Step-by-Step: Multilingual Image Creation

  • Article

Applies To: Windows 7

Overview

This document is designed for IT professionals and deployment specialists who use the Windows® Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) or OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) tools to create and deploy multilingual versions of Windows Server® 2008 R2 and Windows 7. It describes a method for creating multilingual images that helps reduce the number of Windows images that need to be maintained. It does not focus on deployment methods. However, the images created using this process can be deployed from a network share, from a server, or from media.

Creating a multilingual image involves adding language packs, and then adding other update packages to an offline Windows image. The image is then booted to audit mode and applications and drivers are added, and the image is recaptured. The newly captured master image is used for testing purposes. After the image is tested, it is used to create regional images by removing unnecessary language resources. These regional images can then be used for deployment.

Note

The steps described in this guide should be used only in a lab or test environment. Depending on your deployment strategy, you might want to modify this process to meet the specific needs of your situation. For example, if you want to remove a language pack from a Windows image and replace it with a different language pack, see Add and Remove Language Packs Offline for more information about that process.

The following illustration shows the work flow for this scenario.

What's new for Windows 7 deployment?

Numerous improvements have been made to the tools provided in the Windows AIK and Windows OPK for Windows 7. A complete list of what is new is provided in the Windows AIK and Windows OPK documentation. The following improvements directly affect creating and deploying multilingual Windows images.

  • Language Pack performance and size improvements. In the past, adding language packs to an image was generally done using an answer file. The number of language packs that could be added was limited because of the size of each one. For Windows 7, the size of language packs has been reduced. The overall size of your Windows image will increase when you add numerous language packs, but this can be partially mitigated by performance improvements to the install and uninstall process. In addition, the new Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool allows you to remove language packs from an image without booting the image. DISM also makes it possible to do this all offline without having to create an answer file. For more information, see Understanding Multilingual Deployments.

  • Improvements in servicing. Offline servicing functionality has been extended in the Windows AIK for Windows 7 through the new DISM command-line tool. DISM replaces Package Manager (Pkgmgr.exe), the International Settings Configuration Tool (Intlcfg.exe) and the PEimg tool that were included in Windows Vista®. The functionality that was included in these tools is now consolidated in the DISM command-line tool, and new functionality has been added to improve the experience for offline servicing of a Windows 7 image. For more information, see Deployment Image Servicing and Management Technical Reference.

    Service packs. Service packs must still be installed on a running operating system. Offline installation is not supported. However, the internal structure of service packs has been improved. There are no longer separate prerequisite packages to install. All prerequisite packages are bundled with the service pack. Reboots are handled automatically.

    Diagnostics. Logging has been improved. All log files are posted under %WINDIR%\Logs\. The messages, events, and errors that are logged are more precise and easier to understand. Log files are archived after they reach a certain size limit.

    For more information about the new technology and international features for Windows 7, see Additional references.

Requirements and prerequisites

Before you begin, review the following prerequisites and requirements.

Prerequisites

  • A working knowledge of common desktop deployment technologies and processes. The steps in this guide assume that you have an established deployment method and testing infrastructure.

  • A basic understanding of the Windows Imaging (.wim) file format. The steps in this guide assume that you use a single Windows image within the .wim file. If you want to reduce the number of images you maintain, you can use the lowest edition of Windows available in your .wim file, and then use DISM to upgrade to a higher edition of Windows. If you want to maintain multiple images, you can repeat the steps in this guide for each Windows image in the .wim file, to create multiple editions of the regional Windows image.

  • A basic understanding of how licensing requirements for different editions of Windows affect the end user experience.

    • When multiple language packs are added to a Windows image and a single-language edition of Windows is deployed, end users are prompted to select a language from a list of available languages. Once that language is selected, and the computer is restarted, all other language packs are deleted from the computer.

    • Only Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions allow the end users to switch the display language between multiple languages on a single running computer. For Windows Server 2008 R2, you can install multiple language packs on all editions.

