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Originally, I just had one keyboard layout: English (United States). Then I added Russian. I did not change the Windows display, Apps & websites. However, after adding a second keyboard layout, my system language now changes between the two languages periodically, as well as some websites. You can see that my Windows display and Apps & websites is still English. What would make them display Russian sometimes? Even when my keyboard is set to use English, I sometimes see Russian.

Restarting during a Windows Update

Lock Screen

Windows Language Settings

enter image description here

Russian in the Registry (web browsers)

Craig Silver
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  • Could you add a screenshot of Control Panel > Region > Formats? – harrymc Dec 31 '21 at 13:21
  • @harrymc - Done :) – Craig Silver Jan 01 '22 at 18:07
  • Is your internet served by a Russian ISP? – harrymc Jan 01 '22 at 18:10
  • No, and no VPN service either, most of the time. – Craig Silver Jan 02 '22 at 16:49
  • Try this method. – harrymc Jan 02 '22 at 18:41
  • Close but not quite. In the Welcome screen and new user accounts settings dialog, it did mention Russian for the Welcome screen and I was able to change that to English, but after following the rest of the steps, I still have Russian on the Welcome screen and elsewhere. – Craig Silver Jan 02 '22 at 22:27
  • If you remove the Russian language, is everything now in English? – harrymc Jan 02 '22 at 22:35
  • Yes, after removing the Russian language and restarting, it's still showing on the Welcome Screen and Lock Screen. Interestingly, it's also in the Registry (see latest picture). It's like Windows got "infused" with Russian. Now, even a new Windows user wouldn't completely get rid of it (note: HKLM) – Craig Silver Jan 02 '22 at 23:58
  • Products that have installed themselves in Russian need to be reinstalled. Do this: While keeping Russian uninstalled, eradicate it from the registry as in this answer, then run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth followed by sfc /scannow. – harrymc Jan 03 '22 at 08:28
  • Thank you for your continued suggestions. I kept the Russian language uninstalled and removed those items from the registry, then ran dism and sfc, followed by a reboot. Still no change. – Craig Silver Jan 03 '22 at 18:28
  • I'm rapidly running out of suggestions. Is this problem worth doing Repair Install using English? – harrymc Jan 03 '22 at 18:33
  • It might come to that. Ironically, I would sometimes miss it if it went away--emphasis on "sometimes" though lol. – Craig Silver Jan 03 '22 at 19:03
  • OK, I took the plunge and did a repair install. As a developer, losing all apps and configuration is painful but so far, I think this fixed the problem! – Craig Silver Jan 04 '22 at 01:13
  • OK, I added Russian back. This time, I was sure to uncheck Install language pack (I may have done that previously). Over the next while, I'll report back as to whether Russian crept into the OS or not, for the benefit of others reading this. – Craig Silver Jan 04 '22 at 06:11
  • I have added an answer to summarize what was done. – harrymc Jan 04 '22 at 08:57
  • This is fucking nuts. Yes I've the same problem. Even websites are randomly switching languages. I can't believe how garbage windows still is, after 20+ years.
    And no I won't reinstall windows, it's a mayor PITA reinstalling and reconfiguring everything, I don't have days to waste on this. I really wish I could switch to working on linux...     – Steve Horvath May 22 '22 at 23:04
  • @SteveHorvath the accepted answer includes a Repair Install of Windows, which has an option to keep your programs and data. If I recall, the answer worked for me. You might want to back up first though (for instance, Macrium Reflect Free). – Craig Silver May 24 '22 at 01:46

1 Answers1

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This is the summary of the comments for a solution:

  • Uninstall the Russian language
  • Eradicate the Russian keyboard (link)
  • Do a Repair Install using the English version
  • Add back the Russian language without the "Install language pack" option.

It's possible that the first two steps were not truly required.

harrymc
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