Error message when you try to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2: "Windows has detected unsupported language files"

When you try to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2), you receive the following error message:

This issue occurs when you try to install a language version of Windows Vista SP2 or of Windows Server 2008 SP2 that is not supported by the currently installed version of Windows.

You receive this error when you install a Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - Five Language Standalone package. This package contains the following five languages:

• English
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Spanish

If you try to install this five-language package on a computer that has a language pack or a default system language other than German, Spanish, French, English, or Japanese, you receive the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section.

Additional packages that contain all 36 language versions of Windows Vista SP2 and of Windows Server 2008 SP2 are available on the Microsoft download site.

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

Download and install the Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - ALL Language Standalone package. To do this, click the following links to review the appropriate article on the Microsoft website:

Method 2

If the default system language is English, German, Spanish, French, or Japanese, you can remove any language packs that are not supported.

To remove a language pack from a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type language options in the Start Search box, and then click Regional and Language Options in the Programs list.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
2. Click the Keyboards and Languages tab, and then click Install/uninstall languages in the Display language area.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
3. Click Remove languages, click to select the check boxes for the language packs that you want to remove, and then click Next.
4. Click Remove, and then click Restart now after the removal process is completed.

Note Language packs are available only for the following Windows editions:

• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems
• Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
• Windows Server 2008 Standard
• Windows Web Server 2008

To verify the languages that are installed on the computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type language options in the Start Search box, and then click Regional and Language Options in the Programs list.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
2. Click the Keyboards and Languages tab, and then click the Choose a display language list in the Display language area.
   
   The Choose a display language list contains the languages that are installed on the computer. Some OEM computers may have multiple languages installed.

The following stand-alone package editions are available:

• Five-language stand-alone package for Windows Vista SP2 32-bit edition
• Five-language stand-alone package for Windows Vista SP2 64-bit edition
• Five-language stand-alone package for Windows Server 2008 SP2 32-bit edition
• Five-language stand-alone package for Windows Server 2008 SP2 64-bit edition
• Five-language stand-alone package for Windows Server 2008 SP2 IA-64 edition

A five-language stand-along package contains the following five languages:

• English
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Spanish

Note A separate package for Windows Vista SP2 that contains 36 languages and a separate pack for Windows Server 2008 SP2 that contains 36 languages will be available in the future.

The stand-alone package for Windows Vista SP2 that contains five languages has the following package names and sizes:

• 32-bit package name and 32-bit package size
  
  Package name: Windows6.0-KB948465-X86.exe
  Package size: 348 megabytes (MB)
• 64-bit package name and 64-bit package size
  
  Package name: Windows6.0-KB948465-X64.exe
  Package size: 577 MB

The stand-alone package for Windows Server 2008 SP2 that contains five languages has the following package names and sizes:

• 32-bit package name and 32-bit package size
  
  Package name: Windows6.0-KB948465-X86.exe
  Package size: 348 MB
• 64-bit package name and 64-bit package size
  
  Package name: Windows6.0-KB948465-X64.exe
  Package size: 577 MB
• IA-64 package name and iIA64 package size
  
  Package name: Windows6.0-KB948465-ia64.exe
  Package size: 450 MB