When trying to use Compressed (zipped) Folder in Windows 7 you get the error message

“includes characters that cannot be used in a compressed folder”

First thing to do would be to check for any unrecognized characters in file / folder names of the files you wish to compress. You can rename them to resolve this issue.

But if this is not an unrecognized character; but instead a language different from you PC Default; there are two things you can do

• If renaming the file name or folder is ok for you as well as the recipient who expects to recieve your compressed file; you can proceed with the same
• Or else; an easy option would to be use either WinRAR or 7-Zip to do the compress operation and restore all the characters in the file and folder names
• If you prefer using the default Compressed (zipped) Folder option; you would need to change the System Locale under Control Panel – Region and Languages – Administrative and add the required language. This is a far fetched exercise and not really recommended unless it is a very regular of you dealing with files or folder names that are non-english