Brightness/gamma problem

[gmreplay]

Since the first MoW right through Assault Squad, and on both Nvidia and ATI cards I've had a problem where the gamma/brightness is way too high upon starting the game, and the gamma starts totally bottomed out. That means that the game is always too bright, and the only way I can correct it is through mangling the contrast. The game also screws with my Windows 7 gamma once I exit it. Anyone got any ideas to fix this?