I just bought a Sony laptop (it says on the botton that the model is
PCG-6NFP) with already installed Windows XP; however, I bought this in Korea
because I needed the keyboard to be in Korean (although I'm sure there was an
easier way to have this other than buying the laptop in Korea). I am
completely clueless about computers, so everything in windows in Korean is
really time-consuming. After reading other people's posts, I realize that I
will have to do a "clean install" after buying an English version of Windows
XP.

My questions are:

1) would there be a problem to change from my non-English Windows XP to
English Vista?

2) since my computer initially came with Windows XP, will it be slowed down
at all if I install Vista?

3) (for future reference): could I have bought my laptop in the US and been
able to have it so that I could have access to Korean websites/programs and
my keyboard in Korean without necessarily buying a for-the-Korean-market
laptop?

Thank you.

"bleubunnie" <bleubunnie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

>I just bought a Sony laptop (it says on the botton that the model is
> PCG-6NFP) with already installed Windows XP; however, I bought this in
> Korea
> because I needed the keyboard to be in Korean (although I'm sure there was
> an
> easier way to have this other than buying the laptop in Korea). I am
> completely clueless about computers, so everything in windows in Korean is
> really time-consuming. After reading other people's posts, I realize that
> I
> will have to do a "clean install" after buying an English version of
> Windows
> XP.
>
> My questions are:
>
> 1) would there be a problem to change from my non-English Windows XP to
> English Vista?

I'm not sure what you mean by problem. You can certainly dual boot XP and
Vista. Sorry I don't know if you can use an English language upgrade
version of Vista to upgrade a Korean language version of XP. You might
want to ask in a Vista newsgroup such as
microsoft.public.windows.vista.general.

Vista Ultimate does have downloadable language packs to change certain
aspects of the interface to use that language. You might be able to use a
Vista Ultimate upgrade edition in Korean and then get the English language
pack. However, I don't know if there is an English language pack for a
Korean Vista.

You're best bet is to repost this question to the Vista newsgroup I listed
above. I'm sure someone there will have some info on these questions.

> 2) since my computer initially came with Windows XP, will it be slowed
> down
> at all if I install Vista?

What your computer came with has no bearing on how it will run in Vista. Is
the computer Vista capable? Have you checked with the computer maker?
Laptops are proprietary for drivers, and drivers a big issue right now with
Vista since it is new. So you need to check with Sony to see if they have
Vista compatible drivers for this laptop.

> 3) (for future reference): could I have bought my laptop in the US and
> been
> able to have it so that I could have access to Korean websites/programs
> and
> my keyboard in Korean without necessarily buying a for-the-Korean-market
> laptop?

Someone else will have to jump in on this question.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

Thank you for your response and referring me to the other newsgroup.

"Rock" wrote:

> "bleubunnie" <bleubunnie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
>
> >I just bought a Sony laptop (it says on the botton that the model is
> > PCG-6NFP) with already installed Windows XP; however, I bought this in
> > Korea
> > because I needed the keyboard to be in Korean (although I'm sure there was
> > an
> > easier way to have this other than buying the laptop in Korea). I am
> > completely clueless about computers, so everything in windows in Korean is
> > really time-consuming. After reading other people's posts, I realize that
> > I
> > will have to do a "clean install" after buying an English version of
> > Windows
> > XP.
> >
> > My questions are:
> >
> > 1) would there be a problem to change from my non-English Windows XP to
> > English Vista?
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by problem. You can certainly dual boot XP and
> Vista. Sorry I don't know if you can use an English language upgrade
> version of Vista to upgrade a Korean language version of XP. You might
> want to ask in a Vista newsgroup such as
> microsoft.public.windows.vista.general.
>
> Vista Ultimate does have downloadable language packs to change certain
> aspects of the interface to use that language. You might be able to use a
> Vista Ultimate upgrade edition in Korean and then get the English language
> pack. However, I don't know if there is an English language pack for a
> Korean Vista.
>
> You're best bet is to repost this question to the Vista newsgroup I listed
> above. I'm sure someone there will have some info on these questions.
>
> > 2) since my computer initially came with Windows XP, will it be slowed
> > down
> > at all if I install Vista?
>
> What your computer came with has no bearing on how it will run in Vista. Is
> the computer Vista capable? Have you checked with the computer maker?
> Laptops are proprietary for drivers, and drivers a big issue right now with
> Vista since it is new. So you need to check with Sony to see if they have
> Vista compatible drivers for this laptop.
>
> > 3) (for future reference): could I have bought my laptop in the US and
> > been
> > able to have it so that I could have access to Korean websites/programs
> > and
> > my keyboard in Korean without necessarily buying a for-the-Korean-market
> > laptop?
>
> Someone else will have to jump in on this question.
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>