Requirements

  • A Windows 7 product DVD. Windows 7 is built and distributed as a single image using the .wim file format. The .wim file contains multiple editions of Windows images. You will use one of the Windows images from the product DVD install.wim file to create a multilingual image. You will use all the resources on the product DVD to create a distribution share.

  • A network location where you can store your distribution share. The procedures in this document use \\MyNetworkShare\my_distribution and \\MyNetworkShare\regional _distribution.

  • One or more Windows 7 language packs. A language pack is a package (.cab file) containing files, fonts, and other resources that are localized for the given language. Language packs are available for all editions of Windows through volume licensing programs. For more information, see the Microsoft Volume Licensing Site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125893). The procedures in this document assume that you have your language packs saved to E:\Test\Langpacks.

    One or more Windows PE language packs. Copy the Windows PE language packs from the Windows OPK or Windows AIK. For example, the Windows PE language packs can be found in <CD_root>:\WinPE_LangPacks. The procedures in this document assume that you have copied these language packs to E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks.

  • A test computer that you can use to install and test Windows.

  • A workstation computer with international versions of the Windows AIK or Windows OPK installed. For information about downloading the Windows AIK, see the Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=53552). The procedures in this document assume that you have a test directory created on the workstation. The following folders should be created on your workstation computer before you begin:

    • E:\Test\Langpacks

    • E:\Test\Offline

    • E:\Test\Images

    • E:\Test\WinPE_LangPacks

    • E:\Test\WinRE

    The Windows AIK (and Windows OPK) contains a set of new and updated tools and technologies that support multilingual deployment for Windows 7. The following tools are required for completing the procedures outlined in this guide.

Name Description

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

A command-line tool used to add Windows packages, such as security updates, drivers, and language packs, to an offline Windows image file. DISM can also be used to get information about a .wim file and the installed components and configurations, such as international settings. For more information, see Deployment Image Servicing and Management Technical Reference.

Expand.exe

A command-line tool used to expand .cab files. For more information, see Expand Command-Line Options.

ImageX

A command-line tool used to apply Windows images, or capture an installation of Windows to a .wim file. For more information, see ImageX Technical Reference.

Lang.ini

A configuration file used during Windows Setup. Lang.ini contains a list of available language packs, the locations of the language packs, and the default language to use during Windows Setup. For more information, see Understanding Multilingual Deployments.

System Preparation tool (Sysprep)

A command-line tool used to prepare an image for deployment to multiple destination computers. For more information, see Sysprep Technical Reference.

Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)

A minimal operating system with limited services. It is used to start a computer with no operating system, to partition and to format hard drives, to copy disk images, and to initiate Windows Setup from a network share. For more information, see Windows PE Technical Reference.

Windows Recovery Environment(Windows RE)

An extensible recovery platform based on Windows PE.

Step 1: Copy language packs to a distribution share

In this step, you copy the contents of the Windows 7 DVD to a folder on your workstation computer, and then you add the language packs to a sub-directory in that folder. The folder that contains the DVD content and the language packs is known as a distribution share. It is a storage location that can contain everything you need to deploy Windows to a computer, including language packs, third-party drivers, applications, and packages.

Objective: You add language packs to a distribution share to keep your image small and to make the language packs available to be added when you run Windows Setup. A dialog box appears when Windows Setup starts and gives you the opportunity to choose which language you want to use in the Windows Setup user interface (UI). Another page, after the Install Now page, allows you to choose the operating-system user interface.

Note

Languages added to a distribution share are not available when running the operating system, unless they are selected as the UI language on the page following the Install Now page. If you select a language that is in the distribution share for the operating system UI language, there is an increase in setup time, due to the installation of that selected language into the Windows image.
If you add a language pack to the distribution share, you do not need to add it to the Windows image.

To copy language packs to a distribution share

  1. On your local workstation computer, create a folder to contain the Windows 7 distribution, such as C:\my_distribution.

