Vista MUI Solution With Vista MUI Tools

Thank you Walker for this great job!

Just an update on the Windows Update problem. The Hotfix can only be run by logging in as Administrator with UAC turned off. Otherwsie, it will return with an error message saying resource center cannot find any MUI.

The Windows Update problem is a hard nut to crack. Most people who change their language manually cannot get it to work. When you run Windows Update in the new language, it opens a blank window with all icons and text missing, and you cannot go further.

I have re-tested it this morning and the Hotfix works beautifully. MS knows how to torture people who did not go by the book.

Hope this helps.

Hi Walker, yes it is the direct download.

But I think people should also be given the chance to read about the release notes. at the link below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943411/en-us

Just another update.

Thanks for the link.
There has been hundreds of downloads since this post.
I am sure lots of people find it helpful.

Hi Frank,

when I get to the step 8, I get an error message. The window is called “Information” and then I get another error message with the error 0×80070057. Do you know what I can be doing wrong?

I have followed every step with no problems, but when I get there I cannot install the .cab file.

Thank you very much in advance

Paco

Hi Paco,

I think this is a parameters error when the file path folder is made up of one of more spaces.
Try put everything in the C;\MUI folder (copy all files in the C:\Windows Vista MUI Tools v2.2 folder to the Mui folder, include the MUI pack ) and run the tools there by right clicking the tools file, and in the pulldown menu chhose Run as administrator.

Frank

Hi Frank,

I have installed everything successfully but in the following step
13. Choose the newly installed language in Select Windows Vista Language,

I select the new language (Greek) but the Apply button is grey out not selectable..

Thanks Dimi.

Hi Frank, it worked! Thank you very much!

By the way, when selecting the new language, I had to select English (American because with the English (UK) the Apply button was grey out not selectable. I suppose both must use the same file, so I let you know just in case someone has the same problem.

Thank u again, and kind regards,

Paco

Hi Dimi,

You can try the part on changing registry. Or run the program by right clicking the installation, and in the pulldown menu, choose Run as administrator.

Frank

Hello, great stuff. However, I cannot get started as I don’t have the Exe2Cab program and there seems to be no working url from where to download it. Does anyone have an idea where to get it?

Does it have to be this program? Or are there other possible alternatives?

Hi Frank,

I tried the registry change, but I had two entries there el-GR and en-US. So I removed the entry en-US rebooted and it worked Greek Windows!

The Windows Update and Sidebar are functioning properly without any updates or hotfixes.

I will post if I see any new issue.

Thanks for your help.

Hi.

Thanks Paco and Dimi for the feedback, Really appreciated it.

And J March, just download the tools (see the direct link above).
The EXE2CAB file is included in the program folder.
As for you other question, this is the only working program apart from the one that I posted in the PB forum (which made use of WAIK, a MS tool too large to downland and handle if I may say so).

Frank

Hi Frank,

Thanks a lot for the guide, I managed to change my Vista French version into English successfully.

However, I have a problem switching back to original language. When I launched the program and selected fr-FR (the original language), it wouldn’t want to change it back (apply button remains grey).

Can you guide me through this one?

Thanks a lot ! Keep up the good work !

Hi Naeco,

Try logon as Administrator, turn off UAC, and run the tools by right clicking it, and in the pulldown menu, choose Run as administrator. See if you are able to use the Apply button now.

Or, as one user suggested, run Regedit, and see if the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MUI\UILanguages\en-US
is present (if not, create one)

Cheers.

Hi Frank,

I did try the things that you mentioned but it did not change back to original. I tried uninstalling the MUI files, then I couldn’t read the texts in windows anymore (file name, shortcuts,…)

Any idea why?

hello

I tried everithing reported here … but it’s not work: error 0×80070057

I tried to change the language from Spanish vsita home premium to italian home premium …

It start to install but after 30-35% it’s block …

I tried different version of the tool and I also tried what you racomented about the folder, ec… I also download the Microsoft patch …

I have Vista withot SP1 … any Idea?

thanks in advantage

sorry the error error 0×80070057 now it’s not appear more …

but like first It start to install but after 30-35% it’s block …

bye

Hi Desmo,

I think it was probably due to permission problems. First log in as Administrator, then turn off UAC, then run the tools by right clicking the file, choose Run as administrator in the pulldown menu.

