VOGONS


First post, by BigDave

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Hi all, sorry I'm after some help again please.

This time it's another Packard Bell, an iMedia S3720 /D2520 I recently picked up at a car boot sale. As expected for £5 It didn't work, but having now restored, and installed new RAM (You can read the details in the 'Post you Packard Bell computers here! thread Post your Packard Bell computers here!), I managed to get it all working only to discover someone had installed Win 10, and an unknown PIN code.

I didn't want Win 10, as I really wanted to restore to it's stock OS (Win 7 X64 Home Premium) and software setup, at least initially so I could get the new 2009 PB (Acer) PC experience, before probably installing XP. Luckily, I found the DVD recovery media for this exact model on the archive (3 Recovery + 1 AppDrv DVD), listed as English, but with a comment mentioning English, or may not be English. I couldn't find any others so burned the discs, and installed last night having finally discovered the location of DVD eject button! . I configured the Bios to boot from disc, and it loaded up fine with the recovery screen asking for the language to use, which I set to English. All through the install process, the Packard Bell screens were in English, but as soon as we got to the what should be Starting Windows, it'd changed to what I've discovered using Bing Translate as SVE (Swedish)! As much as I like Sweden and ikea's Billy bookcases, I can't understand Swedish at all. I let it continue the installation to the end, and it's installed everything perfectly, but everything is in Swedish, apart from the odd icon. Using Translate, I managed to get into control panel and change the country settings to UK, but it made no difference.

Reading elsewhere, I discovery on the Recovery 1 disc, there's a file called RCD.DAT, the contents of which are as follows:

;iMdS1710/iMdS3720 SERIES W7 HomePremium_X64_XX IMAGE CD
;XX VERSION RV03RC01
[MAIN]
OS = W7 HomePremium
CPU = X64
MODEL = iMdS1710/iMdS3720
CDTYPE = RCD
LANG = XX
LANG_FULL = Multi- WW Base
VERSION = RV03RC01
PN = POP01I9U0OXXUC31
PCS = 2
ManagerXVersion = 3, 0, 0, 24
PreloadXVersion = 3, 0, 0, 19
ImageCount= 138
Brand= Packard Bell
RCD NO= RV.D2DB7.H06
BaseImg=Y
SkuDisplayName=

I could install a vanilla Win 7 OS and then try adding all the drivers and software perhaps, but any other options?
A) Is it possible to change this file or some other installation file so that it configures the installation to display in English?
B) Anyway of changing the installation I have to English (Even if possible, will be very difficult as I'll have to translate everything as I go), or overwriting this OS with an English Win 7 install?
C) Do I need to start eating meatballs and learn Swedish?!
If it helps, I can upload some photos I took during the installation and showing desktop.

Last edited by BigDave on 2024-08-08, 04:38. Edited 4 times in total.

Reply 1 of 2, by BigDave

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Still no luck finding an English language version, and appears the Win 7 home premium version doesn't allow language pack changes, but might be wrong.
Is it possible to install an English language pack into the ISO or something?

Reply 2 of 2, by BigDave

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I'll be posting in the Post your Packard Bell thread, but just to say I've now completed this iMedia restore. I couldn't find a workaround for the language issues with the original recovery installation, so in the end decided on Plan B as Ferrari might say to achieve the stock factory setup. So did a regular install of Windows 7 Home Premium, then added everything else separately, right down to the trial versions, some of it from the drivers & utilities disc which did install in English. The only things missing are the original online gaming portals which don't exist now, like Packard Bell Gamezone, and Metaboli. It might seem crazy, but I like to appreciate and experience a PC as it would've been when bought new as much as possible, although assuming I keep it, I'll be installing XP, so I can play games like Hit & Run. All cleaned, and with some cable organisation, the system is running nice and cool, and fairly quiet, unlike some I've seen on Youtube.