Initial configuration Phonetic keyboard installation Russian email Russian typer
These instructions are applicable for Windows 95 or higher and are intended for people wanting to be able to type in Russian in applications such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Netscape and most other progams.
Windows 95/98/ME
From the Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) go to Add/Remove
Programs -> Windows Setup, click on 'Multilanguage Support' and then click the
'Details' button, select 'Cyrillic Language Support' and then click 'OK' from this window
and 'OK' from the previous window. The Cyrillic Language Support should then be installed
and you will be asked to restart Windows.
(If the language support was not available then you can download and run it (lang.exe) from
here.)
Then from the Control Panel double click on 'Keyboard', select the 'Language' tab and click the 'Add' button, choose 'Russian' from the list and click 'OK'. Ensure that the 'Enable indicator on taskbar' is ticked and the switch languages by 'Left Alt + Shift' is selected.
Windows 2000 only
From the Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) double click
on the 'Regional Options' icon, then the 'General' tab and within 'Language
Settings for the System' click on 'Cyrillic'.
Windows 2000 continued and Windows NT
From the Control Panel double click on 'Keyboard', select the 'Input
Locales' tab and
click the 'Add' button, choose 'Russian' from the list and click 'OK'. Ensure that the
'Enable indicator on taskbar' is ticked and the switch languages by 'Left Alt + Shift' is
selected.
Windows XP
From the Control Panel (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) double click
on the 'Regional and Language Options' icon, then 'Languages', then 'Details'
within 'Text Services and Input Languages', then 'Add' within 'Installed
Services', and then click on 'Russian'.
Windows Vista / Windows 7
From the Control Panel (Start -> Control Panel) double click
on the 'Regional and Language Options' icon, then 'Keyboards and Languages', then 'Change Keyboard'
, then 'Add' within 'Installed Services' under 'Text Services and Input Languages', and then click on 'Russian'.
You should now be able to type in Russian in Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer,
Netscape Navigator, and most other applications by switching to 'Russian' by
either clicking on the 'Ru' icon from your task bar or by using Alt + Shift.
(You can likewise switch back to English by clicking on 'En' or using Alt + Shift again.)
(In some programs such as AOL and old versions of Word (95) you will also need
to choose a specific cyrillic font such as 'Arial Cyr'.)
Ъ = Ctrl-Alt-7 ъ =
Ctrl-Alt-8 Ё = Ctrl-Alt-9 ё =
Ctrl-Alt-0
The keyboard files were provided by Paul Gorodyansky using Janko's Keyboard Generator and the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator. Paul Gorodyansky also provides a more detailed description
for different types of systems on russification issues.
To change the encoding in Outlook Express, open up the message, and then from the menu click on 'Format' and then 'Encoding', then 'More' and choose 'Cyrillic KOI8-R'. The message should then be magically transformed into recognisable characters. If it isn't, try another encoding such as 'Cyrillic Windows'.
Before you send a Russian email, you should make sure that the encoding is set to 'Cyrillic KOI8-R', so that your recipient's email program knows what to expect and can hence correctly display the cyrillic text. If you don't then your recipient will probably receive a lot of weird characters and in order to decipher them will have to manually change the encoding on their email system.
NB. If you use AOL 6.5 then to send an email in Russian you need to change the font to a specific cyrillic font such as 'Arial Cyr'.
You can actually type in Russian from the Russian
typer web site without having to make any changes to the computer you are
using. This could be useful if you are using a public computer where you cannot
change its settings.
Click here for Private Russian Lessons in London or via email
Russian word usage How to type in Russian Pikovaya Dama Russian language course A quick start to Russian
Email - William Bridge at williambridge@stanwardine.com