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up vote 6 down vote favorite

I use Windows XP in Dutch, but I'd like to have my cmd.exe in English.

Is there a way I can change the language? Can I download a separate version of cmd.exe in English? Are there any other ways?

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Don't you think it would be better to ask how to set it to English? – slhck♦ Oct 14 '11 at 10:17
I am pretty sure the EXE has localization information, with the actual language strings stored elsewhere. If you find an English CMD.EXE it may operate identically. Coincidentally I live in Amsterdam, so next time I see a Dutch XP machine I'll MD5 the exe and see what happens :-) – Tom Corelis Oct 14 '11 at 11:26
@slhck: I'm pretty sure the localization is within the executable, seeing from my hex editor. – nightcracker Oct 14 '11 at 13:33
Yes, that might very well be, just see my edit – are you fine with this? That's just asking a broader question, who knows what's possible. – slhck♦ Oct 14 '11 at 13:45
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@nightcracker: Where the localization data is stored depends on your Windows version. XP has everything built-in the exe file. Starting with Vista they are kept externally in a subdirectory named as your language (e.g. "de-de" for german) and a file named cmd.dll.mui – Robert Oct 14 '11 at 14:17
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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

There will be no "obscure long link from microsoft.com". cmd.exe is a Windows component and is not distributed separately.

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up vote 2 down vote

It depends on how your Windows is localized (I'm not familiar with Dutch Windows specifically). Look at the following folder:

c:\Windows\System32\nl-NL

If you have the file named cmd.exe.mui there, rename it to something else. Your command prompt will be in English mostly (all text coming from the cmd.exe will be English, but some error messages are coming from other sources and will be in Dutch.

If you don't have such folder, or if cmd.exe.mui is not there, it means your cmd.exe (command prompt execuable) has its Dutch strings built in, so you cannot change it to English easily.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you are running Windows XP you can translate a lot strings yourself. Using a resource editor like XN Resource Editor or ResEdit you can modify the included messages and save everything as a modified EXE file.

Note: As we are talking about a component of Windows I assume that modifying a executable from Windows is not covered by the license you have accepted when installing Windows.

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