Being able to TYPE and READ Chinese on your local computer will greatly aid you along the road to Character proficiency, and your overall quest for cool-ness. So here are some simple steps to help you get started…
1: open your control panel (“startup menu”-> “control panel”)
2: open “…Regional and Language options”
3: click “languages“
4: check “Install Files for East Asian Languages” click “OK“
sometimes you may have to restart your computer after this last step (do so only if prompted) If you are prompted to put in a disk..don’t freak out.. just skip this step it still seems to work without the setup disk.
5: open “…Regional and languages options” again.
6: go to “Text services and input languages“
7: “settings” -> “preferences” -> “language bar“-> check “show language bar on the desktop“
8: go to google pinyin and download and save to your desktop (click the blue box that says: “下载谷歌拼音输入法”）
9: when finished downloading click on the Google pinyin Icon on your desktop and then click “save” or “run“
10: finished!
now you just need to open your tool bar “alt + shift” and it should be there.! This can be used in web browsers! Word projects or any other typing front on your computer..so open something up and give it a try!!!
How to Use Google pinyin and your Tool bar: the basics
Open/Close tool bar: Alt + Shift
Toggle between Languages: Shift
Out of all the other Chinese input methods Google pinyin seems to be the most correct in character recognition, typing entire sentences with few to no errors. However, if you find another program that you like more.. let me know. I’m always up for checking out new things. 
If you would like to type pinyin with tone marks! here is a link for you to visit! pinyin input When using my pc I really have found this input method to be very easy to use. After downloading, it will appear in your language bar. Any questions let me know.
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