  2. Copy the entire contents of the Windows 7 DVD to the distribution share.

  3. Remove the Read-only file attribute from the files that will be modified.

  4. Copy each language pack (Lp.cab) and its parent folder to the Langpacks folder in your distribution. For example:

    Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\hr-HR

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\pl-PL

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\cs-CZ

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\hu-HU

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\sr-Latn-CS

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\sk-SK

Mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\sl-SI

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\hr-HR\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\hr-HR

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\pl-PL\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\pl-PL

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\cs-CZ\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\cs-CZ

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\hu-HU\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\hu-HU

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\Sr-Lain-CS\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\Sr-Latin-CS

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\sk-SK\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\sk-SK

XCopy E:\test\Langpacks\sl-SI\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\Langpacks\sl-SI

To make the language packs that you added to the distribution share available when you run Windows Setup, you must re-create the Lang.ini file. For more information, see Step 4: Re-create the Lang.ini file.

Step 2: Add language packs and updates to a Windows image

In this step, you use DISM to add language packs to your Windows image. After you add language packs, you add update packages. You can use the same procedure to add Language Interface Packs (LIPs). The Windows images can be in any language. For example, you can start with an English (en-US) image, and add support for French (fr-FR) and German (de-DE).

Important

The Windows image must be a recently installed and captured image. This ensures that the Windows image does not have any pending online actions.
Always install language packs before installing updates. If you install an update (hotfix, general distribution release [GDR], limited distribution release [LDR], or service pack [SP]) that contains language-dependent resources before you install a language pack, the language-specific changes contained in the update are not applied. Packages with language pack dependencies can be identified by using the Dism /Get-PackageInfo command. In the “Custom Properties” section of the report, look for the Dependency = “Language Pack” key/value pair. If language packs are installed after an LDR or GDR package with this attribute, the fix must be reinstalled.
Do not add the same language packs to the image that you added to the distribution share.

Objective: You add language packs to a Windows image to reduce the setup time for the end user. When you add language packs to the Windows image, the end user is presented with a dialog box to choose their preferred language. On single language editions of Windows, the unused languages are removed from the operating system after the user restarts the computer. For more information, see Understanding Multilingual Deployments.

To add language packs and updates

  1. Open an elevated Deployment Tools command prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK or Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

  2. At the command prompt, type the following command to retrieve the name or index number for the image you want to modify.

    Dism /Get-WIMInfo /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim

    Note the index or name value of the image you want to modify.

  3. Use DISM to mount that image. For example:

Note

You must create the folder C:\DismLogs to store logs, before you run this command. 

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM" /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  1. Type the following command to add a language pack from a language pack store to the mounted offline image. You can add multiple packages on one command line.

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\AddLangPack.log /Add-Package /PackagePath:E:\test\LangPacks\de-DE\LP.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\Langpacks\fr-FR\LP.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\Langpacks\nl-NL\LP.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\Langpacks\it-IT\LP.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\Langpacks\nb-NO\LP.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\Langpacks\sv-SE\LP.cab

  2. At a command prompt, type the following command to add other operating system updates, such as hotfixes and GDRs. You can add multiple packages on one command line. They will be installed in the order listed on the command line.

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\AddPackage.log /Add-Package /PackagePath:E:\test\updates\package1.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\updates\package2.cab ...

  3. At a command prompt, type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Step 3: Add language packs to the default boot image

In this step, you add language support to the default Boot.wim file. The default Boot.wim file contains two images (indexed as images 1 and 2). You must add language support to the image that is index number 2.

Objective: You add language packs to the default boot.wim file if you want to be able to run Windows Setup in a language other than the language you choose for the operating system.

Note

This step is optional. If you complete this step, you can run Windows Setup in a language other than the language that you choose for the operating system. However, this does not cover adding font support for all languages.
If you plan to run Windows Setup from Windows PE or bootable media, see Walkthrough: Add Multilingual Support to Windows Setup.

