Possible to buy a foreign version of Windows 7 in the US?

[CptObvious]

I got my parents an HP laptop 2 years ago in South Korea. It came with Windows Vista Basic K (Korean version). It was running dog slow so I added more memory, but I think the hard drive and the OS are too slow. Is it possible to buy the Korean version of Windows 7 Home Premium in the US? I know my dad won't be using all the other features of Ultimate and I'd rather not spend $180 on an OS for it. Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

Read all of this thread there is some sort of interesting solutions.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com...p/thread/b168aa91-9989-46bc-b2f8-c78597f718ce


😎

 

[Pretty Cool]

Actually, those non-English versions of Windows are typically much more than $180. There is a program called Vistalizator that lets you install the language packs without having Ultimate. If you already have Windows 7 on another system, try it and see if works or not.

http://www.sevenlizator.com/index.html

 

[RebateMonger]

Actually, those non-English versions of Windows are typically much more than $180. There is a program called Vistalizator that lets you install the language packs without having Ultimate. If you already have Windows 7 on another system, try it and see if works or not.

Be careful with Vistalizator and Win7, though. Unless it's been fixed now, folks have been having Activation issues with Windows 7 using Vistalizator. Microsoft's Win7 "Genuine Windows" forums have many examples of folks with problems with this software.

Problem details:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinewindows7/thread/6f6b1cb8-e84e-4c1f-a2ac-181a77d2f772

 

[Pretty Cool]

Not surprised it would fail since the extra languages is only available in the more costly Ultimate. It also would not surprise me if there was a workaround.

 

[RebateMonger]

It also would not surprise me if there was a workaround.

The last update of Vistalizator was in October, 2009. Since then, Microsoft has updated its WGA program and that's when the "Not Genuine" issues showed up with Vistalizator and Win7.

Even if there IS a workaround, it may be worth the extra $80 to not have to keep correcting "Not Genuine" issues over the life of the computer for his/her parents.