Guides / Language Packs

Language Packs

Download and integrate Windows language packs from Features on Demand ISOs, or add one to an already running Windows from NTLite or the cmd line.

Language packs enable multilingual Windows installations. This guide covers downloading language pack CAB files, integrating them into images with NTLite, and adding a language to a Windows that is already installed and running.

Obtain Language Packs

Language packs are distributed as CAB files within Features on Demand (FOD) ISOs. A community-maintained list of direct download links for each Windows version is kept on the forum: Language Packs thread.

Other sources:

  • Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC)
  • Visual Studio Subscriptions (formerly MSDN)
  • OEM language pack download pages

Version matching: Language packs must match your Windows version and build number. Mismatched versions will fail during integration.

Integrate Language Packs

Once you have the FOD ISO with language packs:

  1. Load your Windows image in NTLite
  2. Navigate to the Updates page
  3. Click Add → File
  4. Select the appropriate language pack CAB file for your Windows version
  5. Go to Apply → Process

The language pack will be integrated into the image. Users can switch display language via Windows Settings after installation.

Add a Language Pack to a Running Windows

The steps above prepare media for machines you have not deployed yet. When Windows is already installed and someone needs another display language on it, you do not have to rebuild anything - the same CAB installs onto the running system.

Load the Live Install in NTLite

NTLite services the installed Windows the same way it services an image file, so the procedure is the one you already know:

  1. On the Image page, load the live install (C:\Windows) instead of an image file
  2. Go to the Updates page
  3. Click Add → File and select the language pack CAB matching the build you are running
  4. Go to Apply → Process

The new language then appears under Windows Settings → Time & language, ready to select. Editing a live install carries the same licensing as working on image files, and the Image page covers the loading reference in full.

Read the warnings: changes to a live install apply to the operating system you are running. Have a restore point for anything you cannot rebuild.

Install a Language Pack From cmd (DISM)

Without NTLite, the same CAB goes in from an elevated Command Prompt. Useful in a remote session or a deployment script:

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run DISM /Online /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\lang\Microsoft-Windows-Client-Language-Pack_x64_de-de.cab
  2. Reboot when it completes
  3. Select the language under Settings → Time & language, or set it for all users with DISM /Online /Set-AllIntl:de-DE

One machine, one language, one time: the command is the shorter path. For a fleet, or for anything you will rebuild next month, put the language in the image instead so you never run it again.

Build matching still applies: an online add fails the same way an offline one does if the CAB was built for a different Windows version. Check the build on the target with winver before downloading.

Multi-Edition and Multi-Language Images

Adding several languages to a multi-edition ISO does not multiply the wait. NTLite services each edition in parallel, in its own DISM process, so all editions finish in roughly the time one would take. The scaling is automatic - it adapts to the CPU and leaves a little headroom so the machine stays usable, for example servicing three editions at once on a 4-thread CPU.

Give it room to work: every edition is mounted separately, so free disk space is usually the limit you hit first. Queue order inside a single apply is handled for you - language packages are integrated ahead of the updates that service them.

Keep a Language Baseline for Monthly Rebuilds

Language packs change rarely, cumulative updates change every month. Redoing the language work on every refresh wastes the slowest part of the build, so integrate the languages once and keep that result as a reusable baseline:

  1. Integrate the language packages, apply, and name the result clearly
  2. Right-click the image on the Image page and choose New edit - the language-pack image becomes your read-only reference, and the new edit is the working copy you build in
  3. Each month, right-click the edit and choose Revert to drop back to language-packs-only, then apply your preset with the latest updates

Because Revert only mirrors the differences from the reference, getting back to a clean language baseline is quick - and rebuilding this way is faster than assembling a fresh multi-language image from UUP each month. The edit and reference mechanics are covered in the Image Management guide.

Set Default Language

To set a non-English default language for unattended installation:

  1. Go to the Unattended page
  2. Find the Regional Settings section
  3. Set UI Language to your desired language code
  4. Optionally configure keyboard layout and locale settings to match

Common Language Codes

de-DE - Germanja-JP - Japanesees-ES - Spanish (Spain)ko-KR - Koreanfr-FR - Frenchpt-BR - Portuguese (Brazil)it-IT - Italianru-RU - Russianzh-CN - Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW - Chinese (Traditional)

Troubleshooting

  • If integration fails, verify the version and build match between Windows image and FOD ISO
  • FOD ISOs are architecture-specific (x64, x86, ARM64) - use the correct one
  • Setup language is automatically included when integrating a language pack
.NET 3.5 FrameworkFeatures on Demand (FOD)