires installing additional files if you need an Asian or Complex script language.? First we show how to add an input language in Windows Vista and 7; it’s basically is the same in both versions.? Then, we show how to add a language to XP, and also how to add Complex Script support.?

Please note that this is only for adding an input language, which will allow you to type in the language you select.? This does not change your user interface language.

Change keyboard language in Windows 7 and Vista

It is fairly simple to add or change a keyboard language in Windows 7 or Vista.? In Windows 7, enter “keyboard language” in the Start menu search box, and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”.

In Windows Vista, open Control Panel and enter “input language” in the search box and select “Change keyboards or other input methods”.? This also works in Windows 7.

Now, click Change Keyboards to add another keyboard language or change your default one.

Our default input language is US English, and our default keyboard is the US keyboard layout.? Click Add to insert another input language while still leaving your default input language installed.

Here we selected the standard Thai keyboard language (Thai Kedmanee), but you can select any language you want.? Windows offers almost any language you can imagine, so just look for the language you want, select it, and click Ok.

Alternately, if you want, you can click Preview to see your layout choice before accepting it.? This is only the default characters, not ones that will be activated with Shift or other keys (many Asian languages use many more characters than English, and require the use of Shift and other keys to access them all).? Once your finished previewing, click close and then press Ok on the previous dialog.

Now you will see both of your keyboard languages in the Installed services box.? You can click Add to go back and get more, or move your selected language up or down (to change its priority), or simply click Apply to add the new language.

Also, you can now change the default input language from the top menu.? This is the language that your keyboard will start with when you boot your computer.? So, if you mainly use English but also use another language, usually it is best to leave English as your default input language.

Once you’ve pressed Apply or Ok, you will see a new icon beside your system tray with the initials of your default input language.

If you click it, you can switch between input languages.? Alternately you can switch input languages by pressing Alt+Shift on your keyboard.

Some complex languages, such as Chinese, may have extra buttons to change input modes to accommodate their large alphabet.

If you would like to change the keyboard shortcut for changing languages, go back to the Input Languages dialog, and select the “Advanced Key Settings” tab.? Here you can change settings for Caps Lock and change or add key sequences to change between languages.

Also, the On-Screen keyboard will display the correct keyboard language (here the keyboard is displaying Thai), which can be a helpful reference if your physical keyboard doesn’t have your preferred input language printed on it.? To open this, simply enter “On-Screen keyboard” in the start menu search, or click All Programs>Accessories>On-Screen keyboard.

Change keyboard language in Windows XP

The process for changing the keyboard language in Windows XP is slightly different.? Open Control Panel, and select “Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options”.

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Select “Add other languages”.

Now, click Details to add another language.? XP does not include support for Asian and complex languages by default, so if you need to add one of those languages we have details for that below.

Click Add to add an input language.

Select your desired language from the list, and choose your desired keyboard layout if your language offers multiple layouts.? Here we selected Canadian French with the default layout.

Now you will see both of your keyboard languages in the Installed services box.? You can click Add to go back and add more, or move your selected language up or down (to change its priority), or simply click Apply to add the new language.

Once you’ve pressed Apply or Ok, you will see a new icon beside your system tray with the initials of your default input language.

If you click it, you can switch between input languages.? Alternately you can switch input languages by pressing Alt+Shift on your keyboard.

If you would like to change the keyboard shortcut for changing languages, go back to the Input Languages dialog, and click the “Key Settings” button on the bottom of the dialog.? Here you can change settings for Caps Lock and change or add key sequences to change between languages.

Add support to XP for Asian and Complex script languages

Windows XP does not include support for Asian and Complex script languages by default, but you can easily add them to your computer.? This is useful if you wish to type in one of these languages, or simply want to read text written in these languages, since XP will not display these languages correctly if they are not installed.? If you wish to install Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean, check the “Install files for East Asian languages” box.? Or, if you need to install a complex script language (including Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, the Indic languages, Thai, and Vietnamese), check the “Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages” box.

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Choosing either of these options will open a prompt reminding you that this option will take up more disk space.? Support for complex languages will require around 10Mb of hard drive space, but East Asian language support may require 230 Mb or more free disk space.? Click Ok, and click apply to install your language files.

You may have to insert your XP CD into your CD drive to install these files.? Insert the disk, and then click Ok.

Windows will automatically copy the files, including fonts for these languages…

…and then will ask you to reboot your computer to finalize the settings.? Click Yes, and then reopen the “Add other languages” dialog when your computer is rebooted, and add a language as before.

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? Now you can add Complex and/or Asian languages to XP, just as above.? Here is the XP taskbar language selector with Thai installed.

Conclusion

Unfortunately we haven’t found a way to add Asian and complex languages in XP without having an XP disc. If you know of a way, let us know in the comments. (No downloading the XP disc from torrent site answers please)

Adding an input language is very important for bilingual individuals, and can also be useful if you simply need to occasionally view Asian or Complex languages in XP.? And by following the correct instructions for your version of Windows, it should be very easy to add, change, and remove input languages.

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