FYI, I was following this thread and got some good info. Using Win7 and updater v1.8, here's what happened. (and no, my phone is not bricked) 1. started NSU and it went as normal 2. paused at 1 second left in step 3. 2 a. progress bar was still going, and program was responding, but nothing moved. 3. quit NSU manually via task manager 4. it prompted me to wait until it could safely finish the update, and press continue when it became available. 5. unplugged & plugged in again 6. repeat of step 3 and 4 7. the button showed up, my phone started as usual, and the regional settings appeared. 8. phone works I have no idea how all of that made my phone work again, but I'm happy I don't have to throw it at the nokia team in complete irony making some sort of comparison to being useless. anyway.. hope that helps.