Help Please !! Getting "Setup cannot locate the windows Installation you want to upgrade from" error

[Ralph Malph]

I need help please,

I am trying to upgrade a Win98 system to XP Pro. I am running Winnt32
from with in Win98. All seems to well until it reboots. I then get the
following error. "Setup cannot locate the windows Installation you
want to upgrade from Contact you system administrator" Then I have
only one option to press F3 and Quit. I have looked for a solution in
the MS knowledge base, but the only article for this message concerns
an upgrade to Win 2K.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;242066 I have
had to manually remove the Win XP install in order to get back to my
Win 98 only boot. I used the following KB article to do it.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312569&Product=winxp

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ralph Malph

 

[DL]

The winxp disk is bootable, you may have to adjust yr bios boot order to
enable, once booted the menu gives options re installation. As its an
upgrade version you should ensure you keep yr w98 disk.
BTW have you checked for compatibility issues? you may be advised to remove
/ disconect hardware other than keyb,mouse,monitor prior to the install.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am trying to upgrade a Win98 system to XP Pro. I am running Winnt32
from with in Win98. All seems to well until it reboots. I then get the
following error. "Setup cannot locate the windows Installation you
want to upgrade from Contact you system administrator"

If you have the Win98 loaded and put in the XP CD it should autorun. If
not run the setup.exe at the outer level rather than Winnt32

Then take install, and follow through with Upgrade

 

[Ralph Malph]

Thanks for all who are trying to help me with my problem, so far the
suggestion have not has solved the problem. Here is some detail on
problem to see if it helps to clarify the problem. The upgrade seems
to work well when running the Install option via CD auto start, or via
running winnt32.exe from within the i386 dir. But after the 1st stage
is done and the system reboots I have problems. It seems to boot to
Windows XP, I get the boot.ini options, then it shows the starting
windows XP screen. Then it shows the XP final installation progress
screen, then I get the following error "Setup cannot locate the
windows Installation you
want to upgrade from. Contact you system administrator" Then I have
only one option, to press F3 and Quit. At this point it starts all
over again, unless I do a roll back.

Any Ideas would be very much appreciated, I really need to keep the
settings and customizations form W98 in the new XP. Doing a new
install is not an option.

PS I have removed any Items that could cause a compatibility problem
between the old W98 and the new XP.

Again THANKS for all who have/well offered help for this problem.

Ralph Malph

 

[Ralph Malph]

I found that although I had rolled back my failed XP upgrade, per MS
instructions, it still left the boot sector changed to use the XP
loader. This was even after a re-install of W98 and the removal of all
boot.ini files etc. But after I did a roll back and then booted on a
W98 boot disk and did a SYS C: command I was able to finally get it to
upgrade properly. It only took me about 10 tries and a whole day of
research, but I got it figured out. THANKS again for all those who
tried to help, I will also be posting a personal thanks to the people
who posted a response to my call for help.

Ralph Malph

 

[Ralph Malph]

Dear Alex and DL,

THANKS for the help. !!!!!!

Ralph

 

[Malke]

Thanks for all who are trying to help me with my problem, so far the
suggestion have not has solved the problem. Here is some detail on
problem to see if it helps to clarify the problem. The upgrade seems
to work well when running the Install option via CD auto start, or via
running winnt32.exe from within the i386 dir. But after the 1st stage
is done and the system reboots I have problems. It seems to boot to
Windows XP, I get the boot.ini options, then it shows the starting
windows XP screen. Then it shows the XP final installation progress
screen, then I get the following error "Setup cannot locate the
windows Installation you
want to upgrade from. Contact you system administrator" Then I have
only one option, to press F3 and Quit. At this point it starts all
over again, unless I do a roll back.

Any Ideas would be very much appreciated, I really need to keep the
settings and customizations form W98 in the new XP. Doing a new
install is not an option.

PS I have removed any Items that could cause a compatibility problem
between the old W98 and the new XP.

Ralph - Why do you need to keep the settings and customizations?
Sometimes the only way to get things to work is a clean install. Of
course, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but it would seem that
you've now spent more time trying to install this than it would take to
set everything up after a clean install. That said, have you checked
your hardware? Run a hard drive diagnostic from the drive mftr.? Tested
out the RAM with something like Memtest86?

Malke

 

[Ralph Malph]

Malke,

Thanks for the great suggestion. However, I found the problem, see my
other post for an explanation of it, or keep reading. It was a little
tricky. although it booted in to Win98 after rollback and XP seemed to
totally gone, and boot.ini had been removed as had ntloader etc. When
I did an F8 for startup options, it had the XP version not the W98
version/options. After I did a sys command off of a W98 boot disk my
problem was solved. I agree with you about starting from scratch, and
in most cases I would try to do that, but, because this system is
being upgraded for an insurance agency, and it contains a lot of
custom software that would be a real pain to re-install it had to be
done. In fact it would require getting the Ins companies who's custom
software it is, involved, and that could take days. As much of a pain
and as long as it took to get it to upgrade, it was a lot easier and
less time consuming than starting from scratch. I also hate to be
defeated, especially by Bill Gates and his boys.

Again thanks for your help !!!!!!

Ralph Malph

 

[suite500]

I'm getting exactly the same error message at reboot using an XP Pr
upgrade CD to upgrade from XP Home Edition on a new computer. A
Internet search for "Setup cannot locate the Windows installation yo
want to upgrade" leads to Microsoft Article ID 242066, dealing with
similar problem involving upgrades from Windows NT to Windows 2000.
I suspect the problem (and the solution) at the same, but I'm stil
working on it. Good luck. Michael, Suite 500

-Originally posted by Malke -

Thanks for all who are trying to help me with my problem, so far the
suggestion have not has solved the problem. Here is some detail on
problem to see if it helps to clarify the problem. The upgrade seems
to work well when running the Install option via CD auto start, o via
running winnt32.exe from within the i386 dir. But after the 1s stage
is done and the system reboots I have problems. It seems to boot to
Windows XP, I get the boot.ini options, then it shows the starting
windows XP screen. Then it shows the XP final installation progress
screen, then I get the following error "Setup cannot locate the
windows Installation you
want to upgrade from. Contact you system administrator" Then I have
only one option, to press F3 and Quit. At this point it starts all
over again, unless I do a roll back.

Any Ideas would be very much appreciated, I really need to keep the
settings and customizations form W98 in the new XP. Doing a new
install is not an option.

PS I have removed any Items that could cause a compatibility problem
between the old W98 and the new XP.

Ralph - Why do you need to keep the settings and customizations?
Sometimes the only way to get things to work is a clean install. Of
course, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but it would seem that
you've now spent more time trying to install this than it would tak
to
set everything up after a clean install. That said, have you checked
your hardware? Run a hard drive diagnostic from the drive mftr.
Tested
out the RAM with something like Memtest86?

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"


-
suite50