This is something that is driving me nuts for a while and I haven't been able to find a solution for this problem anywhere.

I am running Windows 7 and my "Language for non-Unicode programs" setting is set to Russian. I need for some non-unicode software that has a Russian UI.

However, for most of my software I prefer to use the English UI. A lot of software out there is multilingual and is too smart for my liking. When installing, it switches the UI to Russian and the software UI stays in Russian after the installation without an option to change that, besides setting the "non-unicode language" to English. It switches back to Russian once I revert the setting and reboot. Most of the time it is driver software, i.e: Intel, HP, etc.

How can force the installation to run English and stay that way after install, ignoring the "Language for non-Unicode programs" setting? Now, I understand this might be specific to the installer: MSI, Install Shield, etc. But any solution will be good, even if I have to apply it for every software installation.

Thanks in advance for any helpful information!