"Setup cannot locate the Windows installation you want to upgrade" error message

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 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.

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:
   155222 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.