BSOD when upgrading XP to Vista

[ljubisa86]

Hello,

I am having difficulties when upgrading windows XP to Vista business. It worked on couple machines, but there is one that is giving me troubles.

When i try to upgrade, Vista setup starts, and works fine with copying files, gathering files, and in the middle of installing files (i think) it asks to reboot. When it reboots, it gets BSOD 0x0000007B (inaccessible boot device)
I already tried to switch from IDE to AHCI, but its doing the same thing.
Please help

 

[ljubisa86]

Nobody???

 

[richc46]

I am sorry that you had to wait so long for an answer. Members who may have helped were probably discouraged because you did not include information required so that we could help.
http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-debugging/282419-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[ljubisa86]

I am sorry that you had to wait so long for an answer. Members who may have helped were probably discouraged because you did not include information required so that we could help.
http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-debugging/282419-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

Thanks for your reply.
Well i followed the instructions, but i am not able to find the saved zip file from the diagnostic tool. That`s one, and the second thing is, even if i mark to save the dump files, when i try t upgrade, there is no dump files in windows folder...

 

[richc46]

Lets try it another way. Can you boot into safe mode?

 

[ljubisa86]

Ok, this is the story

I am currently running Windows XP SP3 on a brand new machine... CPU i5, 16GB ram, Gigabyte mb...
The XP is working fine, but i need to upgrade it to vista... So... when i run Vista setup from WinXp, the setup is running fine.
After copying files (Vista setup), then its going to (i think it was) collecting files, then extracting files. So far its ok, But after that, the setup is asking for a restart and when i restart the system i have two options:
1. Boot older version of Windows (WinXP)
2. Vista setup

When i click Vista setup, in order to continue with the upgrade, the logo is appearing only for a second and a BSOD is showing up. The error is 0x0000007B. (Inaccessible boot device). I already tried with the AHCI-IDE mode... same thing...( I even tried updating the sata controller drivers for AHCI...

If i press "Older version of Windows" its booting to WinXP, showing error that the upgrade was not successfully and everything is normal again...

The BSOD is not written in the minidump folder, even if i check the option to dump the mini file into log...
(anyway, i am an IT technician) so some of the basic things are already tested..

Also there are about 10 other pc machines, that i upgrade them from XPtoVista and then to Win7 successfully.

 

[townsbg]

I've never tried an upgrade install on XP. Only a clean install. Try a clean install.

 

[ljubisa86]

I've never tried an upgrade install on XP. Only a clean install. Try a clean install.

Well thats the problem, the software & hardware that we are using (the machines that are using) is ether old, not compatible with Win7, or we dont know the settings for them. So if we try clean install, 99% some of the hardware and software will not work. But with an upgrade, everything is ok, as on the other machines...

I have about 20 machines upgraded, and these are 6 left...

 

[Ex_Brit]

All I can suggest would be to disable any antivirus during this process, make sure the M/B BIOS is up to date especially the Chipset drivers. BSOD's are often hardware-related as you know so make sure all drivers are the latest.

 

[oldest]

We have tried to upgrade 3 XP machines to Vista and they all failed at 50-60%. Is there somebody in the forum that could interpreted the erros codes in the logs ? If so I will post. 3 totally differetn nmahcines ternimates all wiht the same error.. thank you for feedback

 

[wither 3]

Doesn't hurt to post the logs.

 

[lmacri]

We have tried to upgrade 3 XP machines to Vista and they all failed at 50-60%. Is there somebody in the forum that could interpreted the erros codes in the logs?

Hi oldest:

This is a 10-year-old topic and most of the information is likely outdated. Given the age of your Win XP hardware you might be better off installing a fully supported Linux distro like Linux Mint Cinnamon that essentially emulates a Windows 7 OS. See The Verge's 06-Nov-2022 article How to Switch an Old Windows Laptop to Linux for instructions on how to create a "live" version of Mint Cinnamon on a USB stick so you can take this OS for a test drive first without removing your Windows OS.

Is there a specific reason why you want to upgrade your Win XP machines to Vista? The upgrade to Vista is not free (i.e., you must own a legal Vista license), support for Vista ended on 11-Apr-2017, and Microsoft turned off the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista in August 2020 (see my topic What To Do if Windows Update Hangs or Throws an Error [UPDATED August 2020]), which makes any upgrade to Vista SP2 problematic. There are also very few software programs that are still compatible with Vista these days, which limits its safety or usefulness.

One possible reason for your Vista installation failure is that your Win XP machines do not meet the minimum system requirements posted at Windows Vista - Wikipedia. According to Can I Run Windows Vista this would include a Pentium 4 or higher processor.

I'd suggest you post your system specs and details about your installation error in the MSFN Vista forum <here>, which is where most Vista enthusiasts with advanced troubleshooting skills still post these days. You can use Piriform's free Speccy utility to post your system specs as follow:

1. Install Speccy the v1.33 utility available at Speccy - Free Download.
2. Launch the program and wait for it to populate the interface with information about your system software and hardware.
3. Go to File | Publish Snapshot, copy the URL this generates (e.g., http: // speccy.piriform.com/results/xxx... as shown in the image below), and paste that URL in your reply in the MSFN forum.

If you haven't used Speccy before, I published a snapshot of my (now retired) HP Pavilion dv6835ca / 32-bit Vista SP2 machine at http://speccy.piriform.com/results/z2qoNAESuxQeYKCK2QGx3or. This 12-Jul-2019 snapshot is the last snapshot I published for this Vista SP2 laptop before I uninstalled my Norton Security Deluxe v22.15.2.22 antivirus.

