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Trouble upgrading to XP Pro from Win2K Pro


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#1 tvhevh

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 08:24 AM

All: My wife wanted to change from McAfee to the latest Kaspersky anti-virus for her machine--a Dell Dimension XPS-T500 with 768 MB of RAM. The machine was running Win2K Pro, SP4, and is tied to a 4-port server that helps make up a home network with two other machines and a print server . To run the Kaspersky, I had to upgrade the machine to Win XP. I purchased a copy of the upgrade to XP Pro, and loaded it yesterday. I went the upgrade route to try and keep my machine settings. I forgot to turn off the McAfee Virus Scan when loading. The install seemed to go OK until the final reboot, when the system hung up while the settings were being loaded. The mouse and keyboard (both wireless) froze and wouldn't work, and my ethernet card want dead and wouldn't indicate that it was functioning, either at the machine or at the server. While booting up, both appear to be functioning normally. I COULD get the machine to run in Safe Mode, and rechecked the read me file on the XP upgrade disk, and found that I'd left the antivirus on. I went and actually removed the antivirus, reloaded XP, and appeared to get the thing to work (although the server connection was still ont working), but then rebooted the machine to remove some software (Roxio CD Creator 6) that the system told me would have to be removed and reloaded in order to function properly on XP. Since then, however, the system has gone back to hanging up while loading my computer settings. I've tried to reload XP again, but with no luck. The machine will still operate in Safe Mode, and the Roxio files appear to still be on the machine. I don't know what could be wrong, and am really frustrated at this point. Please help! I've attached a HJT log to the end of this, in the hope that it could help. Sincerely, Tom vonHatten

Edited by Digerati, 17 August 2008 - 08:57 AM.

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#2 Digerati

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 09:08 AM

First, I have removed your log - for several reasons - primarily because they belong in the HJT forum and not here in the Windows forum, it is an old version of HJT, and because, this does not appear to be a malware issue at this time.

Unfortunately, as you already know, it looks like your upgrade became corrupted. Sadly, it is difficult to fix these cases because so much can go wrong, it is nearly impossible to find all the problems, so the user is then stuck with many unnecessary annoyances, at best.

I recommend you first copy any important data from her hard drive before it gets lost. Then do a fresh install of XP to include formatting (and re-partitioning, if desired) the boot drive. Since this is an upgrade, XP will look for a previous version of Windows, but after the format, will not find one, and will prompt for a disk. At that time, you insert the CD of W2K. The XP install will scan the disk, verify it is legal, then prompt for the XP disk again - swap them out and the install should continue.

That said, you need to make sure you have all the necessary XP drivers for your machine, preferably burned to CD, before the install.

Oh, you keep saying "server" - I think you mean you have a router with a built in 4-port Ethernet switch.
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#3 tvhevh

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 03:18 PM

Digerati: Thanks for the help. You're right about the router, of course--I'm really frustrated by this, and it's messing with my thought processes a little. Will I be able to do a full install from an upgrade disk? I didn't notice if I had the option when I tried it before. I guess there must be one... Most of what I have to save is being put on an external hard drive that's part of the machine in question, and all the really important software should have the drivers we need--it shouldn't be all that much, anyway. I'll let you know what transpires. Thanks again--TvH

#4 tvhevh

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 10:50 PM

Digerati: I saved all the files, and went to do the install. After I started the CD, I was never asked if I wanted to reformat the drive, only if I wished to change the file system from FAT32 to NTFS--so I did that. That took some time. After the install, at the last reboot, the system again hung up, giving me a black screen with a Windows XP logo on it saying "please wait" underneath the logo. After a long wait, I figured the system had hung up again, and rebooted back into safe mode. It did that fine. I then tried to reboot normally--and got hung up at a two-tone blue screen with the XP logo and the comment "applying computer settings". In both cases, the wireless mouse and the ethernet card were again out of commission, as indicated both on the card and the router. Now I wonder just what the heck is going on--and whether or not I did what you really wanted me to do in the first place. I'm now very afraid I've got things really hosed. I CAN reformat the C: drive completely--but will I be able to do the install by just inserting the CD back in the drive? Do I need to reformat back to FAT32 (and CAN I, if I need to)? What do I really need to do here, and are there more specific instructions on how to do it? Thanks for your patience in all of this--TvH Thanks for your patience--TvH

#5 Ztruker

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 10:50 AM

Just a thought, are you booting the CD or starting it from a booted XP system? You need to boot the CD in order to format during the install process.

