"Setup Encountered an Unexpected Critical Error" Error Message When You Upgrade to Windows 2000 (225805)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q225805

SYMPTOMS

When you try to upgrade your Microsoft Windows 98/95-based computer to Windows 2000, Setup may not work, and you may receive the following critical error message:
Setup encountered an unexpected critical error... not all settings where transferred...
You may receive this error message while the "Setup is migrating Windows 95 settings to Windows NT" message is being displayed.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the following registry key is damaged or is missing:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows Key

If this registry key is damaged or is missing, the registry cannot be reloaded during the upgrade, and the preceding error message is generated.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/3/2003
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb kbsetup KB225805
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.