How to solve encoding problem in php?

Question

PHP

Hello! All commands and operations work as they should. But the execution operation does not work as I want.
Here is the code:

<?php
  $a = `dir c:`;
  print  "<pre>" . $a . "</pre>";
?>

Here is the result:

��� � ���ன�⢥ C �� ����� ��⪨.
 ��਩�� ����� ⮬�: 2E4C-FF6A

 ����ন��� ����� C:\OpenServer\domains\comet

17-02-2018  16:28    
          .
17-02-2018  16:28    
          ..
22-02-2018  15:48               340 js.html
22-02-2018  20:55                60 php.php
               2 䠩���            400 ����
               2 �����  39�821�983�744 ���� ᢮�����

How to fix? Why is the problem only with the execution operation?
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Windows uses cp1251 encoding.
OpenServer is set to utf8 by default.
Hence the output
Either convert the output of the execution statement to utf-8.
Or reconfigure the server.
The first is preferable, the
second if you plan to run the script only on your own.