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Arabicizing Windows:
Enabling Windows Applications to Read and Write Arabic
By:
Al-Husein N. Madhany
The University of Chicago
Step 4: How to enable Windows to type
Arabic script
For Windows XP Home and Windows XP Pro
users, follow these instructions.
Left click on Start. Left click on
Control Panel. Double-left click on Regional and Language Options.
Left click on the Languages tab at the top of the box. Under Text
Services and Input Languages, left click on the Details… button. Left
click on the Settings tab at the top of the box that appears. Under
Installed Services left click on the Add… button on the right. An Add
Input Language Box should appear. Add Arabic. You will see quite a
few varieties of Arabic listed. These country specific versions of
Arabic do not reflect any dialectical differences that may be enabled
on your keyboard. Since no differences exist in the country choice,
you may choose whichever country you wish that is labeled as Arabic.
In the same box, directly under Input
Language, there is an area for selecting a Keyboard Layout from a
drop-down menu. Scan the menu for an Arabic keyboard. Choose an
Arabic keyboard and then left click on the OK button.
There are minor differences in the
keyboard layouts available from Microsoft. The keyboard you choose
will determine which Arabic letters correspond to the English letters
on the keyboard in front of you. If you are a beginning user of
Arabic, then any of the three available options (Arabic 101, Arabic
102, or Arabic 102 AZERTY) will do. More advanced users probably have
a favorite, especially if coming from the Arabic-speaking and
Arabic-typing world. Choose an Arabic keyboard and then left click on
the OK button.
You should be back at the Text Services
and Input Languages box. Keep the Default Input Language English
(United States) –US. Under Preferences left click the Language Bar…
button. A Language Bar Settings box should appear. Tick the box that
says Show the Language Bar on the Desktop and tick the box that says
Show Additional Language Bar Icons in the Taskbar. Finally, left
click on the OK button.
A box with an EN (short for English)
block should appear on the Taskbar on the bottom right hand corner or
on the top right of your computer screen. Left clicking on the EN
will allow you to switch from one input language to another, in this
case from English to Arabic. Right clicking on the EN block and then
left clicking on Settings will allow you easy access to enabling
additional input languages and keyboard layouts on your PC. Continue
to Step 5.
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