To add language packs to the default boot image

  1. Open a Deployment Tools command prompt with elevated permissions. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK or Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

  2. Use DISM to mount index 2 of the Boot.wim file. For example,

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountBootWim.log /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\boot.wim /Index:2 /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  3. Add Windows PE Setup language packs to the mounted image for each language you want to support. For example,

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\AddWinPELangPack.log /Add-Package /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_LangPacks\hr-HR\winpe-setup_hr-HR.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_LangPacks\hr-HR\winpe-setup-client_hr-HR.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\pl-PL\winpe-setup_pl-PL.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\pl-PL\winpe-setup-client_pl-PL.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\es-CZ\winpe-setup_es-CZ.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\es-CZ\winpe-setup-client_es-CZ.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\hu-HU\winpe-setup_hu-HU.cab /PackagePath:E:\Test\WinPE_Langpacks\hu-HU\winpe-setup-client_hu-HU.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sr-Latn-CS\winpe-setup_sr-Latn-CS.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sr-Latn-CS\winpe-setup-client_sr-Latn-CS.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sk-SK\winpe-setup_sk-SK.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sk-SK\winpe-setup-client_sk-SK.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sl-SI\winpe-setup_sl-SI.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sl-SI\winpe-setup-client_sl-SI.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\nl-NL\winpe-setup_nl-NL.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\nl-NL\winpe-setup-client_nl-NL.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\de-DE\winpe-setup_de-DE.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\de-DE\winpe-setup-client_de-DE.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\it-IT\winpe-setup_it-IT.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\it-IT\winpe-setup-client_it-IT.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\nb-NO\winpe-setup_nb-NO.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\nb-NO\winpe-setup-client_nb-NO.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sv-SE\winpe-setup_sv-SE.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\sv-SE\winpe-setup-client_sv-SE.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\fr-FR\winpe-setup_fr-FR.cab /PackagePath:E:\test\WinPE_Langpacks\fr-FR\winpe-setup-client_fr-FR.cab

Note

These Setup language packs are for the client editions of Windows only. For Windows Server, you must use winpe-setup-server .cab files.

  1. Copy the language resources for each language from the Sources folder to the distribution share. For example,

    xcopy E:\test\offline\sources\hr-HR\ C:\my_distribution\sources\hr-HR ... /cherkyi

xcopy E:\test\offline\sources\license\hr-HR C:\my_distribution\sources\license\hr-HR ... /cherkyi

  2. Use DISM to unmount the image and commit the changes. For example,

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Step 4: Re-create the Lang.ini file

In this step you re-create the Lang.ini file.

Objective: Because Windows Setup uses the Lang.ini file to identify the language packs inside the image and within the Windows distribution share, the Lang.ini file must be re-created each time you add or remove language resources from your distribution, and when you add or remove language packs from your Windows image, to reflect the changes that you made. In addition, you need the Lang.ini file used for the Boot.wim file to match the Lang.ini file for the operating-system image. Therefore, you must put a copy of the updated Lang.ini file in the Boot.wim file's Source folder.

To re-create the Lang.ini file

  1. Use DISM to mount the Windows image. For example,

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM" /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  2. Re-create the Lang.ini file. For example:

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /Gen-LangINI /distribution:C:\my_distribution

    The new Lang.ini file will be added to the Sources folder of the Windows distribution. You will not be prompted for permission to overwrite an existing Lang.ini file. The existing Lang.ini file will be overwritten automatically.

  3. Optional: Review information about all of the international settings in the offline Windows image. For example:

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /distribution:C:\my_distribution /Get-Intl

  4. At a command prompt, type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Note

The following steps are optional. The following steps are only necessary if you added language packs to the default Boot.wim image file as outlined in "Step 3: Add language packs to the default boot image".

  1. Use DISM to mount index 2 of the Boot.wim file. For example,

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountBootWim.log /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\boot.wim /Index:2 /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  2. Copy the Lang.ini file to the location of the Boot.wim file. For example,

    Xcopy C:\my_distribution\sources\lang.ini E:\test\offline\sources\lang.ini

  3. Commit the changes and unmount the image. For example,

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Step 5: Boot to audit mode, add applications and run sysprep

In this step, you install your Windows image on a test computer and boot it to audit mode. While the computer is running in audit mode, you add applications that must be installed online, and test the operating system. After applications are added and the computer is tested, you run the sysprep tool to prepare the image to be deployed to a computer that will ship to an end user.

