Help w/setting up new foreign language laptop into English..

[jbenj01]

Just bought an IBM laptop (Thinkpad G40), but it's a foreign version -- the whole setup procedure is in French.. ???

Is there any way to change the entire setup AND system to English?? Please advise.. TIA!

[Roundabout]

You could try the system restore disk, if you have one, and select English as the default setup language. Or obtain an English copy of Windows XP and install it directly. There are also multilanguage versions of XP that you can select the language you want upon install. Or contact the Manufacturer and ask for a System Restore disk that's in English. Or learn French (bad option :P ) C'est la vie.

[jbenj01]

C'est vraiment... (hehe..)

OK, here's some more detail.. upon powering up, the system does indeed prompt me to select in which country i reside, in which country i will be using the laptop and what my primary language is...

NOW.. i know this seems like a slam-dunk, i.e., that if i select U.S. and English as the responses-->that the system would convert to English.. but i was just a bit leary of doing so b/c i'm clueless with some of this tech-stuff AND thought perhaps that the laptop might..um..self-destruct...

Merci beaucoup, mon ami.. :P

[Roundabout]

It probably has the multilanguage XP, as it was to be sold in Europe, it has to be capable of being used in different countries. I'd try to load it with the English as default, and it should be OK. If it doesn't work, you can always use the restore disk to get it back to where it was, as long as you don't have any user data that you have to worry about losing...it can't damage the unit, only make it take a little more time to get it back to where it was. I assume you bought it in France? Mistake #1. And unless those Frenchies installed some kind of "protect our language from contamination by English explodo service pack 1" , you should be fine.

[jbenj01]

Was a little confused b/c i thought i had to insert the WinXP OS disc in order to install it.. but it sounds like the laptop already came with it installed and i just had to complete the setup process, yes??

1. but just to confirm, you are saying to go ahead and select U.S. (Etats-Unis) and English (Anglais-Etats-Unis) when it prompts me, correct??

2. And as for 'recovery disc', the only disc that came with the system was the WinXP Editione Familiale OS disc.. ?? is that what you're referring to??

thx!

[Roundabout]

From what you described, the OS is already installed, yes? I mean, it boots up in French - or has it not been set up at all? Certainly, if you select English as default language, the worst that could happen is that it won't change to English and stay French. You can always change it back in Regional Settings. The only thing that bothers me is that they didn't give you a restore disk with the drivers preloaded, from the sound of it. Sounds like it may be a French Version of the OS. That's not really a recovery disk, it's a full system disk. In other words, most laptops come with a recovery disk that you just stick in and boot from and it will restore the system to the state it was in when you first turned it on, like new, with all user data deleted. That's not what you have there. Nonetheless, I don't think you have anything to worry about to go ahead and tell it to use English as default. Try it, and see if it boots up with English menus. What could it hurt? It certainly won't damage anything.
If you are still concerned, read some info in this link and you can ask on the same forum, maybe someone there knows exactly what you have to do to change the interface language. Go Here: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1011791220

[jbenj01]

Damn!! Didn't work.. It's a pre-installed French-Canadian verision of WinXP (yes, it boots up all in French).. I selected U.S. and English for every question/prompt that popped up during initial setup, but EVERYTHING is in French still.. Even the keyboard is funked up, i.e., if i type "w", "z" pops up as the text.. ??

Oh, and NO discs are included at all..

I did a search/read the thread you referred me to and looks like i'd need a multi-language XP disc(s) that's only available commerically..

Any other options?? Guess i could format and wipe everything out and install personal copy of WinXP Pro, yes?? How do i wipe everything out, i.e., format the drive??

[Roundabout]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work. Apparently a local French only version of WXP was installed. That sucks. To wipe the drive, if you want to start over, you have to hit F8 during boot up, then select command prompt only, when you get to the command prompt, just type "format c:" ( without the quotes ) follow the prompts to wipe it out.
Assuming your laptop is capable of booting from the CD, you can stick in the WXP Pro CD that you have ( I hope it's a full version, not an upgrade disc ) and run setup. Hell, you might even be able to install it over the top of the French copy without doing a full format. Just stick it in the CD drive and run setup from there, after the machine is fully booted. I would try that first. It may not let you do this, but you could try. If not, then do the formatting and installation.
You may still have to go to the Manufacturer's web site and download drivers for the hardware after installing Windows. If you don't, you may find several things won't work, like your sound card, or NIC card. That's why most manufacturers supply a restore disc, everything is included on it to get the machine up and running without having to hunt for drivers. Windows has a lot of drivers already, but may not have the ones you need included. You'll find that out soon enough after installation.
If you lived in Southern California I would help you directly with it, but you probably don't, so there's only so much I can tell you without seeing the unit directly. Anyway, give that a try and see what you can do with it. Have you thought about contacting the Manufacturer and seeing if a restore disc is available for your model? Might be worth it to avoid all the headaches. BTW: What brand and model is it?

[jbenj01]

Thanks for your help, sir.. Appreciate it much! will try IBM support, as well.. Oh, and no, i'm in Chicago..

and the laptop is an IBM Thinkpad G40..

[Roundabout]

Hope I was able to help, at least a little. BTW, my laptop is an IBM T-series, and it came with a restore CD that has Win98SE as well as everything else on it. You just pop it in and it reinstalls everything automatically. Maybe you'll be able to lay your hands on a disc like this for yours too. I am sure IBM has one. Let me know what happens.

[jbenj01]

Yes, you were of much help.. thanks! I'll wipe everything out and do fresh install of WinXP Pro and will somehow create a boot disk..

[Roundabout]

If the laptop has a floppy drive, you could boot from it with a win98 boot floppy, command prompt only with CD support. Then just put in the XP CD and run setup.exe from there to install. I think that should work, and if anyone has some other ideas on a better way, please post them and help out.