Win98SE Upgrade to XP Pro hangs, can't find OS to upgrade

[Shinken]

Usually, upgrading Win98SE to XPPro is a breeze, but not this time. Here's the situation.

Computer is 2 years old, made in 2003.
One HDD

No hardware incompatibilities on HCL, but upgrade analysis reported some software incompats - 2 Intel drivers for onboard Video & LAN (Intel PROSet II & Intel Extreme Graphics) and a few apps.

First, I ran the XP upgrade from within Win98SE. All went well until it finished copying files and rebooted. After the text mode, followed by the WinXP splash screen, I saw the XP upgrade screen with "preparing upgrade" still highlighted, but only for a second and then a blue screen message was displayed which read as follows: “Setup cannot locate the Windows installation you want to upgrade. Contact your system administrator.” Rebooted with same results. So I did an F3 Quit and the computer booted normally in Win98SE.

Next, I tried booting directly to the WinXP Pro Upgrade CD. The first or second screen to be displayed was a blue screen with the following message: “Setup cannot find a previous version of Windows installed on your computer…”

I then examined the files in sysedit and found a line in autoexec.bat reading SUBST N: C:\ This was for a workgroup mapping and redirects N: to C: and shouldn't have affected anything, but I commented it out anyway. Then tried the upgrade, with same results.

Next, I searched the MS Knowledgebase, and the only reference returned was related to W2K and the details (such as checking/editing the boot.ini file) didn't apply to Win98SE. Other search engines produced equally dismal results.

So I then did the unthinkable; I called Microsoft and worked with an MS techie for over 2 hours. She had apparently never encountered this error, and assumed that it was an incompatibility. So she had me uninstall the onboard video & LAN drivers, the Iomega software, the printers, Norton AV (already done), and copy the i386 folder from the CD to C:\.

Then, she had me try a parallel installation of XP on the same partition, saying that this would work and would access the existing apps. I wondered about dual-registries on the same partition, but she said it would work as a dual-boot. The result was (1) no dual-boot menu, and (2) the XP OS loaded in 640x480 mode <no video drivers> and none of the existing apps were available.

I finally restored the original backup image and at least we were back to square one and the machine was operational in 98SE.

BTW, a bit of advise to newbies: NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES,DO AN OS UPGRADE WITHOUT A BACKUP IMAGE, NO MATTER HOW WELL THEY HAVE DONE IN THE PAST, UNLESS YOU JUST DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS? ...but I digress.

Obviously the W98SE installation is working and on the HDD.
Does anyone have any suggestions about what's happening here and why the XP Upgrade can't locate the 98SE OS on the HDD? A successful upgrade will make my client very happy, and the problem bugs the @(#& out of me. I normally wouldn't have spent this much time on the project, but it's a good client and they have several identical machines to be upgraded.

Thanks,

S

 

[bcastner]

Physicly disconnect the IOMEGA drive.

 

[linney]

Has the 98se installation had any unusual registry tweaks applied to it by programs like TweakUi or similar?

This computer, made in 2003, with 98se installed on it, is there a story in that?

Is the drive IDE or SCSI?

http://www.alegsa.com.ar/Visitas/index3/Hard drive undetected by xp.php

If you run the Fdisk tool does that see the drive partition, does it report it as a DOS or non-standard partition?

Read the check lists in these MSKB.

HOW TO: Prepare to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP(Q316639)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q316/6/39.asp

HOW TO: Troubleshoot Windows XP Setup Problems When You Upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Me (Q310064)

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q310064

Is virus scanning turned on in the Bios?

 

[Shinken]

Thanks for all the good ideas, but none hit the target.

bcastner: The IOMEGA drive was left at the client's office, and was not connected to the computer. I pulled the box from the client's office and was running the upgrade in my shop.

linney: (1) No unusual registry tweaks that I know of. The client is a professional office and so there would not be any kids or others fooling around with the computers, and knowing the clients, I doubt they would either.

(2) This is a professional office and they are using some necessary software which would only run on Win98 when they bought the machines, even though XP had been out for a few years. About a year ago, the publisher of this specialized software (Kodak) finally came out with a ver that supports WinXP. The client didn't know about this until I did some checking for them about a month ago, and are now interested in upgrading to XP.

(3) 30GB IDE drive

(4) I didn't run the fdisk utility, but there is only one (FAT32) partition on the HDD, so I assumed (not always a good thing) that the partition is standard.

(5&6) Good ideas, but I'm familiar with these documents.

(7) No virus scanning in the BIOS.

 

[wolluf]

If the client has several identical machines to upgrade, you could try one of the others first - which would either point to a hardware problem with the one you've tried, or a general incompatibility problem with this machine build.

Also, if you've an image available to restore from, you could just try a clean install of XP rather than a parallel installation (which would never give you access to apps on the existing install - don't know what that tech was on). That again would establish if there is an issue with XP and the machine's hardware - taking the 98 installation out of the equation.

 

[bcastner]

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=242066

But note that this error message occurs if you attempt to use a non-retail version of XP to do the upgrade.