Objective: Install your Windows image on a computer so that it can be tested and you can add applications that must be installed when the operating system is running. You boot to audit mode so that you can skip Windows Welcome (known as the out of box experience, or OOBE), and get to the desktop faster.

To boot to audit mode

  1. Do one of the following to boot a test computer to audit mode:

    • For an attended installation, at the Windows Welcome screen, press CTRL+SHIFT+F3.

    • In an unattended installation, add the Microsoft-Windows-Deployment component to the oobeSystem configuration pass. In the Reseal\ Mode setting, specify Audit. When Windows completes installation, the computer will reboot to audit mode.

    • Run the sysprep /audit command in a Command Prompt window.

    For more information, see Understanding Audit Mode.

  2. Install Microsoft® Office or other applications, and test the computer. For more information, see Customize Windows in Audit Mode.

  3. Prepare the computer for deployment by doing one of the following:

    • From audit mode, run the Sysprep command with the /oobe /shutdown /generalize options.

    • In unattended installations, configure the Microsoft-Windows-Deployment\Reseal\Mode setting to oobe. For more information on this setting, see the Windows Unattended Setup Reference (Unattend.chm).

    For more information, see Sysprep Technical Reference.

Step 6: Capture the image with ImageX

In this step, you capture your Windows image from the test computer and store it for use as your master image.

Objective: Save a copy of a fully tested operating system to a .wim file.

Important

ImageX must be added to Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) to complete this step. For more information, see Building a Windows PE Image.

To capture the image

  1. Start your test computer by using Windows PE.

  2. At the Windows PE command prompt, open the directory that contains the ImageX tool. For example:

    cd X:\Windows\System32

  3. Capture the Windows image. For example:

    imagex /capture C:\ C:\install.wim "Windows 7 Master Image"

    Optionally, you can set the following additional options to the imagex /capture command: /boot, /check, /compress, /config, and /scroll, and /verify. For more information, type imagex /? at the command prompt.

  4. Copy the image to your distribution share. For example:

    net use N: \\MyNetworkShare\my_distribution

xcopy C:\install.wim N:\sources\install.wim

Step 7: Create regional images by removing language packs

In this step, you create a regional Windows image by removing language packs from your master image while it is offline.

Objective: Modify your master image without the need for an additional test pass. Remove unnecessary language packs offline, without booting the image, to create a regional image that contains only the languages that are necessary for deployment in a certain region.

Important

You should not remove a language pack from an offline Windows image if there are pending online actions. The Windows image should be a recently installed and captured image. This will ensure that the Windows image does not have any pending online actions that require a reboot.

To remove a language pack using DISM

  1. Locate the master Windows image that you intend to remove languages from, and copy it to your workstation computer. For example:

    net use N: \\MyNetworkShare\my_distribution

xcopy N:\sources\install.wim E:\test\images\install.wim

  2. Open the Deployment Tools command prompt with elevated permissions. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK or Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

  3. Type the following command to mount the Windows image.

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-WIM /WimFile:E:\test\images\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM"  /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  4. Optional: Type the following command to list the packages that are installed in the offline image.

    Dism /Image:E:\test\offline /Get-Packages

    You can use >packagelist.txt to output the list to a text file named PackageList. Note the package identity of the language pack you want to remove.

  5. Remove a language pack from the image. You can remove multiple .cab files using one command-line statement.

Note

You can specify the package identity using the /PackageName option, or you can point to the original source of the package using the /PackagePath option. For example: 

    Dism /Image:E:\test\offline /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\RemovePackage.log /Remove-Package /PackagePath:E:\test\LangPacks\fr-FR\LP.cab ...

For more information, see [Operating System Package Servicing Command-Line Options](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=148034).

  1. Type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Note

Repeat this step to remove the same Setup language packs from the Boot.wim file. This ensures that you have the same language packs available for Windows Setup and the operating system.

Step 8: Re-create the Lang.ini file for the regional image

In this step, you re-create the Lang.ini file.

