Installing a language pack with massive limitations...

Hey guys, I've looked everywhere for an answer to this, but no joy:

I'm trying to install the Japanese language pack, so I can run non-unicode programs in Japanese. I've gone into the regional and language options settins, and installed a pack I got off Windows site (named ie_ja - what I assume IS the language pack) and then selected it in the drop down box for non-unicode programs.

Problem is, when I go to apply it, I get asked to insert the Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM.

Now, I still HAVE the CD-ROM... but my disk drive is broken, and isn't gonna be getting fixed in the near future.

To compound the issue, I have no internet access to the machine I'm trying to install the language pack on (I'm at a friends house right now. :3)

Do I have any options here? Is there anything I can download here, take to my PC, and have it install the Jap language pack without it connecting to the internet, OR requiring a CD?

Massive thanks in advance. I am literally going insane here. O___O

 

There may be solutions but a new CD drive is pennies and DVD drives aren't that expensive either. Wouldn't it be better to replace the drive?

A language pack is nothing compared to some of the problems you'll encounter without an optical drive.

FWIW the solutions I'm thinking of could cost more than a new drive and they're not guaranteed to work.

 

****... I figured that answer was headed my way, I just didn't wanna hear it. :/

It's not the whole "get a new CD drive" issue - it's that I'd have to give my PC away to someone for a week or so. I was looking for a quick fix, but I guess I am gonna have to get a new one eventually: got a big stack of music piling up waiting to get on ma iPod...

I'm not exactly technically gifted: would I be able to install it myself?

(Also, I have a crazy weird PC: it's some kind of custom job, a small steel box. I dunno if just any kind of CD drive will fit...)

 

Sorry, don't shoot the messenger

Installing a drive isn't that difficult and should be a DIY job but...

Can you post make/model this could be important.

Before you worry about a replacement though, what faults are you seeing with your current drive?

Does it show in My Computer?
Does the activity LED (assuming you have one) light when inserting a disk?

Any kind of feedback would help.

 

Ooh man, OK, I am gonna go all out and google this beast.

My PC (the one I'm having issues with) was custom ordered from a little shop in Sutton Coldfield called Elite X Micro. I'll see if they just grabbed a weird looking shelf model or something...

(runs off to google)

Well, found the site: my PC is a Shuttle X - that's all. The official shuttle site doesn't have mine listed anywhere, I assume it's discontinued (I got it 2005ish)

And yeah, I'd say the CD drive is toast. Mostly due to my hot headedness.

What happened was, a few weeks back, just before Xmas, it refused to open. I hit the button, it opened a fraction, then stopped, waited a few seconds, and closed again.

I tried forcing it open, thinking it was jammed, and I got a massive crack, and now the tray is stuck open; it won't move when I hit open, back into the body of the PC.

I'm no professional, but I'd say it's ronnied.

 

As no link was supplied I guess I'd better run off to google too

Please read this and see if it helps ID the model number.

Another thing that could help is a photogragh of the front of the system.