UNSOLVED
Cannot upgrade to Windows XP
I have a Dell Dimension 8100 that came with Windows ME, supposedly ready for XP. I got this 2-3 months before XP was released. I paid extra for a Dell-provided kit for upgrading to XP Home.
Somewhat belatedly, I am finally trying to perform the XP upgrade with this kit. I have succeeded with the first 3 steps of the upgrade process:
1. Locate printed instructions (doh),
2. Run the PrepTool (which deleted Symantec Anti-Virus),
3. Upgrade the BIOS (from A06 to TST)
Now I am stuck on step 4 (Upgrade the OS). This uses a Win XP Home Upgrade CD from Microsoft. This step fails in the Windows Upgrade Advisor. After 10-15 min of scanning and analyzing, it crashes with "Winnt32 has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL...". This happens consistently at the same point every time. This happens with both when trying to install/upgrade, as well as with simply checking the configuration.
I have tried stopping unneeded processes, unplugging all USB devices, etc., with no effect. I also tried a "clean boot", with no benefit. This looks like an obstacle to a "clean install" as well as an ungrade, so all options are blocked.
I have used the dynamic update to ensure that I have an up-to-date version of setup.exe (and winnt32.exe?).
Any suggestions?
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Posted December 28th, 2005 01:00
panoram9,
Your post indicates that you have not tried a clean install. If so, you should do so, as upgrade installs over Windows ME invariable result in errors so complex that correcting them required a clean install. As you probably know, you can do a clean install with an upgrade CD. In the event you were not aware of that, installation procedures are here.
Yours is the second post in a week reporting problems running the upgrade advisor, so I'd recommend simply bypassing it.
Pat1
176 Posts
193
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Posted December 28th, 2005 00:00
panoram
I have a 8100 running Windows Xp and I have never seen bios TST. Try bios A09 and see if that works. If you have a Audigy or Audigy 2 in the computer use bios XP2. Let us know if this helps.
Pat