Upgrade Vista ->Windows 7 : Changing Language

davient · 27 Oct 2009

I am living in Beijing, China at present and am about to buy a new Lenovo Ideapad Laptop. This comes with Windows Vista Home Premium Preinstalled (Chinese Version). I then intend to use the Free Windows 7 Upgrade Program to acquire Eglish language media

It is clear in Microsoft's documentation that this is not a supported upgrade path.

However, assuming I can get Lenovo to provide the English Language Windows 7 upgrade media, I should be able to do a clean install as per Doing a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version and Paul Thurrot's Method.

In fact this would be the method for achieving any unsupported upgrade path, eg:
Vista 32 -> 7 64
Vista 64 -> 7 32
Chinese Vista -> English 7 :)

Can anyone confirm that this is true, particularly for the language upgrade.

Dave

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Further reading has led me to believe that this is definitely possible. Check out the bottom line of the chart image:

Upgrading Windows Vista from one language (e.g. English) to Windows 7 in a different language (e.g. French), requires a custom install.

I've also checked that Lenovo FREE Windows® 7 Upgrade Program asks you both which language and architecture your previous machine is running. So a white lie about having (wanting) the English 64bit Vista should net me the relevant Windows 7 upgrade disks :)

I'll post once more when I can confirm this on my new machine.

vomorg · 20 Nov 2009

hello davient!

i have a similar situation also with an lenovo notebook.
also want to make an english version from localised.
can you report any success in your upgrading?
additionaly, info from links you posted pushed me to a thought that it is (theoretically) possible to do a clean update from vista home premium -to-> 7 professional or ultimate... what do you think about it

thanks in advance,
vomorg

davient · 20 Nov 2009

vomorg,

I have actually stalled on bing the laptops got my old one repaired for now but will probably buy soon.

It does seem likely that using these forms you might be able to get hold of an incorrect version of upgrade media like professional or ultimate, as the forms simply ask you which one your current system has. However I am unsure if they verify the systems before sending out disks. If not then should you mistakenly say you had an Ultimate Vista on your laptop then I assume they would send you the Ultimate Windows 7 DVD.

But definitely the upgrade path "Vista premium -> Clean Install Windows 7 Ultimate" seems to be correct.

Please post again if you try this :)

vomorg · 20 Nov 2009

that was fast =)

truly im trying to make a trick with upgrading localised vista business to english 7 ultimate (instead of localised 7 professional).
and im not sure if this upgrade will go, of course despite all other things (like lenovo's upgrade site/system checking of language and version i've typed in)
if you know anything about the possibility of making such upgrade (business to ultimate) please let me know, just in two words.
and of course i will report on when i'll try it

thanks-thanks,
vomorg

George Herzog · 07 Jul 2011

I've resided in Taiwan for about 18 years and M$ has yet to recognize that there are English speaking people that reside in Asian communities. And so, Vista was only offered installed in Taiwan in a Chinese version. Now W7 provides a more enlightened choice between Chinese and English OS, but not both.

My dilemma is that I purchased a 64bit Quad Core2 Lemel computer which was disappointingly bundled with 32bit Vista Chinese. My solution was to dual boot with Ubuntu Linux.

Later I purchased a Toshiba NB250 with W7 Starter and have that running in English.

Now, it would be optimal to update the Quad Core2 to W7 64bit English Home Premium, but I still suspect that M$ is not enlightened enough to seen the need to support such language and processor swaps - in spite of their polices creating the problems.

From what I have found.... [1] I don't expect a free update and [2] I expect to have to completely dump the Vista in order to install the W7.

Has anybody done a successful purchase of an American English upgrade and installation with migration from 32bit to 64bit?

Bare Foot Kid · 07 Jul 2011

Hello George Herzog, welcome to Seven Forums!

You will need the Windows Ultimate version to be able to install the language updates, have a look at this link below and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

Windows 7 language packs are available for computers that are running Windows 7 Ultimate or Windows 7 Enterprise

George Herzog · 08 Jul 2011

Well, that is absolutely out of the question. I was deeply upset when I was presented with an $800USD update of Vista to Vista Ultimate in order to have English. W7 Ultimate may be cheaper, but I am rather put off by MS only offering a language change by forcing me to buy the top of the line.

All I want is W7 Home Premium in one language, English. At the time I purchased my computer, no NO English Vista was available in Taiwan. I was forced into take Chinese or nothing. MS thinks it has a cash cow in its upgrade paths.

I will just move the 64bit Quad over to Ubuntu Linux and Open Office where I can have both Chinese and English for free..

It appears I can save $100 USD by just buying W7 Home Premium as a new license. Your advice is off in the weeds.