You can also try to force-install the Mui Pack as follows.
After Exe2Cab converted the Mui Pack to a cab file, rename it to Lp_it.cab and put it in a newly created C:\Temp folder. Open command prompt as Administrator and run the following command:

Start /w pkgmgr /ip /m:C:\Temp\Lp_it.cab

This will hopefully install the Italain Mui and will enable you to switch to Italian.

Frank

Hi Guys,

I have repacked the latest version of the Mui Tools and the installation guide.

You can download the new version here:

http://www.fs2you.com/files/843157d1-0eb8-11dd-9221-0014221f3995/

Frank

Hello Walker,

The repacked version is v 2.55. All dialogue boxes can now be displayed in English as well as Chinese, and it includes separate tools for x86 and x64. It is also compatible with Vista SP1.

Some users reported mistakes in running the program because they did not log on as administrator with UAC turned off. I have thus rephrased the installation guide to make these points more apparent.

Frank

Hi Frank,
I`m trying to change my Vista Japanese version to English. I have the same problem of someone. However i use run as Administrator the Apply button could not be clicked. In the registry, there was only ja-JP. I created en-US and restarted but it was in vain.
Could you guide me to solve this problem?

Thanks for your work!

Hi Orion,

Pls download the new version from the link above.
Run the program again and when its finished, DO NOT reboot.
Use regedit to open registry and you will probably see both ja-JP and en-US
Delete the ja-JP entry and then reboot.

Frank

Hi Frank.

I’ve installed and changed the language from Japanese to English successfully however I can’t seem to change back to the previous language. The apply button for Japanese is greyed out and not clickable.

I used the MUI Tools 2.55. In the registry there are both en-US and ja-JP. I’ve turned off the UAC and used the Administrator account.

Please help.

Hey there,
I can’t get it to work on my EN Vista Business (MSDNAA) version to change it to German de-DE.
I get all the steps including no12 but I can’t select anything. No languages, nothing. The apply button is grey and not active. (v2.55 x86)
I have tried numerous times now, with regedit and so on. The last time I needed to repair my system because it ran into a bluescreen loop.
BTW, is the value to be added in the registry in doublequotes or without it?
I think that might have caused my bluescreen (Yeah, I crashed Vista!!).
I am loged on as the administrator with UAC off.
Any suggestions?

Xris

Hi,

Managed to convert my copy of Vista from German to English thanks, just having problems getting windows update to work correctly again. keep getting the following error mesage (Installer encountered an error: 0x80073afc, the resource loader failed to find MUI tool)

hi guys,

you dont need to run the hotfix. the windows update problem will sort itself out after a few reboots.
as for japanese, the program has a small bug which greys out the apply botton. use registry to add or delete ja-JP entry and then reboot.

cheers.

Hey Frank,
I managed to get it to work somehow. Thank you!!
One more thing: Is there any way that I may use the control panel to change back to EN if I wish to or do I have to use the Registry?
Cheers.

Having trouble changing language under Vista SP1 x64.
Says “Regretably! Installation failed!” When i try to install the new pack.
Trying to change from english to swedish using the official SP1 mui pack. I’m in the admin account with UAC deactivated.

Same Frank: you should consider making the tools open source :)

after a few tries i used regedit and that worked perfectly for me…
though… when you make the change in the registry when you change the name xx-YY to aa-BB do not forget to remove the already existing key aa-BB there… you might crash your comp. i did so in the first time :o)

Not sure what happened i rant he program several time and says it was succesful, try to install spanish on a english home premium… Still comes up in english but one i check the language selected in the install uninstall it show english but when i look at update it show spanish

Error line 0 (file “c:\mui.windows vista mui tools v 2.55 x86.exe”)
$pos=_arraysearch($languager_country_shoirt,$select {1},0,0,0,
$pos=_arraysearch($languager_country_shoirt,$select ^error

Hi,

The link for download for ‘Direct Download Vista MUI Tools v2.2′ is not working. Is it possible to update the link or provide another alternative download link?