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#6 tvhevh

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:07 AM

Do you mean open the CD, and click on setup before doing anything else? --TvH

#7 Ztruker

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:20 AM

No, I mean you put the CD in the CD drive, then reboot and press Enter when you see the message that says "Press any key to boot from CD". This will boot from the CD instead of from your hard drive.

If you don't see this message then you need to get into BIOS Setup and make the CD drive the first boot device. How you do this varies with each computer manufacturer, but usually pressing F1, F2, F10 or the Del key when you see the manufacturers logo will get you into BIOS Setup. You can press each one in sequence if you're not sure which is needed.

Make sure you save the change when you exit BIOS setup.

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#8 tvhevh

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 11:34 AM

Got it--thanks. I didn't have this much trouble upgrading my other PC on this network up to XP Home--I don't understand why this one is screwing things up so much. I'll change the BIOS, boot from the CD, reformat, and reload. Thanks--TvH

#9 Digerati

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 01:44 PM

Right! The deal with upgrading XP is normally it looks for a previous version of Windows on the disk, then uses that to validate the "upgrade". If it cannot find a previous version (like with a new or freshly formatted disk), it will prompt you to insert a qualifying Windows disk. At that point, you insert your Win98 or whatever disk, it validates it as authentic, then it will prompt you to insert the XP disk again, and from there, it will install the full copy of XP.
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#10 tvhevh

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 01:53 PM

All: I'm struggling through this install. I booted up from the CD--no problem. I got through the format (FAT 32)--no problem. The install program never asked for me to load my Win2K CD for anything. Since then, the install had been restarted twice due to fatal errors encountered during the install attempt(s). The first fatal error occurred when "Install failed: P:\I386|asms--The request could not be performed because of a Device I/O error. I read the error log, hit OK, and the install rebooted unbidden. The second fatal error was "Failed to install product catalogs". Again, the system rebooted after I read the error message log I've also just had a third failure while typing this--with the first fatal error message listed above. It rebooted itself after I read the error log again. In between the first and second fatal error messages, I had a third error message: Signature for XP Pro Setup is invalidppError Code 80096001. Even with executing a "nuclear option" and reformatting the C: drive, this can't be this difficult. --TvH .

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#11 tvhevh

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 04:02 PM

All: The install just finished about 20 minutes ago. And....nothing's changed. It finished, and went for the final reboot. It started loading (I guess), and I got the black screen with the XP logo and the "Please wait..." message underneath. I waited for about 10 minutes, and figured I'd waited long enough. I thought that the BIOS call to boot from the CD first might be causing me trouble, so I ejected the disk and rebooted--and ended up on the two-tone blue screen with the XP logo and the message "Applying computer settings..." underneath. Nothing else is happening. The machine is hung up, just like before. The cursor arrow is stuck in the middle of the screen and my mouse doesn't respond, just like before. The Ethernet connection is not registering at either the PC or router end, just like before. It appears that something's wrong with the install disk. I could be wrong, of course, but I took the hard drive completely down and reformatted it, for goodness sake! If there's something else that I can try, let me know. I've run out of ideas. This is really disheartening. Tired and beaten--TvH

#12 Digerati

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 08:25 PM

Wow - I am afraid I am at a loss. This could still be one of many things. RAM, a failing motherboard, failing graphics, or bad hard drive - at any rate I think it is hardware and not the CD.
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#13 kazzoo

