Who had to deal with a situation where Windows 7 seemed to be installed on a computer or laptop brought from abroad, but the interface turned out to be non-Russified, but was presented in the language of the country in which the device was purchased? In the best case, only an English interface could be present. How to change the system language in Windows 7 of a certain version and, in general, how much is it possible to perform such actions? Let's try to figure it out.
Can I change the language of a Windows 7 system using standard tools?
Differing versions of Windows 7 do not always have the right set for changing the interface language. According to most experts, using standard tools and changing the language of the Windows 7 system is possible only in versions of Ultimate and Enterprise, and then only by installing special service packs. In all other modifications, without manually downloading an additional language pack, nothing will work. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Russified professional version (Pro) has its pitfalls. For example, you can download a language pack with the same Kazakh language to change the interface, but you can’t just install English. Next, we consider several basic options that are most often used for different versions of Windows and give a guaranteed one hundred percent result.
Changing the interface language in Enterprise and Ultimate versions
Changing the system language in Windows 7 of these two modifications can be quite elementary.
First you need to go to the “Update Center” section using the usual “Control Panel”, then set a manual search for available packages, mark updates for language packs in important or optional updates and install them.
After that, you just need to select the regional standards section in the “Control Panel”, go to the language and keyboard tabs, and then select the desired language from the drop-down list. Upon completion of the actions, the system should be completely rebooted, after which the entire interface will be presented in the exact language of your choice.
How to change the language of Windows 7 Home Premium / Basic / Starter?
Not all is so simple with these modifications, and the classical method described above is not suitable for them. However, there is a way out. First, you will need to go to the special section for downloading language packs directly on the official Microsoft website, select the required package, paying attention to the version of the OS for which it is intended, and the bit depth of your own operating system, and then download it to your computer.
The standard file has the extension MLC and is an executable component. To change the system language in Windows 7 Premium and similar versions, it is enough to simply start the installation on behalf of the administrator using the PCM menu for this, and after it complete the standard steps to change the interface language, as shown above.
If for some reason, even after a reboot, some elements still will not be translated into the selected language, in the previously used section of the regional standards you will need to go to the Administrative tab and change the language already there, using the corresponding button. And only after a restart, everything will fall into place.
Nuances of changing the interface language in the Pro modification
Finally, the biggest problems await the owners of professional modifications. Changing the system language in Windows 7 Pro is somewhat more difficult, but the above methods do not work at all. However, there is one interesting solution. First, download the installation file of the selected language, taking into account the capacity of the system as an EXE file. Now run the installer and wait for the CAB file to appear in the download directory, then instantly copy it to another location on the disk. This is only necessary because upon completion of the installer, it will be deleted automatically, and the desired or unsupported language simply will not be installed. Suppose you copy a .cab file to directory 111 on drive “C”.
Now run the command line (cmd) on behalf of the administrator and write the command indicated on the image, press the enter key and wait for the package to complete installation. Then, for example, to change the Russian language of the interface, execute two more commands into English (see the screenshot below).
Now you can completely get rid of the Russian interface. If this is absolutely necessary, enter the registry (regedit), expand the HKLM branch, through the SYSTEM and CurrentControlSet sections find the MUI directory and completely delete the Russian language section in the subfolder UILanguages (ru-RU).
After restarting the system, there will be no trace of the Russian interface.
Changing the language with third-party tools
All of the above presented to an unprepared user may seem quite complicated. Therefore, in order not to engage in such actions, you can use special utilities from third-party developers. One of the simplest is the portable program Vistalizator. In it, you just need to add the desired language, and then wait for the download and installation of the required package. All operations will be performed in automatic mode, and in time the process will take about 15-20 minutes.