Windows XPSP3 Upgrade to Vista Fails to Blue Screen

[Marvin]

I have Windows XP SP3 installed and operational. I have tried recently to
complete an upgrade to Vista Pro with no success. I get to 59% completion on
the last step at which point the computer reboots, goes to a blue screen and
then resets back to Windows XP. Prior to that, everything appears to progress
normally. I am wanting to do an upgrade because of the software that I want
to carry over into the Vista environment (note: none of the software is
identified in the Upgrade process as problematic software).

I am booting in normal mode with only Microsoft applications in the startup.
I do have a Creative soundcard but have not loaded the software during
startup (I did not uninstall the driver yet).

I previously upgraded to Vista from SP2 but had to revert back for other
reasons. Since then, the only change was to upgrade XP to SP3 and other
Windows SW udpates.

Would like to hear about others' experiences and what other suggestions you
might have so that I can complete the upgrade. Microsoft Technical support is
unhelpful as they keep trying to get me to do a fresh install (the easy
out!!!) instead of helping me complete the upgrade.

Are they special commands I can issue in a RUN command that will facilitate
a successful upgrade?

Thanks in advance for any help ...

 

[Adam Albright]

I have Windows XP SP3 installed and operational. I have tried recently to
complete an upgrade to Vista Pro with no success. I get to 59% completion on
the last step at which point the computer reboots, goes to a blue screen and
then resets back to Windows XP. Prior to that, everything appears to progress
normally. I am wanting to do an upgrade because of the software that I want
to carry over into the Vista environment (note: none of the software is
identified in the Upgrade process as problematic software).

Of course not. If it did less people would buy Vista. I had a similar
experience. I upgraded from XP Pro, and the Vista Upgrade Advisor said
no issues. Then at some point during the actual install the Vista
installer started to nag about things the Vista Upgrade Advisor did
not. I felt cheated.

I am booting in normal mode with only Microsoft applications in the startup.
I do have a Creative soundcard but have not loaded the software during
startup (I did not uninstall the driver yet).

I previously upgraded to Vista from SP2 but had to revert back for other
reasons. Since then, the only change was to upgrade XP to SP3 and other
Windows SW udpates.

Would like to hear about others' experiences and what other suggestions you
might have so that I can complete the upgrade. Microsoft Technical support is
unhelpful as they keep trying to get me to do a fresh install (the easy
out!!!) instead of helping me complete the upgrade.

Are they special commands I can issue in a RUN command that will facilitate
a successful upgrade?

Thanks in advance for any help ...

Strip your system to a bare minimum configuration. That means if you
have multiple drives disable all but the C drive assuming that is the
one you have Vista on. All that's necessary to do that is just
disconnect both the data and power cables from all your other drives.
Turn your power off first of course.

Next go into BIOS and uncheck anything fancy. You want only a bare
minimum configuration. Note how you have things first so you can
restore once you get over the hump. Disconnect all external devices,
that include printers, scanners, anything that may cause problems. If
you are overclocking your CPU, fall back. Sound cards are a known nest
of problems, especially from Creative. Disable it for now.

You basically only want your root drive, a mouse and keyboard plus
your monitor. Now try again. Still no go, download Autoruns to see
what runs at startup. Probably a lot more junk then you realize.
Disable absolutely everything you don't need. Of course you already
disabled any anti-virus, malware detectors and stuff like that before
you tried to run the service pack.

 

[Ramone]

Try creating a second partition and "clean" installing the upgrade. If it
installs, you'll know there's something that Vista doesn't like about the XP
configuration.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp

Ramone

 

[Marvin]

Can we have the complete Blue Screen code so that we may know wots
causing the error..If possible give the complete code so that its easy
to tell if its a driver or some incompatibility issues...

Regards

Fazal

Unfortunately there are no codes, etc. It simply is a blue screen with
nothing on it. After appearing for a few seconds, the machine reboots and
proceeds to restore XP.

Question on an earlier reply ... I have a Creative Soundblaster that I have
disabled from the startup process. However, I did not "uninstall" the driver.
Could that be a problem? Should I totally uninstall the Creative software or
simply the driver for the sound card? Thanks again, the earlier comments were
very helpful and I will try that approach.

