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Add languages to Windows Setup

To support multiple languages with Windows Setup:

  • Add languages to the Windows Setup image (boot.wim index:2) to help technicians or users install Windows images through Windows Setup.
  • When you add languages to a Windows image (install.wim), add a list of languages (lang.ini) so that during installation, the technician or user can select which language is installed as the default language.

You can include a different set of languages for your Windows images and Windows Setup.

Prerequisites

Step 1. Copy installation files to a working folder

On your technician PC, copy the Windows installation files from the Windows installation media to a local directory.

If you are creating media for use with a customized image, you must use the Windows media that corresponds to the version of your customized image. For example, if you are building a custom Windows 11 Setup image, you must use the original Windows 11 product media.

md C:\my_distribution
xcopy /E D: C:\my_distribution

Where D: is the location of the Windows installation media.

Step 2. Add languages to the default Windows Setup boot image (index:2)

  1. Click Start, and type deployment. Right-click Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment and then select Run as administrator.

  2. Mount the second image (index 2) in Boot.wim.

    md C:\mount\boot
    Dism /mount-image /imagefile:C:\my_distribution\sources\boot.wim /index:2 /mountdir:C:\Mount\boot
    
  3. Add language packs from the Windows ADK into your mounted image using Dism /Add-Package for each language you want to support. Add lp.cab, WinPE-setup_<language>.cab. Also add WinPE-Setup-client_<language>.cab. For Windows Server, also add WinPE-Setup-server_<language>.cab

    Windows PE language packs are available in the Windows ADK.

    Example for Windows desktop editions using fr-FR:

    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\lp.cab"
    
    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup_fr-fr.cab"
    
    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup-Client_fr-fr.cab"
    

    Example for Windows Server using fr-FR:

    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\lp.cab"
    
    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup_fr-fr.cab"
    
    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\fr-fr\WinPE-Setup-Server_fr-fr.cab"
    
  4. For Japanese (ja-JP), Korean (ko-KR), and Chinese (zh-HK, zh-CN, zh-TW), add font support to your image. For example, to add Japanese font support:

    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\WinPE-FontSupport-JA-JP.cab"
    
  5. For Thai (th-TH), add the WinPE-FontSupport-WinRE package to your image.

    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\WinPE-FontSupport-WinRE.cab"
    

For more information about specifying different international settings, see DISM Languages and International Servicing Command-Line Options.

Step 3: Add localized Windows Setup resources to the Windows distribution

In this step you copy the language-specific Setup resources from each language-specific Windows distribution to the Sources folder in your Windows distribution. For example, mount the fr-FR Windows installation media as drive E: and copy the Fr-FR sources folder to your Windows distribution.

Note

Language interface packs (LIP) are not supported on Windows Setup.

  • Copy the localized Windows Setup files to your Windows distribution.

    xcopy E:\sources\fr-fr C:\my_distribution\sources\fr-fr /cherkyi
    

    Where E: is the location of the Windows installation media that contains the localized Windows Setup resources.

Step 4. Add language packs to the Windows image

To modify the languages in the Windows image, see Add Language Packs to Windows.

After you do this, update the list of available Windows languages (Lang.ini):

  1. Recreate the Lang.ini file to reflect the additional languages.

    Dism /image:C:\mount\windows /gen-langINI /distribution:C:\my_distribution
    
  2. Change the Windows Setup default language:

    Dism /image:C:\mount\boot /Set-SetupUILang:fr-FR /distribution:C:\my_distribution
    
  3. Copy the lang.ini file in the Windows distribution to the boot folder.

    Xcopy C:\my_distribution\sources\lang.ini C:\mount\boot\sources\lang.ini
    

Step 5: Commit the changes to the Windows images

Dism /unmount-image /mountdir:C:\mount\boot /commit
Dism /unmount-image /mountdir:C:\mount\windows /commit

Step 6: Create the media

USB flash drive

Use MakeWinPEMedia with the /UFD option to format and install Windows PE to the USB flash drive, specifying the USB key's drive letter:

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\my_distribution F:

To learn more, see WinPE: Create USB Bootable drive.

DVD or CD

  1. Create a boot order file. This is required for DVD or CD images larger than 4.5 GB to make sure that boot files are located at the beginning of the image.

    For example, copy this into a text file called C:\Temp\BootOrder.txt:

    boot\bcd
    boot\boot.sdi
    boot\bootfix.bin
    boot\bootsect.exe
    boot\etfsboot.com
    boot\memtest.efi
    boot\memtest.exe
    boot\en-us\bootsect.exe.mui
    boot\fonts\chs_boot.ttf
    boot\fonts\cht_boot.ttf
    boot\fonts\jpn_boot.ttf
    boot\fonts\kor_boot.ttf
    boot\fonts\wgl4_boot.ttf
    sources\boot.wim
    
  2. Create the ISO file, using the boot order file:

    Oscdimg -m -n -yo C:\temp\BootOrder.txt -bC:\winpe_amd64\Efisys.bin C:\winpe_amd64\winpeamd64.iso
    
  3. In File Explorer, right-click the ISO file and select Burn disc image.

Windows Setup Technical Reference

DISM Image Management Command-Line Options

DISM Windows PE Servicing Command-Line Options

Oscdimg Command-Line Options

WinPE: Mount and Customize

WinPE: Install on a Hard Drive (Flat Boot or Non-RAM)