NLS data is missing - cannot repair

[Darren A. Peace]

Hi. I'm having trouble with my Vista x64 machine.

A reboot after yesterday's updates confronted me with an NLS error; booting
from the Vista SP1 DVD, Windows RE was unable to automatically correct the
error.

I then ran a chkdsk /r, which found minor data corruption and fixed it,
apparently.

An automatic repair still didn't work, so I went to the command prompt.

bootrec /scanos found nothing. However, when i deleted c:\boot\bsd, bootrec
/scanos found the installation.

I then ran bootrec /rebuildbcd, which found the installation and allowed me
to add it to the BSD.

However, bootrec /scanos then found no os, and a reboot took me back to the
NLS error.

Command prompt : deleted BCD, bootrec /rebuildbcd, bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec
/fixboot - still NLS data missing on reboot.

I tried an SFC from the command prompt, but it couldn't run, companing about
services not running.

It appears that all the data is present on the drive; I'd just like to be
able to boot!

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions; I'm a TechNet Direct subscriber,
so could use a support incident, but I suspect that the fix here will be
relatively trivial - I'm just too dense to find it!

 

[semoi]

With Microsoft anything bad is possible but it is difficult to see how the
MBR could be hosed by OS upgrades.
In my recent sad experience with a similar problem, caused by trying to
install a second OS using System Commander, I could not reconstruct the MBR
but all the data was on the hard drive. I will bet that your hard drive is
still readable by an intact OS although it is not bootable, as in my
situation. Easy enough to check if you can plug it into a working computer.
Sadly, in my instance, a recent backup of the entire hard drive was
corrupted and unusable, a common occurrence with backup software as well as
Windows System Restore. Even when you check the backup data it so often
fails when you need it that I no longer think it is worth the time or
effort, as opposed to making copies of vital documents.
I gave up and installed a new copy of Vista on a different hard drive and
ported everything over. The only problem might be with programs that have to
be activated, like Vista, Office and Photoshop but those Indian call centers
are usually cooperative as they celebrate the American and European jobs
they have taken.
As you are aware it would be unwise to reinstall Vista in the same partition
as it will wipe your drive; it would also be unwise to create a new
partition on that drive using partitioning software as that may make the
drive unreadable.

 

[Gireesh Bhat]

Hi. I'm having trouble with my Vista x64 machine.

A reboot after yesterday's updates confronted me with an NLS error;
booting
from the Vista SP1 DVD, Windows RE was unable to automatically correct the
error.

I then ran a chkdsk /r, which found minor data corruption and fixed it,
apparently.

An automatic repair still didn't work, so I went to the command prompt.

bootrec /scanos found nothing. However, when i deleted c:\boot\bsd,
bootrec
/scanos found the installation.

I then ran bootrec /rebuildbcd, which found the installation and allowed
me
to add it to the BSD.

However, bootrec /scanos then found no os, and a reboot took me back to
the
NLS error.

Command prompt : deleted BCD, bootrec /rebuildbcd, bootrec /fixmbr,
bootrec
/fixboot - still NLS data missing on reboot.

I tried an SFC from the command prompt, but it couldn't run, companing
about
services not running.

It appears that all the data is present on the drive; I'd just like to be
able to boot!

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions; I'm a TechNet Direct subscriber,
so could use a support incident, but I suspect that the fix here will be
relatively trivial - I'm just too dense to find it!

If you have access to another Vista machine, use a USB stick and copy the
nls files from that install to the one you cannot boot. You can do that
using a Knoppix or similar linux live cd that can write to NTFS. I was
cleaning a friend's XP computer of malware and accidentally deleted the nls
files. Copying them from another XP install fixed it and made it bootable.

Regards
Gireesh

 

[Tim Quan [MSFT]]

Hi,

What's the exact wording of this NLS error?

What's the exact wording of the error message when you run SFC?

Now let's try the following methods to troubleshoot the issue. You may have
tried them. If so, I suggest trying them again

Method 1: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)
============================================
1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Method 2: Rebuild BCD
============================================
1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input
method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd , and then press ENTER.

Method 3: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore
============================================
1. Instert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and
then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.
7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the
appropriate restore point.
8. Click Finish to restore the system.

What's the result?

Sincerely,
Tim Quan
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
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With newsgroups, MSDN subscribers enjoy unlimited, free support as opposed
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==================================================

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[Darren A. Peace]

Thanks for the reply, Tim.

NLS error exact wording : on boot, I have a Windows Boot Manager error
0xc000000f "Info : Windows failed to load because the NLS data is missing or
corrupt".

SFC /scannow reports : Windows Resource Protection could not start the
repair service.

Startup repair and rebuilding the BCD (which I've also done manually) both
report as per my original post.

System Restore reports : System Restore failed due to an unspecified error -
Catastrophic failure 0x8000FFFF

I have another Vista machine handy, albeit x32; where might I find the NLS
files? I'm not sure what they are! I could perhaps do a Vista x64 install to
a virtual machine and grab the relevant files; I have several Linux live CDs
I could use to copy them to the relevant location, or may stick in another
hard drive and install another OS there.