I happen to passby same frank newer version v2.55. It seem not as stable as the earlier v2.2 do correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks in advance

Hello Frank、
Im using 2.55 and I guess the issues reported by some people regarding certain languages like german greek japanese are due to a small bug in the language select dialog of the MUI tool. Such languages internally in the registry use codes like de DE or ja JP aso., while the MUI tools tries to set and check for a none variant code like de or jp only.

Thanks for the tool

thanks, walker and frank! genius!

Dear Sir,

After converting from JP to EN version, I could not access to the User Accounts. Please help me. Many thanks!

Looks like the link to 2.55 is dead. fs2you.com expired?

I´ve tried to install the hotfix but it just gives me an address not found page after clicking download from microsoft?

Also i can no longer access User Accounts as administartor or as a user, I have successfully changed from spanish to english, thanks.

The problem I have is when I click on the links or go to microsoft update directly when it tries to download the file it just gives me a blank address not found screen and does not work. I´ve tried to find the hotfix from another soure with no luck, also I have tried to reboot several times in order to see if this resolves the update problem but with no luck. Would this also be what is stopping me from accessing user accounts? i have read elsewhere that some people have also suffered this problem, thanks for your help!

Sorry to keep posting nut i´ve managed to get the hotfix KB947506 from somewhere else as a standalone installer but now I get an error message 0x80073afc failed to find MUI file, what is the resolution for this

Hi Tom,

Pls turn off UAC, then right click the hotfix file, and in the pulldown menu, choose run as Administrator…

Good luck

I have followed all the steps and they all seem to work fine. Then I go and try to add a Chinese input device, but the option to do that is not there in the “Regions and Languages” control panel. Is there a way to get it to show up? Many thanks!

Go to Control Panel, Regions and Langauges, Keyboards and Languages, then choose Change Keyboards, the input methods are all there.

Frank

Hi Frank,

Thank you. I never thought to look there.

Another question if I may. There are a few programs (e.g. qq from http://im.qq.com/qq/dlqq.shtml) do not display properly. Instead of displaying Chinese characters, it displays ‘??’. Is this related to MUI?

Youyi

Hi Walker,

Thanks for the tip. My laptop already had the system locale set to China. so I uninstalled qq, rebooted, and re-installed qq. The same result happened. I also have a desktop running xp professional with language packs. There qq displays properly.
,
Youyi

Hi Youyi,

Try the tollowing steps:

1. As Walker says, go to Control Panel, Regional and Language Options, Administrative, and change the system locale to Chinese (PRC)

2. Also in Regional and Language Options, Administrative, in the lower part on reserved accounts, click copy to reserved accounts, and tick both default user account and system account

Reboot .

Frank

First, THANKS A LOT !!

I downloaded the latest V3 from http://www.nicety-repair.com/ as I’m Chinese and can read Chinese on that forum :) The installation/process was flawless on this new version and the English version was indeed transfered to Chinese version — V3 is a dummy version although I did follow the instructions here very carefully, thanks to Nicety, Walker, & Frank!

HOWEVER, I quickly realized several problems, and after googling, I saw other people reported exactly the same problem with ealier versions (V2.2/V2.55). The problem includes several basic functions in vista that stopped running completely (just nothing happens):
1) The “personalize” menu (Right click on desktop -> personalize)
2) The User accounts
3) Windows update (no errors, a window popup for milliseconds then disappears)

Other users reported the same problem, i.e. http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/03/06/vista-sp1-multilingual-user-interface-mui-language-pack-install-tool-for-business-home-premium-and-basic-edition/

Following the suggestion here, I first rebooted the PC about 10 times, no change, so I supplied the hotfix (KB947506), still no luck after several reboots :(

It’s almost a brand new preloaded Vista Home Premium, with Symantec vista antivirus loaded.
I’m trying to get this vista into Chinese so my mom could enjoy a world of technology at her old age, without the struggling with English that she never encountered; so it’s actually almost OK even with those problems, but I’m still wondering whether I did something wrong, or it’s a bug??

Many Thanks, Again!

Sorry for the mess, but do want to update on the problem reported above, it’s a good news !

Couldn’t fell asleep last night, so I reinstalled the whole system, Vista Home Premium SP1, before installing ANY application software, including antivirus, I loaded the V3 with method 1 and tried again … … EVERYTHING IS OK !!!!!

