Dual Booting two languages of Windows XP

[sanchny]

I have the English (U.S.) version of Windows XP Pro, and I'm looking to partition my hard drive and dual boot English WinXP and Japanese WinXP. I was wondering a few things:
- Would there be some type of conflict between the two, since they're essentially the same?
- Would there be a problem with filenames? I doubt it, though, since the English WInXP version can display Japanese filenames correctly.
- Would there be a problem if I installed the English drivers for my hardware on the Japanese WinXP? I'm not exactly sure where to go about finding Japanese versions of drivers. Does the language of the drivers even matter?

 

[FriedToast]

I'm pretty much looking to do the same thing and have a lot of the same questions. I currently have XP set to Japanese right now, so it handles most character issues correctly (ie- Japanese programs installed show kanji/hiragana/katakana instead of random marks, etc.). I do notice that the / key has been replaced with a yen sign. And on web-pages, there's an occasional intrusion of Kanji in an other-wise all-English story.

As for the drivers, I think one needs to have English drivers for the English version. I don't know about vice-versa. I tried Japanese Epson printer drivers at work on my VAIO laptop and they didn't seem to want to take.

If I figure anything else out, I'll post it here if the thread's still going.

 

[SaigonK]

Why are you installing two versions when XP will suport switching between the two languages natively?

 

[sanchny]

Originally posted by: SaigonK
Why are you installing two versions when XP will suport switching between the two languages natively?

So that the entire UI will be in Japanese, and not just text and filenames. The current language options in XP aren't very good at all; it's cumbersome and not the easiest thing to use. I figure if the entire UI is in Japanese, it'll help/force me to learn the language faster, since I use my computer a lot. I mean, it worked when I started to learn English.

 

[FriedToast]

And me for the same reasons, pretty much- I need to bone up on my Japanese and since I spend so much time on the computer, that's going to be one way of doing so (not to mention that I've already had people wanting me to work on their computers here- being able to read error messages and file dropdown menus would be a BIG help )

The native XP switching isn't *that* broad. It'll support the native characters of a program installed from another language and let you type in another language, but the GUI stays the same (unless I'm missing something somewhere).