Ideally I'd do a repair install of Vista; however, this will only work from
within Vista using my Technet ISO; the repair option is greyed out from boot.

I have a client visiting this evening to look at this new 64-bit Vista setup
I have on my demonstration machine with 8GB RAM; it'll be embarrassing if it
won't boot! Sadly, it will take longer than I have to rebuild, as there's a
lot of specific software set up. I'll certainly image more often in future!

--
Grey Velvet Consulting
Hungerford, UK

Hi,

What's the exact wording of this NLS error?

What's the exact wording of the error message when you run SFC?

Now let's try the following methods to troubleshoot the issue. You may have
tried them. If so, I suggest trying them again

Method 1: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)
============================================
1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Method 2: Rebuild BCD
============================================
1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input
method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd , and then press ENTER.

Method 3: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore
============================================
1. Instert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and
then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.
7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the
appropriate restore point.
8. Click Finish to restore the system.

What's the result?

Sincerely,
Tim Quan
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif
ications.

With newsgroups, MSDN subscribers enjoy unlimited, free support as opposed
to the limited number of phone-based technical support incidents. Complex
issues or server-down situations are not recommended for the newsgroups.
Issues of this nature are best handled working with a Microsoft Support
Engineer using one of your phone-based incidents.
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Darren A. Peace]

Thanks for the reply, Gireesh.

Actually,if I knew what the NLS data was, it would be even easire than that
- Windows RE can read a USB memory stick.

I'm installing Vista x64 in a virtual machine, so I can copy away when I
know what to copy.

 

[Darren A. Peace]

Thanks for the useful help with my question.

The issue is now resolved - the problem was a couple of corrupted files.

I set up a virtual machine instance of Vista x64, and copied from that all
the *.nls files in /Windows/System32 and all the *.fon files from
Windows/Fonts. I then put them on a USB memory stick, and inserted that into
the broken machine.

I didn't realise that WindowsRE could read USB drives. This made things much
easier. I then overwrote the files on the damaged box with those from the
clean install, and a reboot took me straight into Vista.

I then backed everything up and ran an SFC. All appears well, and I was able
to run the demo in time.

Thanks again.
--
Grey Velvet Consulting
Hungerford, UK

Thanks for the reply, Tim.

NLS error exact wording : on boot, I have a Windows Boot Manager error
0xc000000f "Info : Windows failed to load because the NLS data is missing or
corrupt".

SFC /scannow reports : Windows Resource Protection could not start the
repair service.

Startup repair and rebuilding the BCD (which I've also done manually) both
report as per my original post.

System Restore reports : System Restore failed due to an unspecified error -
Catastrophic failure 0x8000FFFF

I have another Vista machine handy, albeit x32; where might I find the NLS
files? I'm not sure what they are! I could perhaps do a Vista x64 install to
a virtual machine and grab the relevant files; I have several Linux live CDs
I could use to copy them to the relevant location, or may stick in another
hard drive and install another OS there.

Ideally I'd do a repair install of Vista; however, this will only work from
within Vista using my Technet ISO; the repair option is greyed out from boot.

I have a client visiting this evening to look at this new 64-bit Vista setup
I have on my demonstration machine with 8GB RAM; it'll be embarrassing if it
won't boot! Sadly, it will take longer than I have to rebuild, as there's a
lot of specific software set up. I'll certainly image more often in future!

--
Grey Velvet Consulting
Hungerford, UK

Hi,

What's the exact wording of this NLS error?

What's the exact wording of the error message when you run SFC?

Now let's try the following methods to troubleshoot the issue. You may have
tried them. If so, I suggest trying them again

Method 1: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)
============================================
1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Method 2: Rebuild BCD
============================================
1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input
method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd , and then press ENTER.

Method 3: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore
============================================
1. Instert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and
then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ¡­". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.
7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the
appropriate restore point.
8. Click Finish to restore the system.

What's the result?

Sincerely,
Tim Quan
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif
ications.

With newsgroups, MSDN subscribers enjoy unlimited, free support as opposed
to the limited number of phone-based technical support incidents. Complex
issues or server-down situations are not recommended for the newsgroups.
Issues of this nature are best handled working with a Microsoft Support
Engineer using one of your phone-based incidents.
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Tim Quan [MSFT]]

Hi,

Thank you very much for writing back to me. I am glad to hear that the
issue has been resolved. I appreciate your time and effort on this issue.

In the future, if you have any concerns regarding this issue, please feel
free to let me know.

Sincerely,
Tim Quan
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif
ications.

With newsgroups, MSDN subscribers enjoy unlimited, free support as opposed
to the limited number of phone-based technical support incidents. Complex
issues or server-down situations are not recommended for the newsgroups.
Issues of this nature are best handled working with a Microsoft Support
Engineer using one of your phone-based incidents.
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.