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 09:34 PM

Greetings all, If it were me, I would go back to Windows2000 pro so you would have a working computer. Here is the Microsoft instructions to do this. Link--->http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304868 I would choose to to format in ntfs. I also assume you have the device and motherboard drivers availible to complete the install back to W2k pro. Dont think you need to get to svc pack 4 if you are moving on to the XP. Now after you have gotten back to W2k pro and gotten the device drivers in, you want to now check to see if there is going to be any device compatibility issues for moving on to XP. Windows XP is NOT compatible with all hardware. How to Check? Here is the proceedure. To test for compatibility USE the compatibility test on the XP CD. While in W2kpro: Insert the install disc into your CD-ROM, follow the menu that appears. The THIRD option on this menu will run a check to determine if your system is Windows XP compatible. If this check finds any devices that may not be compatible, you need to consult Microsoft's web site to see if these issues have been resolved since the release of XP. That means finding the XP driver for that device or removing that device before you start a install. Here is another link to How to determine if hardware or software is going to be compatible. Link----->http://support.micro....com/kb/295322/ If you decide to move on to the XP. I prefer clean installs of Xp, but you could try the upgrade in place. Here is the link----->http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941 Lets see if that gets you there. Good Luck Kaz.
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#14 tvhevh

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Posted 19 August 2008 - 05:11 AM

All: I did the compatibility check before I tried the first upgrade install--and got no flags. The only notice I had was after the second attempt (which appeared to go correctly) that told me to remove Roxio CD Creator 6 and reinstall it to get it to work properly. I have the Win2K disk, and may try to reinstall tonight after work. I did try another "full" install last night, and got to the "installing network" phase and let it run overnight while I went t bed. It never got done, and is still at that stage of the install right now. I'm going to reboot, and try this one more time while I'm at work. My wife can fill in the product key info, etc. If that fails, I'll see if I can reload Win2K. Thaks for the help and support so far--TvH

#15 Digerati

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Posted 19 August 2008 - 07:28 AM

The only notice I had was after the second attempt (which appeared to go correctly) that told me to remove Roxio CD Creator 6 and reinstall it to get it to work properly.

Sorry but I'm not sure I'm following - Where did this Roxio notice come from? Did this happen back when you first started this... migration? :unsure: Or did you get it AFTER you formatted the drive, and after you attempted to install Windows this last time? I say "migration" because I don't know if going from W2K to XP is really an "upgrade" for a home based computer - W2K was more for a networked office environment - but I digress.

...got to the "installing network" phase and ... It never got done...

I usually advise against being connected to a network during install - this is when your computer is at its most vulnerable state - potentially years out of date in terms of critical security updates and patches with no defense system established yet. Windows Firewall (which is an able product, BTW) kicks in early (but not until SP2), but a firewall alone is still taking chances. This is especially important if your local network (anything on your side of the router) has other PCs attached - to ensure nothing malicious on them infects you. You can always set up your network connection later and if something with the network adapter is causing your problems, this might allow the install to bypass that section, and complete the install. Network interface cards (NICs) are cheap - go to Walmart and get one just to have on hand. If your on-board LAN is causing the problems, it can be disabled in the BIOS, shutdown, unplug, touch bare metal, install new card, boot and presto!, new hardware is detected - one XP knows very well. Ethernet cables are cheaper still, made by who knows what kind of labor force in some sweat factory in China for $.50. They can only be tripped over so many times. That's why I bought a good (that's important) crimper and I make my own cables.

I agree with Kazoo and prefer clean install over upgrades. This forces fresh installs of all my programs configured specifically for the new OS. I think that is better than tweaking the old. Also, upgrades leave too much of the old behind, and it is nearly impossible to figure out what you can safely delete.

Since you have another computer, I would sit back a sec and do some more prep work. Make sure you have the latest drivers from Dell before starting - this is especially important if the computer was made pre-SP2. Instead of saving them to the external drive, burn them to CD. Burn copies of the latest versions of her AV, AS, and FW, and anything else she uses regularly too. Also have SP2 and SP3 burned to CD (see below).

Assuming SP2 is not on your install disk already - my process would be to install Windows XP (with no network connection). Then install all the latest motherboard and graphics drivers - make sure the hardware works. Check Device Manager for errors - see if you have an Ethernet device listed. Now install SP2 - right after installing Windows is the absolute best time. There is nothing there to interfere with the update. Then SP3, her AV, AS, and FW, if not sticking with Windows Firewall.

Then connect to the Internet.
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