Typing Japanese

[8gatsu3]

I used to be able to type in Japanese on here, but we had to get a new hard drive..
Previously I got it going without having the Windows disk, I don't remember how. But this time it asks for the disk and I don't know what to do because I never had it.
I tried the Japanese IME download on Microsoft's site, but the link there doesn't seem to work properly.
At the moment I have to just copy and paste everything from a dictionary site which isn't ideal!

Any ideas? I'm using Windows XP if it makes a difference.
Thanks alot for any help!

[jemstone]

try to borrow a Windows XP CD, and copy the entire i386 folder onto your harddisk (usually people would copy them to C:\i386).

once that is done, go to control panel, regional settings, and in the languages tab, install the east asian languages. when prompted for the CD, just point to C:\i386 (or wherever you copied those files to).

after it's done the installation, you can now install the japanese ime. and once that is done, you can type japanese right from your keyboard.

[8gatsu3]

Thanks for your help, it looks like I'll need the CD then haha..
I wondered if I can do it without because it worked the first time, but I don't really remember what I did.

[jemstone]

you'll only need the CD once to copy out the i386 folder onto your harddisk. subsequent prompts for the CD, you can just point to the i386 folder on your harddisk.

the first time around, these steps could have been done by your computer vendor already, thus not requiring the CD when you were using it.

[8gatsu3]

thanks alot for that. answers my question