This should help you out:
242066 Error message: Setup cannot locate the Windows installation you want
to
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=242066
SYMPTOMS
========
When you attempt to perform an upgrade from Microsoft Windows NT or an
in-place upgrade from within Windows 2000, you may receive the following
error message after Setup copies files and restarts the computer:
Windows 2000 <Product> Setup
Setup could not locate the Windows installation you want to upgrade.
Contact your system administrator.
CAUSE
=====
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.
- Setup compares the UniqueID entry in the System hive with the
c:\$win_nt$.~bt\winnt.sif file's uniqueID entry under the [data]
section. After a match is found, Setup continues with the next step for
that Boot.ini installation.
- Setup loads the Software registry hive of the installation found, and
checks for a valid ProductID (PID).
- Setup checks for a %SystemRoot%\System32 folder. The Ntoskrnl.exe and
Ntdll.dll files must be present.
- Setup checks for a %SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers folder.
RESOLUTION
==========
You can troubleshoot each of the items listed above by looking at each
requirement and making sure it is met.
1. Open the Boot.ini file with Notepad (or boot to Recovery Console) and
make sure a valid ARC path is defined that points to the previous
installation.
For additional information, click the following article number to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
KBLink:155222.KB.[LN]: How to determine the ARC path
2. Use Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to view the unique ID setting in the
following location, and compare it to the UniqueID entry in the
c:\$win_nt$.~bt\winnt.sif file:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Setup\uniqueid
3. Use Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to view the ProductID setting in the
following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
ProductID
This must contain a valid PID in the form of AAAAA-BBB-CCCCCCC-DDDDD.
4. Check the file permissions on the directory structure if you are
using the NTFS file system. Make sure that SYSTEM has full control.
5. Rename "$win_nt$.`bt" to any different name, and then rename
"$winnt_$.`ls" to any different name.
6. Create a "dummy" directory structure on a separate drive or
partition (for example, D:\Wintest\System32...) and copy the required
files to the new directories. Then, using Ntbackup.exe, create an
emergency repair disk (ERD) and choose the option to also back up the
registry files to the repair folder. Using a copy of the registry files
in the current %SystemRoot%\Repair\Regback folder, populate the "dummy"
...\Config folder with the system and software files. Finally, create a
C:\Boot.ini file entry to represent the "dummy" directory structure.
Restart the computer. If Setup recognizes the "dummy" structure as a
valid installation to continue the upgrade, you can assume that all the
requirements are met, but that you need to troubleshoot the original
directory structure for problems.
Elijah Landreth [MSFT]
Microsoft Server Setup Team
Search our Knowledge Base at
http://support.microsoft.com/directory
Visit the Windows 2000 Homepage at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/default.asp
See the Windows NT Homepage at
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/
NOTE: Please reply to the newsgroup and not directly to me. This allows
others to add to and benefit from these threads and also helps to ensure a
more timely response. Thank you!
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