[How To] Switch Your Windows 11 System Region to the EEA Without Clean Installation

[+MrElectrifyer Subscriber²]

Hi All,

You've likely seen all the news detailing how the European Union is forcing microsoft and other tech giants to build products that are user friendly, respect user choices, and ultimately treat end users decently like actual humans instead of products. Somehing American tech giants normally won't even do for their fellow Americans. If like me, you want such experience in Windows, regardless of where you are, that makes your PC an actual Personal Computer, instead of a public computer for microsoft's dictated applications, junk ads, and other anti-consumer practices, then simply do as follows:

1. Create an image backup of your system (e.g. using Control Panel > System and Security > File History > System Image Backup), just in-case.
    
2. Install all the pending cumulative updates and restart your system.
    
3. Run c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe command via the Windows Run dialog (Win+R), and simply click the "OK" button in the System Preparation Tool 3.14 dialog that popped-up keeping its default settings, it should then initiate the complete OOBE where you can switch your region to the EEA (I set mine to Ireland due to English being part of their national language):
   
   
   NOTE:
   a) This Sysprep tool initiates a complete OOBE setup, including creating of a new user account, and you can't use the same user account name, nor Windows Hello Biometrics, that you have setup in your original account. Instead, simply create a dummy account. Once the setup is complete, you can switch back to your orriginal account and safely delete the dummy account.
   
   b) Due to the above, the Windows license registered owner name also gets updated to the new dummy account. Simply use a tool like Winaero Tweaker to Change Registered Owner back to whatever you previously had.
    
4. Vuala, like my Surface Pro 7+, your system has now officially joined the EEA, all while preserving your apps (Win32, UWP store apps, & Android apps from Play Store), files, and settings (including system language and date/time formats). Bringing you the EEA benefits described in the news, including easy uninstallation of Edge if you actually want to do that (personally, it remains my default since 2020):
   

Hope that helps 🙂