the installer always stops at 44% when its run in english, cause it breaks when it hits the japanese files. :l
and i mean the name of the folder the rtp.exe is in, which, for me, is in japanese. it might not be being read correctly by applocale or something.
I guess itd depend on what version of windows 7 you have. the one im using has no compatability problems, but things like windows 7 starter are apparently hell on earth.
you could also try setting applocale to run in compatibility mode for XP, service pack 2. apparently mine is set to do that