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French Vista to English Vista


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I have just taken delivery of a lovely HP Pavilion base unit. Got it off eBay and I'm delighted. BUT .........

Being a French based unit Vista Family Premium is in French. Thats okay. I've managed to re-establish the 6 station WiFi network and everyone has access to the printer etc. But ......... and I admit I'd be the first to take a swipe at this - I would love to overload an English version of the OS.

Why, I'm a fervent XP Pro man and I havent got a clue whats appearing in front of me on this glitzy Vista. My downloaded programs (ActiveSync - replacement -for my iPod etc) all come in French and its not your everyday French language.

Given that the OS is installed by HP and all the drivers for the dual core processor, the NVidia graphics, sound and so on and everything else come in in a French language that I dont have any notion of.

2 questions - could I simply do an top installation of the same OS in English (without causing driver problems) or what about a dual boot set up. I'd prefer a clean installation but I'm open to suggestions. Any thoughts - let me have them. Flood gates open I guess [blink]

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You can't do an 'over the top install' to change to English so a complete reinstall or a dual boot, are the only practical solutions.

Drivers are not language specific so if you find or have the drivers for your existing French setup they should work equally with English.

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Morning Leo - I've always done it. As the name implies, I'm an Ulsterman, and being from one of the 4 proud provinces of Ireland green just comes naturally - its inbred [;-)][:D]

ErnieY - thanks - what you say is what I'd thought would be the response. I understand that my old drivers okay to install on my French Vista, I guess my main problem is that having used XP Pro since its launch switching to any new OS takes time and lots of searching and clicking and so on, but when its in a language that I'm still very much learning it makes it a rather frustrating and seriously drawn out ordeal. I'm still trying to find out where I go to manually set up the IP address for the Pavilion so that it can become part of the WiFi home network. In XP I'd do it with my eyes closed.

C'est la vie - je pense [8-)]

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Mmmmm - Thanks guys - I did actually attempt to download the software but immediately it started AVG intercepted a BOMB or something. It quarantined it thankfully. That said, there are posts from some who state that they use it successfully enough. A few glitches with Windows Auto Updates but all have work arounds. However, if it was totally possible to replace the OS's language, surely Microsoft would do it too
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[quote]they do, you just have to pay a lot more for it - Vista Ultimate version.

Danny[/quote]

Ah - I see. I've never ever seen Vista until this weekend and only did so as it came pre-installed on the new system. To be honest, I'd have preferred the choice and I would have opted for XP Pro. Only because I know it in my sleep.

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If you can get hold of a UK Vista Home Premium Install disk, you should be able to reinstall Vista in English using your French Vista key. It's what I did and it worked for me. Have a look on Ebay UK, there'll no doubt be someone selling an HP Vista install disk without a key code for just a few quid.

But on the other hand if you leave it for a few weeks you'll probably just get used to Vista and computer French ;-)

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

 

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I recently bought a new PC running French Vista.  I was also a dyed in the wool XP pro English user, but quite honestly after a few weeks of use I don't even notice the difference any more.

If it helps, ActiveSynch has been replaced on Vista by the Windows Mobile Device Centre, which you can download in English (or any other language you fancy) here...

 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/device-center.mspx

You could also try downloading ActiveSynch in English here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/activesync45.mspx  although it's not officially supported on Vista.

 

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Thanks everyone for your input and advice. I guess a few days into it its getting better and my understanding of what is going on is getting better too. My biggest concern really,  suppose, is the warning messages and my lack of understanding but as Cat says, maybe after a few weeks I'll be a dab hand at it.

Thanks for the tip rjpfrancais - I'll look into that anyway.

[:)]

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[quote user="ErnieY"]Actually there MAY be an option but you try it at your own risk !

Vistalizator

Bon chance

[/quote]

This one has worked fine for me, but it needs a little work to get windows updates going in the English version.   You need to uninstall windows search 4.0 from previous updates and then hide it.

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