 

[Marvin]

OK...Can we check the if there any setup log files for VISTA...Check
kb927521..If possible can we have the setup logs of the files mentioned
below..to see where the installation fails..

C:\WINDOWS\PANTHER\setupact.log
C:\WINDOWS\PANTHER\setuperr.log


Regards

Fazal

Apologize for the late response but the issue is with my home computer and I
have been traveling. Here is the content of the setupact.log file:

2008-05-18 17:36:13, Info [0x0a000a] UI Autorun:Autorun core
successfully initialized!!!
2008-05-18 17:36:13, Info [0x0a000b] UI Autorun:Autorun UI
successfully initialized!!!
2008-05-18 17:36:14, Info UI AppWindow has layout style 0
2008-05-18 17:36:14, Info UI NavWindow has layout style 0
2008-05-18 17:36:15, Info UI NavWindow has layout style 0
2008-05-18 17:36:16, Info UI Page with ID 2018 returned
0 for CanPageBeActivated with choice 0
2008-05-18 17:36:16, Info UI Page with ID 2002 returned
0 for CanPageBeActivated with choice 0
2008-05-18 17:36:16, Info UI Page with ID 1200 returned
1 for CanPageBeActivated with choice 0
2008-05-18 17:36:16, Info UI Page with ID 1200 returned
1 for CanPageBeActivated with choice 0
2008-05-18 17:36:16, Info [0x0a011c] UI WizardDialogPost::SetActive
2008-05-18 17:36:32, Info [0x0a018e] UI Passing command line
parameter ("I:\Sources\setup.exe /HideWelcome /uilanguage:en-US
/targetlanguage:en-US") to IBS.



There was nothing in the setuperr.log file. I'm not an expert but can
usually decipher log files. This one has be absolutely baffled. Hopefully you
can help.

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

I have Windows XP SP3 installed and operational. I have tried recently to
complete an upgrade to Vista Pro with no success. I get to 59% completion on
the last step at which point the computer reboots, goes to a blue screen and
then resets back to Windows XP. Prior to that, everything appears to progress
normally. I am wanting to do an upgrade because of the software that I want
to carry over into the Vista environment (note: none of the software is
identified in the Upgrade process as problematic software).

I am booting in normal mode with only Microsoft applications in the startup.
I do have a Creative soundcard but have not loaded the software during
startup (I did not uninstall the driver yet).

I previously upgraded to Vista from SP2 but had to revert back for other
reasons. Since then, the only change was to upgrade XP to SP3 and other
Windows SW udpates.

Would like to hear about others' experiences and what other suggestions you
might have so that I can complete the upgrade. Microsoft Technical support is
unhelpful as they keep trying to get me to do a fresh install (the easy
out!!!) instead of helping me complete the upgrade.

Are they special commands I can issue in a RUN command that will facilitate
a successful upgrade?

Thanks in advance for any help ...

1) Did you physically remove all USB devices (except keyboards and
mice) FIRST? Many times, not doing this will cause Windows
installations to fail.

2) Did you physically remove ALL external devices first? This is also
a common cause of failed Windows installations.

3) I assume you are using a "retail Upgrade" disk to to this?

4) I also assume that the version of Vista you are attempting to
install is actually "Vista Ultimate", rather than "Vista Pro", since
no such distro of Vista exists.

5) Many times, the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor MISSES applications
or drivers which would be problematic once installation begins. Don't
depend on the results so strongly, ESPECIALLY if most of your
devices/programs are listed as "unknown".

6) I would remove the Creative sound card and driver BEFORE beginning
your upgrade again.

7) I would also remove ANY XP-only Video drivers or cards, since the
Vista video-driver format has been CHANGED, in such a way that NO XP
video driver will now work under Vista. This is certainly nothing
unusual when upgrading Microoft OSes, anyway. It happens with each
newer iteration of Microsoft Windows.

8) You also might consider doing a "clean" installation, rather than
an "Upgrade". Sometimes, it's just not possible to "upgrade" as we
want from an older OS to a newer one. When changing from using an
older OS such as XP to a newer one such as Vista, "clean"
installations should always be done, anyway.

9) You should have all necessary program installers, as well as your
user data, backed up on EXTERNAL drives or disks, anyway. IF this is
so, you will have a much easier time of reinstalling them once you get
Vista up and running.


Donald L McDaniel
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