"c:/mysql/share/charsets/?.conf" error

I am trying to resolve the following mysql error:

File 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\?.conf' not found (Errcode: 22)
Character set '#33' is not a compiled character set and is not
specified in the 'c:\mysql\share\charsets\Index'

I am using mysql version 5.0 on windows xp.

I have copied the share directory to the specified path, I have also
edited the my.ini for the correct path but neither seems to fix it.

the database is utf-8 encoded.

I only get the error when the php script connects to the database after
echoing some text to the screen.

I've done a google search and read all the posts but nothings seems to
fix it. anyone have any ideas?