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Upgrading Vista to Windows 7 fails with error 0xc0000359 and reference to iastor.sys


Symptoms

When trying to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, upgrade process fails with error message and rolls back to Vista.

\$windows.~bt\windows\system32\drivers\iastor.sys

Status: 0xc0000359
Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing or corrupt

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Cause

During upgrade process the incorrect version of the iastor is referenced resulting in the above error.

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Resolution

To resolve this issue perform the following steps:

1. Access Driver Repository Folder under C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository and move any folders that contain the file: iastor.inf to a temporary location.

Note: To move the files from the FileRepostiry you may require additional permissions which can be accomplished by taking ownership of the the folder:

  • Right-click on the folder and choose Properties,
  • Click Security tab.
  • Click Advanced button.
  • Click Owner tab.
  • Click Edit button.
  • Select your account.

2. Search for references to iastor within the oem inf files in the c:\windows\inf folder.

Example Command: findstr /i /c:"iastor" %windir%/inf/oem*.inf

3. Make a note of the oem##.inf files reported where ## is a numeral.  Move the oem##.inf and corresponding oem##.pnf from c:\windows\inf folder to a temporary folder.

4. Delete $~bt, $~LS and $~Upgrade folders from c:\ drive if they exist

5. Download and install the latest version of the iastor.sys driver from Intel website on the Vista machine: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/

6. Start the Windows 7 upgrade process. It should complete successfully now.

Note: Once the Upgrade process has completed successfully, there is no need to restore the iastore files, or the oem*.inf and oem*.pnf files back to their original location as the devices will no longer be needed.

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Keywords: vkball, kb

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Article Info
Article ID : 2008373
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/8/2017
Published on : 11/13/2012
Exists online : False
Views : 157