Objective: Because Windows Setup uses the Lang.ini file to identify the language packs inside the image and within the Windows distribution share, the Lang.ini file must be re-created each time you add or remove language resources from your distribution, and when you add or remove language packs from your Windows image.

To re-create the Lang.ini file for the regional image

  1. Copy the regional image to the local distribution share. For example:

    xcopy E:\test\images\install.wim C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim

  2. Remove setup resources from the distribution share for the language packs that you removed from the image. For example:

    rd C:\my_distribution\sources\license\fr-FR /q

  3. Open the Deployment Tools command prompt with elevated permissions. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK or Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

  4. Mount the Windows image. For example:

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-WIM /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM" /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  5. Re-create the Lang.ini file and set the default international values to use. For example:

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /Gen-LangINI /distribution:C:\my_distribution /Set-AllIntl:de-DE

    The new Lang.ini file will be added to the Sources folder of the Windows distribution. You will not be prompted for permission to overwrite an existing Lang.ini file. The existing Lang.ini file will be overwritten automatically.

  6. Type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

  7. Copy the regional distribution share to your removable media, network share or server that you use for installation. For example:

    net use N: \\MyNetworkShare\regional_distribution

xcopy C:\my_distribution\* N:\ /cherkyi

Step 9: Create a multilingual Windows RE image

In this step, you add language packs to a Windows RE image that can be used to repair or recover the operating system in a critical situation.

Objective: Modify the Windows RE image to support additional languages. To provide better reliability in case of a critical situation, you can deploy Windows RE to a separate partition on the computer, or to separate recovery media, such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

Note

This step is optional. By default, Windows Setup installs Windows RE to the Windows partition. If you do not complete this step, the default Windows RE image will be used. However, the languages will not match the languages in the multilingual operating system image that was originally deployed to the computer. For more information, see Windows Recovery Technical Reference.

To create a multilingual Windows RE image

  1. On your workstation computer, open a Deployment Tools command prompt with elevated permissions. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK or Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.

  2. Locate the regional Windows image that you intend to create a recovery image for, and copy it to your workstation computer. For example:

    net use N: \\MyNetworkShare\regional_distribution

xcopy N:\sources\install.wim E:\test\images\install.wim

  3. Mount the Windows image. For example:

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-WIM /WimFile:E:\test\images\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM" /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  4. Copy the Windows RE image from the mounted Windows 7 image. For example:

    copy E:\test\offline\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim E:\test\winre

  5. Type the following command to unmount the operating system image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Discard

  6. Mount the copy of the Windows RE image for editing. For example:

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountWinRE.log /Mount-WIM /WimFile:E:\test\winre\winre.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:E:\test\offline

  7. Add Windows PE language packs to the mounted Windows RE image. You can add multiple packages with one set of commands.

    Dism /image:E:\test\offline /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\AddLangPack.log /Add-Package /PackagePath: E:\test\WinPE_LangPacks\de-DE\lp_de-DE.cab ...

Important

Additional Windows PE feature packs can be found in the international version of the Windows OPK or Windows AIK at the location C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE_FPs. At a minimum, the language packs for the following feature packs should also be added for each language:

  • Winpe-scripting

  • Winpe-setup

  • Winpe-setup-client

  • Winpe-srt

  • Winpe-wmi

  • Winpe-wds

For more information about additional customizations, see [Walkthrough: Create a Windows RE Image](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=156609)

  1. Type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

  2. Mount the operating system image and copy the custom Windows RE image back into the operating system image.

    Dism /LogPath:C:\DismLogs\MountOSInstallWim.log /Mount-WIM /WimFile:E:\test\images\install.wim /Name:"Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM" /MountDir:E:\test\offline

copy E:\test\winre\winre.wim E:\test\offline\windows\system32\recovery

  3. Type the following command to commit the changes and unmount the image.

    Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:E:\test\offline /Commit

Deploy a multilingual image

The procedures in this document describe how to create a master multilingual image, and how to use that master image to create regional images. After you have created your regional images, there are different options for deployment.

Additional references