I do not quite understand but probably some software messed it up before (?), or I myself did something wrong.

Anyway, this is a great tool, and many thanks again!

Walker: you may just delete my posts then, sorry for the mess :p

Hey, this is a great tool. thx a lot.

Hi all.
In my case operation failed with error 0×80070057.
Tried to install English or Spanish Mui packs on a Portuguese Vista Premium with SP1 using v2.55. Couldn’t get it to work. UAC is off.
By the way I had some trouble activating the administrator account: There is no entry in the MMC console for Users and Groups and turns out the account name is itself localized. So the command that worked for me is:
net user Administrador /active:yes
Can you help please?

Ok. This has NOT been easy!
So, I managed to install en-US. Problem was either using pre-SP1 MUI pack or working from D: instead of C: . Computer rebooted and interface is now in English.
Apparently pt-PT installed too but is not apply able i.e. has no (exist) tag in front. I’ll try the reg hack next.
Now I see that this procedure doesn’t enable the Display Language switch in Regional And Language Options dialog box!
What I’m trying to do is have an administration User profile in English and 2 other User profiles in Portuguese. Can it be done?

hello I am having the error : regrettably! installation failed! I done everything on the manual including the regedit step, but i always get the same error, could you please help me, by the way I am using the latest version of the software 3.0.
Thanks

Hello Walker and other:
I am sorry to post this comment but now I am having troubles with my windows vista home basic. I bought my laptop with Japanese windows and I decided to change the language to English. I followed all the steps described in this site. However, I was still not able to click the apply button because it was grey out. I was so excited to see the other solution in this site. I edited the registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MUI\UILanguages\xx-YY

The stupid thing I did is that I did not read carefully the last line and did not add the last line: DefaultFallback = “xx-YY”

As a result my windows vista home basic is down now. Actually I have two windows. my windows xp is still working. I wonder if I can use my xp to undo my vista registry . Thanks for any advise.

Rico

Hi Walker,

In Rico’s case, it may also be that the installation was not completed. Normally you don’t need the fallback option.
One way to try is to boot into safe mode (keep pressing down the F8 key when computer boots), choose last good conditions and this would hopefully undo the registry change.

Frank

I followed all the steps and it says failure file not converted, press ok to exit.

Dear Walker and Frank:

I am so sorry for my late reply because of my busy work. I have tried to use the F8 options. But it still did not work. I think now the last choice is to use the recovery CD, which I try to avoid.

If you have any other solutions, please kindly let me know.

Thank you very much.

Rico

I have tried all sorts with this. I can’t get it to work. Tried it on administrator account with UAC off. I get to stage 3 (Language Pack Installer) and then after around 5 minutes I get the message Regrettably! Installation Failed! or something along those lines. Tried in safe mode and such.

Would really like to get my version of Vista converted to Spanish.

Hi! I got that “Regrettably! Installation Failed!” message too (Vista Business 64bit with SP1 ) . Any idea? :(

dear: walker and frank

“Regrettably! Installation Failed!”

NEED HELP!!!

if u got 800xxxx error or Regrettably error, please copy/move all the files which the mui tool’s installer installed at c:\program files\vista.mui.installation.tools.xxxx to c:\mui and reinstall again.

Hy man! i got a proble with the windows update!!! The hotfix doesn’t work!!! it say than can’t find the MUI file!!

help pleaseeeee!!!

Sorry guys for this late reply.

I have post the latest version (3.5) here:
http://www.rayfile.com/en/files/d7b720c0-e7de-11dd-9d7f-0014221b798a/

And for those who wishi to try another program, I would strongly recommend Vistalizator here
http://www.froggie.sk/

hi, still have
Installer encountered an error: 0x80073afc
The resource loader failed to find MUI file.
then try to install KB947506 or almost any update.
Is it important disable UAC for it? then i start update it switch me to admin mode.

