Add Language Pack Updates for the Windows 8.1 Update

Applies To: Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2

Use language pack updates to update language resources for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 Industry, Windows Preinstall Environment (WinPE), and Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), after the Windows 8.1 Update (KB2919355) has been applied. Each language pack update will come with three versions, one for each processor architecture.

The Windows 8.1 Update language pack updates are available to OEMs only. They are significantly faster to install than the full MSU update package. You can add these language pack updates using either an online or an offline update.

If you don't add the language resources for Windows 8.1 Update, the Windows user experience might not be correctly localized, and users will be prompted to download the language resources for Windows 8.1 Update from Windows Update.

Adding languages after adding Windows 8.1 Update

To add the language resources, you can do either of the following:

• Add the Windows 8.1 RTM language pack and then re-apply the update packages, either offline or online. If your PC has limited hard drive space, you might have to add the packages offline and perform all cleanup steps, as described earlier on this page.

  - or -

• To save time, OEMs can add the Windows 8.1 RTM language pack, and then install the corresponding language pack update for Windows 8.1 Update.

Adding language pack updates offline

1. Mount the Windows image (install.wim).

   Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\Images\install_updated.wim" /Index:1 /MountDir:C:\mount\Windows
   

2. Add the language pack for Windows 8.1 RTM. For example, add the German (de-de) language pack.

   md C:\Scratch
   
   Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:\mount\Windows /PackagePath:C:\packages\Win8.1RTM\de-de\lp.cab /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch
   

3. Add the language pack update for Windows 8.1 Update for the corresponding language. See the table below for the list of KBs associated with each language.

   Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:\mount\Windows /PackagePath:C:\packages\Win8.1Update\de-de\Windows8.1-KB2938327-x64.msu /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch
   

4. Mount and update the Windows RE image, using the same procedure, adding the language pack update:

   Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\mount\windows\Windows\System32\Recovery\winre.wim" /index:1 /MountDir:"C:\mount\winre"
   
   Dism /Add-Package /Image:"C:\mount\winre" /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\de-de"
   
   Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:\mount\winre /PackagePath:C:\packages\Win8.1Update\de-de\Windows8.1-KB2938327-x64.msu /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch
   
   Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:"C:\mount\winre" /Commit
   

   Note: The first /Add-Package command adds only the applicable packages from the ..\WinPE_OCs\de-de folder. For more info, see Customize Windows RE.

5. Unmount the Windows image.

   Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:C:\mount\Windows /Commit
   

The following language pack updates will be available to OEMs:

See Also

Tasks

Install the Windows 8.1 Update for OEMs
Update languages and regions: Localize your Windows images