WXP interface translation

[Metallo]

Hi,

I use WXP PRO in English, sometimes I need to do some work on the PC of
my father in law who is Dutch and has a Dutch version of WXP PRO.
My Dutch is not good enough for technical stuff and was wondering if
there is an application that could make my task easier, basically I am
looking for something that simultaneously translate, for example,
"Eigenschappen" into "Properties".

Thank you

 

[PA Bear]

There's nothing native to WinXP that could do this, Metallo.

 

[Paul Randall]

Hi,

I use WXP PRO in English, sometimes I need to do some work on the PC of my
father in law who is Dutch and has a Dutch version of WXP PRO.
My Dutch is not good enough for technical stuff and was wondering if there
is an application that could make my task easier, basically I am looking
for something that simultaneously translate, for example, "Eigenschappen"
into "Properties".

I think you are wanting a way to change the default language used in menus.
There is a lot of globalization stuff built into WXP or available as add-on
language packs, but I don't know of any way to change the default language.
Somehow you would have to change the system locale while you were working on
the computer.

-Paul Randall

 

[jameshanley39]

Hi,

I use WXP PRO in English, sometimes I need to do some work on the PC of
my father in law who is Dutch and has a Dutch version of WXP PRO.
My Dutch is not good enough for technical stuff and was wondering if
there is an application that could make my task easier, basically I am
looking for something that simultaneously translate, for example,
"Eigenschappen" into "Properties".

Thank you

if this is really some dutch version of win xp and not a setting
within xp. Then I guess it's tricky. An option is to avoid the
whole thing and load win xp PE off a boot cd. You'll have a primitive
windows, in english, and access to his hard drive.

Try foreign newsgroups, particularly dutch!
like maybe
microsoft.public.nl.windowsxp.pro
searching for that dutch word you wrote helped me find that newsgroup!
on www.google.com/groups

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,

I use WXP PRO in English, sometimes I need to do some work on the PC of my
father in law who is Dutch and has a Dutch version of WXP PRO.
My Dutch is not good enough for technical stuff and was wondering if there
is an application that could make my task easier, basically I am looking
for something that simultaneously translate, for example, "Eigenschappen"
into "Properties".

Thank you

One thing that you might note is that often, the sequence of menu items or
dialog buttons does not change due to localization. For example, a
"properties" entry for a given window may always be, say, the fifth item
down. And the "OK" , "Cancel" and "Apply" dialog buttons are in the same
place regardless of language; this applies to other items within the
dialogs.

The text strings are translated, the dialogs and menus aren't re-created in
any order other than the original. Some companies keep this in mind when
creating software, and keep the text strings in specific modules that can be
easily changed and recompiled, perhaps separately, significantly reducing
the cost of localization and the testing it requires.

I worked, for a large software company, next to a localization group that
relied on this for testing software in the dozens of available OS languages,
which they didn't speak or read. They always had an English system
nearby to verify what was actually (or supposed to be!) at a given location.

HTH
-pk

 

[Metallo]

One thing that you might note is that often, the sequence of menu items or
dialog buttons does not change due to localization. For example, a
"properties" entry for a given window may always be, say, the fifth item
down. And the "OK" , "Cancel" and "Apply" dialog buttons are in the same
place regardless of language; this applies to other items within the
dialogs.

The text strings are translated, the dialogs and menus aren't re-created in
any order other than the original. Some companies keep this in mind when
creating software, and keep the text strings in specific modules that can be
easily changed and recompiled, perhaps separately, significantly reducing
the cost of localization and the testing it requires.

I worked, for a large software company, next to a localization group that
relied on this for testing software in the dozens of available OS languages,
which they didn't speak or read. They always had an English system
nearby to verify what was actually (or supposed to be!) at a given location.

HTH
-pk

Indeed, this is the way I followed so far, I have my PC on (EN) and can
double check the menus, however, I hoped there was a shorter way...but I
was wrong.

Thank you for your recommendations

 

[Paul Randall]

How to change display language:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/2bac0e03-c331-48fc-8b7e-b66b8007512d1033.mspx

Please let us know if this helps. I've never tried it.

-Paul Randall

 

[PA Bear]

That's a Vista-specific page, Paul.

For WinXP, see
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/reginalsup.mspx (but I
don't think it'll do what OP wants).

 

[Paul Randall]

Thanks for pointing that out and providing something better. I goofed.

-Paul Randall