Select a font that contains multiple character sets - Windows XP

Programs that support multiple languages will automatically use a font that contains multiple character sets. If you are using a program that does not support multiple languages, such as Notepad, the fonts might appear as black boxes or lines. To make the text appear correctly, manually select a font that contains multiple character sets. Both Tahoma and Microsoft Sans Serif fonts support multiple character sets.

Note

In some programs, you can select a font specific to the language, such as Tahoma (Language Name). In other programs, you select only the font.

From: Help and Support Center Win XP