 

[Shinken]

More thanks.

wolluf: I've been thinking along the same lines. I can take one of their machines on a Friday PM, do a new image, then try a clean XP install, provided that they have the original mainboard config CD and provided that the CD has WinXP video drivers. Without the video drivers, it escalates to new graphics cards, and from there who knows where...kinda like waiting for a seat at a crowded restaurant where they keep telling you "another 10 minutes or so" and after 40 minutes, well it's only another 10 minutes, and then you finally get seated about an hour and a half later, and then the waiter does the same thing until the menu arrives 20 minutes later, and I don't even want to think about when the food arrives. (aaarrrgggghhhHH!!!)

bcastner: I was using a boxed retail version of XP w/SP2, so no cigar this time. Also, your MS reference is the one I mention in paragraph 7 (if I'm counting correctly) of my original post.

S

 

[bcastner]

Some suggestions, as I still believe the issue lies in the GUI portion of setup not having access to the previous installation's registry hives.

. Boot from a Win98SE boot floppy and do a SYS C:
This will ensure that the boot loader files from Win98 as correct in all respects;

. Start the upgrade. When it fails again, boot once more with the Win98 floppy (or it might be possible to use the XP CD and Recovery Console). You will have a boot.ini file at this point in the process, and it must have a correct ARC path statement to the previous OS installation.

From the newsgroups, an example of your error message on upgrading from XP Home to XP Pro: " I had the same problem.. somehow, the installation altered my c:\boot.ini so the line that should begin:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home"

instead began with:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP Home"

After changing the 'WINNT' back to 'WINDOWS' (by booting to the recovery console), the installation ran perfectly. Not sure why or how this happened, but I was doing a similar install with a college purchased version of Windows XP Pro."

This is exactly the issue raised in the MS KB article I linked above:

Windows 2000 Setup performs the checks listed below to locate the previous installation you are attempting to upgrade. These checks are performed after the first restart when you run the Upgrade Wizard or Winnt32.exe to perform the upgrade. If any of these checks does not succeed, the error message is displayed.
• Setup looks for a valid path to the registry files using the C:\Boot.ini file.
• Setup loads the System registry hive for each operating system entry found in the Boot.ini file and extracts the Setup\UniqueID:REG_SZ:C:WINNT\Unique_ID value.

And the resolution section applies in your case as well:

1. Open the Boot.ini file with Notepad (or boot to Recovery Console) and make sure a valid ARC path is defined that points to the previous installation.

APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

 

[Shinken]

to bcastner:

Hmmm, some possibilities here.

After the computer rebooted and presented the error message, I did an F3(Quit) which reverted to W98SE, and presumably deleted the boot.ini file, as I couldn't locate one when W98SE loaded. However, I can create a boot.ini file in W98SE (which will be ignored by W98SE) prior to attempting the upgrade.

My tentative plan is to run the SYS command from a floppy to replace the command.com, io.sys and ms.sys files, then create a boot.ini file in W98SE try the upgrade again.

As I'll have to do this on a week-end, so that I can get the computer back to the client's office 1st thing the following Monday AM, I probably won't get around to this for a few weeks. Fortunately, it's not an urgent issue for the client.

I'll post another reply to this thread after I tried it, to let anyone following this thread how it turned out.

BTW and FYI, here's something you might be interested in:

"What I hear, I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I know."
- Old Chinese Proverb

Regards,

S

 

[bcastner]

It would be worthwhile trying again and instead of hitting F3 turn the machine off.

If you boot from the hard disk XP will autostart the GUI portion of setup.

If you boot from a Win98SE floppy, the boot.ini file should be accessible. You may have to ATTRIB it to remove its protections:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022

 

[Shinken]

bcastner:

If I understand you correctly, I've already done 1&2. When the computer first presented the error message (after copying files) I tried rebooting instead of F3/Quit, and the upgrade continued...for a minute or so, until I got the error message again. After doing this a few times, I decided to do the F3/Quit option.

Rebooting after the error message, using a W98SE floppy to check the boot.ini file seems worth a try.

 

[bcastner]

I hope it helps. It is a truely odd issue.

There is always F.A.S.T. and a clean install....
You can do a clean install with the "Upgrade" retail CD of XP.

http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm

 

[Shinken]

bcastner:

"Clean install" is such a short term for such a big project.
There aren't any really reliable relocation utilities for transferring apps from one hard drive to another, and there are often so many apps & utilities installed on a drive that a clean install is too expensive for most of my clients. By "clean install" I mean:

1. A full backup (you never know what you forgot with partial backups)
2. Clean OS install
3. Reinstallation of apps and then data
4. The use then has to adjus apps with their preferences, 5. Then, of course, there's contacting the anti-virus and anti-malware publishers to reinstate your subscriptions, etc.

Relocation utilities such as Alohabob, are getting better, but they're still somewhat erratic and don't always transfer all apps, etc. So, for at least a while longer, whenever I explain what's involved in a clean install, the clients eyes glaze over, lips turn blue, and they start to go into shock. So I try to avoid clean installs as much as possible - it makes for happier clients, who don't really like anything on their computer to change. Mostly, I find clean installs are only necessary when there's a really serious virus or malware infestation, often involving rootkits and other methods of hiding files. But when someone comes out with a truly reliable and effective relocation utility, I'll be the first in line.

OK OK I'll get off of my soapbox.

S