English XP and Japanese drivers

[Guest]

Sorry if this is a silly question...

I`m running the English version of XP Pro with SP2, on a Fujitsu desktop
produced
for the Japanese market. Everything is running well. My question is as I
live in Japan, and they have all kinds of other
interresting hardware here that I`d love to buy, I was just wondering if I
have to use English drivers, or if the language of the drivers doesn`t
matter. Some
of the products here are only sold locally, not internationally. So, will
English XP
talk to Japanese drivers (drivers are not language specific), or can I use
only English drivers?

Thanks very much for your help!!

 

[Mike Hall]

The problem with Japanese drivers is that they work backwards and on the
other side..

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Q. "I was just wondering if I have to use English drivers..."

A. Yes, if you have an English version of Windows XP.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Sorry if this is a silly question...
|
| I`m running the English version of XP Pro with SP2, on a Fujitsu desktop
| produced
| for the Japanese market. Everything is running well. My question is as I
| live in Japan, and they have all kinds of other
| interresting hardware here that I`d love to buy, I was just wondering if I
| have to use English drivers, or if the language of the drivers doesn`t
| matter. Some
| of the products here are only sold locally, not internationally. So, will
| English XP
| talk to Japanese drivers (drivers are not language specific), or can I use
| only English drivers?
|
| Thanks very much for your help!!

 

[Yves Leclerc]

If the device you buy is a world-wide product (sold everywhere), you should
be able to locate English drivers off the web.

 

[JEM]

If the device you buy is a world-wide product (sold everywhere), you
should be able to locate English drivers off the web.

To add to that, you can use the Japanese drivers if English drivers are not
available. The portions of the driver files that make the hardware operate
are not language specific. HOWEVER, the interface for the drivers, for
example, printers and scanners are language specific. So, you will be able
to get the device to operate properly but, the interface will;

A) be in Japanese depending on what language support you have installed.

B) appear as 'moji-bake' (unreadable characters due to lack of language
support.)



But, not to worry; in the case of 'A' if you can read a little Japanese, you'll
be able to navigate through the various screens and get the job done. (I use
a Canon LBP-740 printer, sold only in Japan - I installed the drivers and
all the interfaces for printer setting / preferences are in Japanese, but it
works like a charm - I also use a Japanese version of a Canon scanner that
is available in the US, so I use the English drivers for that one.)



In the case of 'B', the interfaces will appear, but you will not be able to
read the words, they'll look something like this; '[[[@@#;"""..++'. In that
case, you'll still be able to used the device with an ugly interface and
figure out what you are doing - somehow the default keystrokes and prompts
appear. For example, when you want to install, you might see **&^^% (Y)
$$#^^(N) **&^%$ (C), and be able to click in 'Yes', 'No' or 'Cancel'.



If you can get by with standard drives without installing all the bells and
whistles, you can avoid both cases by installing / attaching the hardware
and installing just the drivers from the CD ROM. For example, some scanners
come with about half a dozen programs, but with the standard windows
interfaces, and just the drivers installed, you can use the device.



HTH, just my '2 yen', after 9 years in Japan playing with computers.