I got my notebook from online shop. More likely they used this tool. I rebooted lot of times. Then i just got notebook updates running fine. I dont like them to install automatically. after about one month i was unable to start Control Panel -> Updates. It is showing half disabled window without any language strings shown. If i try to open properties of wuauserv service it again complain about MUI file ( looks i need reinstall windows. any suggestions? thanks.

disabled UAC, still have 0×80073afc

disabled UAC, enabled (created) administrator account. tried still 0×80073afc. updates disabled (

New version 3 not running on my computer. It said:
Line 0 (File “………Vista MUIs Hacker v3.exe”):
Local $IP_LocationStripWS(StringReplace($IP_Loc1[0]…. so on son… error

and then: Error: some text in chinese.

Hi Mangust,

I suggest you use Vistalizator 2.0.1 instead which is more stable and more user friendly (download it here http://www.froggie.sk/ ).

The windows update and control panel problems only appear in the new language and in Vistalizator it allows you to switch back to original language to install all the updates including the hotfix which must also be in the original language.

In my test case for Visalizator, I switched back to the original language, installed hotfix (which said update not installed but in fact all the files were copied to their right places), removed windows search 4.0 (as I was running sp1), rebooted and rand updates in the original language, installed all the updates, and finally used Vistalizator to remove and reinstall the second language.

When I rebooted to the new language again, windows update and all the control panel icons were working.

Hope this helps.

Hi Frank,
thank you so much for an excellent programme. I installed the English language pack no problem, switched it over to English and then used that for a week or so, switched back to the computers orgional language to install any required updates, ran the computer for a few days before I switched back to Engligh and when I did the updates were working fine in the new language.

One question: some of the features in the new language, like Device manager are still in the origional language. Is this common?? It’s only in one advanced feature that i noticed so far as as luck would have it, it’s one i’d like to change the features of.

Hi Micheal,

I think the author of the programme has come up with a solution, by reinstalling Windows Update Agent and Windows Search (for the new language) within the programme itself.

You can download the latest 2.10 version (which includes these fixes) from the link I posted.

Hi Frank,

I have followed the steps

i) Enable Administrator Account, and logon as Administrator
(ii) Disable User Account Control
__________________________________________________

Install Steps:

1. Unrar the file to C:\Windows Vista MUI Tools v2.2\folder
2. Make a C:\MUI\folder, put the downloaded MUI pack in this folder.
3. Run Windows Vista MUI Tools v2.2
4. Choose Method 1, click Install
5. EXE2CAB Choose Input File is the exe MUI file in C:\MUI\folder
6. EXE2CAB Choose Output File is the C:\MUI\folder
7. The MUI exe file will be converted to MUI cab file, when completed, click Install again
8. Click the MUI cab file and click open, installation will start

When I reach this step I received an error message named “pkgmgr”
saying “Windows cannot find ‘pkgmgr’ . Make sure you typed the name orrectly, and then try again”

When I click “Ok”

I receive another message named “information”
Congratulations! the installation is complete. You want to remove the temporary files?”

After I have restarted but it is still in the language which I purchased my desktop with

Hi Raymond,

I suggest you use Vistalizator instead, which is more effective and stable.
Download the latest version here: http://www.froggie.sk/

Frank

hy Same Frank great work

what’s the latest version of your app? sorry for asking this but http://www.nicety-repair.com/ is down

Hi Walker,

Thanks a million for this.

BTW, the latest version of Vistalizator v2.30 also works for Windows 7.
So if you like to change the language of your Windows 7 Home Premier etc, just download the tool and the related MUI from the links here:

http://www.froggie.sk/download.html

Cheers.

I’m having the same problem as a lot of people are having, and I don’t see any response, or attempted response, by you guys to resolve the “Operation failed with 0×80070057″ issue. I followed the steps precisely, I am running as an admin with the UAC turned off and ran the command line “net user administrator /active:yes” and then followed your instructions exactly to a tee. I have been trying to install Japanese on my Vista Notebook.

Here’s what happens:
1st: everything is going smoothly, I click install, select the package, convert it to a cab, select the cab.
2nd: window pops up saying language install kits require 5-20 min (blah blah blah blah)
3rd: before i can ever finish reading the window the error window pops up (as mentioned earlier) then i click ok
4th: after that it says installation complete would you like to remove the temp files/folders? yes/no and then acts like it installed it. restart has been attempted, no change in language or language options in the control panel.