Can't See Special Characters in game

[Cash]

For some reason, I can't see special characters in TF2 (i.e. japanese/chinese letters, hearts, etc...) I can see them perfectly in steam and the in-game steam overlay but not on the scoreboard or game chat. On my old Vista computer I could see them fine, but I have never been able to see them on my W7 laptop since switching in December. Ironically enough, I can't see the caduceus I use in my name (Dr. Cash [☤ ]). This gets kinda annoying, especially when someone shows up who's name is entirely made up of special characters...

Anyway, does anyone know how I can fix this? From what I've gathered, there are other W7 users who've had this problem. Vista and XP users could just install some language pack to fix the issue, but W7 doesn't have the option to do that or something.

tl;dr version: tf2 won't let me see special characters. halp me

[Hatred]

Windows 7 language packs are available for computers that are running Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 7 Enterprise. The Windows 7 language packs can be installed only from the Optional Updates section in Windows Update. However, these language packs are not available on the Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server or through the Microsoft Download Center.

1. To download and install a Windows 7 language pack, follow these steps:
2. Start Microsoft Update. To do this, click StartCollapse this imageExpand this image, type Microsoft Update in the Start Search box, and then click Microsoft Update in the Programs list.
3. Click the optional update links for the language packs.
4. Under the Windows 7 Language Packs category, select the desired language pack.

Note If you install many additional language packs, the disk space and system performance are affected. In particular, disk space and system performance are affected during servicing operations, such as Service Pack installations. Therefore, we recommend that you only add a language pack to your computer if you will use the language pack.
Click OK, and then click Install updates to start the download and installation process.

just coppied and pasted this from microsoft.com lol

[Cash]

lol thanks. I'll try it tonight

[Hatred]

also got this from wiki for u

Both Vista and Windows 7 include native OS support for displaying Japanese text by default. In order to input Japanese on a non-Japanese version of the OS, however, the Japanese input method editor must be enabled from the Region and Language (Windows 7) or Regional and Language Options (Vista) section of the Control Panel.

if that other way doesnt work maybe this will lol