How to change Windows 8 core installation language to English?

Question

I recently bought a new Lenovo laptop from Poland with Windows 8. Everything is dandy until I notice that it's all Polish and I don't speak Polish.

Well, I can change the language to English, but Polish language still pops out here and there. Is there a way to COMPLETELY change language to English? For example, if I wipe my PC and make a factory reset, the setup language is still Polish, but I want it to be English. Is this possible?

Solution 1

I found a solution for your problem, i had the same problem but with a different language, Italian.

go to Control Panel then click on Clock, Language, and Region then click on Region

if you see the first line in Formats tab is "Format: English(United States)" then your are good

click on Location tab, and change Home location to united state

now click on Administrative tab

click on the first button "Copy settings..."

now u will see in "current user" your preferred language, which is English

check the two check-boxes at the bottom and click OK, this will change the Welcome screen and New user accounts to your Current user's settings. your PC will tell you it need a restart, click no or later.

click on the second button "Change system locale". change the Current system locale to "English (United States)"

now restart your PC and enjoy an full English version of windows 8

this helped me get rid of the Italian language at the welcome screen, not sure English will still be the default language after you refresh your PC.

Solution 2

It will change after you restart the computer (not shutdown - it's different). The challenge is to find the restart command in polish in windows 8 which has no icons for these things. press ctrl+alt+delete and click the shutdown logo in lower right corner. The last option is restart and update. This worked for me.

edit: it seems it has to run some windows updates while restarting before it works.

Comments

[Ramhound]

You would need to either install the English language pack or install an English version of Windows 8. If you have an English Windows 8 installation media this isn't a problem your license is valid for a single installation with any default language pack.

[Jason Bristol]

Where exactly is Polish popping up again? It could be an application setting or a registry key

[Francisco Tapia]

Did youtr try this?: windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/using-multiple-languag‌​es

[Teodors]

Yeah, but adding a language pack only works when Windows 8 is already installed, your settings will not be saved when doing a reset to factory settings. Then it's back to Polish. Don't want to delete Windows 8 from my Laptop because it has some Lenovo software.

[Devid]

You can either install English package or wipe out the partition Windows 8 is on. Not reset Windows 8 but delete the partition it is on and then install Windows 8 English version. If you do not wont to delete the partition and with it the Windows OS then your only choice is to install the language package