 

[oldest]

Thank you for all the efforts I will definitively use Speccy and post it. For now: We work with legacy technology on purpose and for certain reasons and that is a long story. We will now do the prescribes MS update, just 20 years later. We recently migrated from NT 4 to Active directory including a legacy exchange server and it all went well. The machines I am upgrading and got no issues with the specs. I am looking at the logs, and on all hosts I get the same: look at the last line in the log :
2025-06-27 23:03:38, Error [0x08030a] MIG MigDoMigration caught exception: class Mig::NavigatorRootAbsentException: (no exception message provided).[gle=0x000036b7]
OK that error clearly shows it has on issue with the file system...... All the errores before are voided by the updater, but on the last one it hangs. Once the error is understood it should be easy to fix Thank you and regards from south Africa.

 

[oldest]

sadly the current version of Speccy doe not run on XP, but specs are harely the issue as I have the same error on 3 very different hardware platforms. It lcarly has an issue of writing to C:\Windows\Temp\ and fails thereafter. gle=0x000036b7 is however a rather generic error

 

[lmacri]

Hi oldest:

Sorry, I've never upgraded a Win XP machine to Vista, and analyzing your installation log is beyond my technical expertise. All I can tell you is that a Google search for the phrase "Error [0x08030a] MIG MigDoMigration caught exception" produced the following ...

The error "Error [0x08030a] MIG MigDoMigration caught exception" in the Windows Easy Transfer (WET) or User State Migration Tool (USMT) typically indicates an issue with the migration process, likely related to insufficient permissions or problems creating directories. This error can occur when the user running the migration doesn't have the necessary permissions to access or create files and folders in the destination location ...

... and that same search returned links to a few old topics like mui_hfz's 16-May-2009 topic MigWiz (Windows Easy Transfer) Problem in the MS Answers Vista board.

I also noticed that the .txt file you posted has multiple errors related to MIG failing to replace or create objects "protected by WRP". I assume WRP is referring to the Windows Resource Protection that "safeguards essential Windows system files, folders, and registry keys from unauthorized modification". Do you know if the upgrade process you are using uses a tool similar to Windows Easy Transfer (WET) to back up the Win XP files and system settings before starting the upgrade? NOTE: Windows Resource Protection (WRP) in Vista is called Windows File Protection (WFP) in Win XP.
____________________________________

Further to my suggestion to post in the MSFN Vista forum, one of the users in that forum, WinClient5270, posted a video Tutorial: How to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista (links updated as of May 2018) on YouTube. However, I suspect that if you follow any upgrade instructions posted before 03-Aug-2020 (i.e., the date that Microsoft shut down the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista SP2) you will encounter an error when the upgrade process attempts to run a Windows Update to patch the Vista installation. These days you require a third-party tool like Legacy Update (see the video at Get Windows Update Working on Old Windows Versions! - Legacy Update Demo - the Vista demo starts at ~ 7:40) to get Vista patched to end of support.

 

[lmacri]

the current version of Speccy doe not run on XP ...

Hi oldest:

In future if you want to run Speccy on an older OS try the portable (.zip) version of Speccy Free Portable v1.32.740 available <here>. Just save the spsetup132.zip file to any location (including a removable USB stick), unzip, right-click the appropriate executable (Speccy.exe for a 32-bit OS; Speccy64.exe for a 64-bit OS), and choose "Run as Administrator". That older version ran on my Vista SP2 machine and I think it's compatible with Win XP.

 

[oldest]

Dear Imacri: thank you for you kindness
"insufficient permissions or problems creating directories" yes that is the issue.... cant be that hard to find ?
"protected by WRP" errors are not an issue, they are expected behaviour and have been voided by the upgrader.
To upgrade I use a new original licenced Vista upgrade CD
the speccy report is attached ( online does not work)
I will try to contact WinClient5270 and also check the legacyupdate. If the updater requires an online connection to MS then it is really an issue. I will keep you posted: Felix

 

[lmacri]

I will try to contact WinClient5270 and also check the legacyupdate. If the updater requires an online connection to MS then it is really an issue.

Hi oldest:

The help file at What does Legacy Update run on? - Legacy Update only states that Legacy Update requires "an internet connection" but AFAIK the fact that the Windows Update servers were deactivated for Win XP and Vista on 03-Aug-2020 should not cause an issue. However, if you can't connect your machine to the internet and you're willing to try a clean install of Vista using an ISO there might be a way around that problem.

User SIW2 created 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs for Vista a few years ago that are slipstreamed with Vista Service Packs SP1 and SP2 plus all security updates released prior to end of support on 11-Apr-2017. I believe @wither 3 still hosts copies of those ISOs on the MEGA site. Your Speccy snapshot indicates you currently have a 32-bit Win XP SP3 OS so wither 3 will have to tell you if the download link in their 24-Nov-2023 post # 29 in James81's Update Windows Vista Home will download SIW2's latest 32-bit ISO. Unfortunately, I can't recall if SIW2's slipstreamed ISOs are English only or Five Languages.

I should also warn you that I have no idea if the slui.exe 4 phone activation method described in Step 2 / Option 2 of Brink's tutorial How to Activate Vista Normally and by Phone Activation still works. I might be wrong, but I don't recall seeing any recent feedback from a Vista user confirming that they were able to successfully activate a clean reinstall of Vista SP2 in 2024/25.