Changing French Windows XP to English? How? Easy?

[Mjc]

How does one replace the French version of Windows XP for an English language version?

Would the cost for the Windows XP English version be the same as buying new, if one only wanted to convert the "narrative" - after all, the bulk of the coding is identical?

Anyone had any experience? All help gratefully received.

 

[Fleur]

Not being knowledgeable, we had to pay as follows;-

Manufacturer : MS
Product : Windows XP Home Edition
Price exc VAT : £140.00
Price inc VAT : £164.50
The order handling charge £4.00 (£4.70 inc VAT)
Info From : http://www.dabs.com

We did get a credit from our supplier for the unwanted French version though.

I still miss my Windows '98 though. I was beginning to get it trained!

[Ecossais]

If you’ve got an “international” brand PC with a recovery / re-master CD or programme then it may be possible to re-master the PC in English.   For example, Packard Bell PCs used to ship to different countries with the same recovery CD, a different boot disk was supplied to extract the required language installation from the CD.

 

Alternatively you may be able to buy an English version of the French recovery CD (if you have one).  I suggest contacting the PC manufacturer to see what’s available.

 

I believe the only other option is to buy a “full” copy (ie not an “upgrade”) of [UK] Windows XP, back-up all your data, wipe the hard drive, install the new Windows CD + any other drivers etc and put your data back on.  You can find Windows XP for sale on eBay – the “legitimate” ones seem to be around £50.

 

Is it worth the hassle and cost?  This article and other links on the Microsoft website might be of interest to you http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/honeycutt_03april28.mspx

 

 

 

[Mjc]

Thank you for your helpful reply.

I have been offered a fairly new computer by a friend here in France, which has XP French installed. Interestingly, it is a Packard Bell, so I will investigate further the situation regarding the recovery CD. If she has this, is it a relatively simple matter to ru, do you know? 

[Ianhaycox]

It depends on the price, but to save the hassle factor DELL.fr offer English XP and manuals and keyboard (remember a french keyboard is AZERTY) as an option when buying new.

[Alex@FPS<P>http:<a target=_blank href="http:www.france-property-services.com">www.france-property-services.com<A><P>]

Dare I say give the French Version a try .......It is amazing how you can get used to it after a while , on the positive side you will be able to speak like a french computer . .?

If not - i think the best way and least amount of hassle is to format hard drive and  install an english version .

 

bon luck

alex

[Ecossais]

Mjc,

 

I’ve to find the master CDs for a PB PC (Windows ME) I have to see what languages are on them,

but unfortunately cannot find them.

 

I think the newer PCs have a backup copy of the standard installation in a hidden partition on the PC’s hard drive instead of being supplied with CDs (must be cheaper!)

 

I suggest you email PB with details of the PC you’re thinking of buying (model / serial number) and ask how you can install the English software – you may have to buy the CDs from them.

 

You can contact PB (UK) through this link:

 

http://support.packardbell.com/uk/contactus/

 

There are a couple of discussions on the PB forum about this subject, but no-one has replied with details of what to do:

 

http://forum.packardbell.com/en/viewtopic.php?t=24392&highlight=language

 

I’ve found the PB technical people I’ve spoken to helpful in the past, so hopefully they will be able to advise you.

 

·         Even if you end up stuck with the French default software, I believe you should be able to install English software like Office etc on it (perhaps someone could confirm if this works OK?)

 

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Will]

I'm far from an expert on how everything works with Windows, but I'd be very surprised if it was easy to change French Windows XP to English without installing a complete new Windows XP package. I use French XP and have found that there are quite a lot of differences in how things work, what options you have, and where you find things compared with the English version. I'm not saying it would be impossible to swap just the 'words' part of things, but I could see a lot of fiddling about being necessary as well.

The good news is that I can confirm that it's not difficult to use Windows in French language, my French was pretty basic when first introduced to operating systems in French and I've had no problems - in fact it's a bloody good way of improving your French. Also every English language program I've tried with it (including Office programs) works fine; the only thing is that standard dialogue boxes say things like 'Oui' or 'Non' or 'Annuler' even with an English language program. If you can cope with that, it's not worth trying to change in my opinion.