Installing English version of Windows 7 on a laptop that came with Japanese version

[Anusha]

Hi guys,

I finally bought a small laptop and t came with the Japanese version of Windows 7 x64. It is an Asus UL20A. Now, since I have an English version of Windows 7 Home Premium (32bit) with me, can I install that and put the CD Key which came with laptop to activate? Or do I have to find a special OEM disk to do this?

There are few reasons why I wanna do this.
1. Although I managed to change the interface to English, it is not as good as the native English version. At some places, the fonts are too small and ugly.
2. I need to install 32bit Windows so that I can save a little bit more RAM.
3. I need to make the C drive smaller. However, I don't know how this will affect the recovery partition. Can I simply format the drive where Windows is currently installed in, and install Windows 7 in there? Will I be able to recover to the original state (if the need to do so arises) by using that partition (by pressing F9 when booting up)? Though I have the recovery disks with me, the laptop doesn't come with an optical drive. So they are useless. Recovery partition is important.

 

[HalfAHertz]

If it's the win 7 ultimate version, you can just install the Japanese version and then download the english language package. But if it's home premium, then the key won't work.

1)You could try some theme loaders that can load different fonts
2) How much ram does the laptop have? Most new laptops come with 4gb and to utilize that, you will need 64bit.
3)If the recovery partition is on a separate partition, it will be unaffected. I'd personally keep the recovery dvd and format the recovery partition, because new laptops have the ability to boot from a usb stick, so you can always copy the recovery dvd on a usb.

 

[Anusha]

No no. I managed to install the English language pack using Vistalizator tool.

Laptop has Home Premium x64 Japanese (not with English UI). I wanna know if I can install Home Premium 32bit English. Also wanna know, what can I do about the recovery partition.

 

[Frick]

You can try. It depends a bit on the license. You shouldn't be able to do it, but some licenses allow it.

And you should be able to use the restorarion partition even if the system drive is smaller than it originaly was. I'm not totally sure though, but I don't see why it shouldn't wokr.

 

[Anusha]

You can try. It depends a bit on the license. You shouldn't be able to do it, but some licenses allow it.

And you should be able to use the restorarion partition even if the system drive is smaller than it originaly was. I'm not totally sure though, but I don't see why it shouldn't wokr.

so you mean, i can use a tool and resize it but restoring process won't find a problem with that? that's good news.

however, i would wish i could install 32bit Windows 7 so that i can save some memory.

 

[HalfAHertz]

Last time i made the mistake of using the restoration software that came with a laptop, it reformatted the entire hard drive, except the restoration part, and basically returned it to the same state as when the laptop was bought. The problem was that i had split up the original C: partition into two partitions, one for OS and a second one for storage and was thinking that it will only reformat the C: partition.

 

[Anusha]

Last time i made the mistake of using the restoration software that came with a laptop, it reformatted the entire hard drive, except the restoration part, and basically returned it to the same state as when the laptop was bought. The problem was that i had split up the original C: partition into two partitions, one for OS and a second one for storage and was thinking that it will only reformat the C: partition.

Well, this lappy came with two partitions. C is 80GB (I won't use more than 30GB) and 204GB for D partition. Restore partition is before C drive and it's 20GB.

 

[newtekie1]

Chances are, once you start messing with the boot sequence(AKA manually installing Windows), you won't be able to boot to the recovery partition anyway. So just kill it and get the wasted space back. Since you have the recovery discs, you can just use those, you will just need an external DVD drive should the need arise, which are super cheap these days.

As for switching to the 32-bit version of Win7 to save RAM, you won't. The difference in RAM usage between the 32-bit and 64-bit version is non-existant. Win7 x64 runs fine on 2GB of RAM.

 

[HalfAHertz]

Chances are, once you start messing with the boot sequence(AKA manually installing Windows), you won't be able to boot to the recovery partition anyway. So just kill it and get the wasted space back. Since you have the recovery discs, you can just use those, you will just need an external DVD drive should the need arise, which are super cheap these days.

I'd personally keep the recovery dvd and format the recovery partition, because new laptops have the ability to boot from a usb stick, so you can always copy the recovery dvd on a usb.

or use a usb stick :}

Guide for installing win7 from a usb stick