Copy a Language Pack to the Windows Distribution

You can copy one or more language packs to the Langpacks directory in your Windows distribution to enable a multilingual Windows operating system. This process is the typical corporate scenario.

Note

Adding language packs to the Langpacks directory might extend the Windows Setup installation. Packages in the Langpacks directory are added to the Windows image during the windowsPE configuration pass, before Windows is actually installed. If Windows Setup must install several language packs, then installation might be delayed.

To copy a language pack to the Langpacks directory

1. Copy your Windows distribution to a local directory. For example, copy the contents of the Windows product DVD to a directory named C:\Windows_distribution.

2. Create the Langpacks directory in the Windows distribution. For example,

   mkdir C:\windows_distribution\langpacks 
   

3. Copy the language pack (Lp.cab) and the parent folder (fr-FR, en-US, etc.) to the Langpacks directory of your Windows distribution. For example,

   mkdir C:\windows_distribution\langpacks\fr-fr
   mkdir C:\windows_distribution\langpacks\de-de
   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\lp.cab C:\windows_distribution\langpacks\fr-fr\lp.cab
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\lp.cab C:\windows_distribution\langpacks\de-de\lp.cab
   

4. Locate the Lp.cab file for the language that you intend to add support for. Use the Expand.exe version included with the Windows OPK to expand the contents of the Lp.cab file to a local directory. For example,

   expand.exe –f:* C:\LPs\fr-fr\lp.cab C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded
   expand.exe –f:* C:\LPs\de-de\lp.cab C:\LPs\de-de\expanded
   

   Then, copy the sources and the license directories from the expanded language pack to the Windows distribution. For example,

   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded\sources\license\* c:\windows_distribution\sources\license\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded\setup\sources\* c:\windows_distribution\sources\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\expanded\sources\license\* c:\windows_distribution\sources\license\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\expanded\setup\sources\* c:\windows_distribution\sources\ /cherkyi
   

5. Mount the Windows image in the Windows distribution. This is required for Intlcfg.exe to report the list of languages installed in the .wim file and to recreate the Lang.ini file. Use ImageX to mount the Windows image. For example,

   imagex /mountrw C:\windows_distribution\sources\install.wim 1 C:\wim_mount
   

6. Report the languages that are available or installed to the Windows image by using the -report option for intlcfg. For example,

   intlcfg.exe –report –dist:c:\windows_distribution –image:c:\wim_mount
   

   Verify that the correct languages are displayed as available languages.

7. Recreate the Lang.ini file and select the default international values to use. When you add or remove language packs from a Windows image, you must recreate the Lang.ini file. The Lang.ini file is used during Windows Setup and contains a list of all the language packs that are available, the locations of the language packs, and the default language to use during Windows Setup.
   For example, recreate the Lang.ini file with the following command.

   Intlcfg.exe –genlangini –dist:c:\windows_distribution –image:c:\wim_mount –all:fr-fr
   

8. Unmount the .wim file. For example,

   imagex /unmount C:\wim_mount
   

9. Specify the default international language settings in one of the following ways.

   • Use Intlcfg.exe to set the default languages and the locale settings. For more information, see Configure International Settings with Intlcfg.exe.
   • Use an answer file to specify the languages and the locale settings. For more information, see Configure International Settings in an Answer File.

To change the language used during Windows Setup, you must add the Windows Setup localized resources to the Windows distribution. For more information, see Add a Language to Windows Setup.

See Also

Concepts

Add a Language Pack to a Windows Image