Fatal Error 127 during Windows NT Upgrade (171590)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q171590

SYMPTOMS

During an upgrade from Windows NT version 3.51 to Windows NT version 4.0, the following fatal error message may be displayed:
An error has been encountered that prevents Setup from continuing. Setup was unable to initialize licensing components. The specific error code is 127.
This error will usually occur during the reboot into the graphical user interface (GUI) portion of Setup.

CAUSE

During the upgrade process, the file Liccpa.cpl was not updated and the upgrade will fail without it.

RESOLUTION

Replacing the Liccpa.cpl file located in the %SystemRoot%\System32 directory with the one from the Windows NT 4.0 CD will allow the upgrade to continue.

If the File System is File Allocation Table (FAT)

If the file system is FAT, perform the following steps:
  1. Start your computer in MS-DOS mode, or another operating system if present, and replace the Liccpa.cpl file in the System32 directory with the one from the Windows NT 4.0 CD.
  2. Restart the computer, and the upgrade process should continue from where it had stopped.

If the File System is NTFS

If the file system is NTFS, perform the following steps:
  1. Create a new directory and install a parallel copy of Windows NT in this new directory.
  2. Boot into this parallel copy of Windows NT, and copy the Liccpa.cpl file in the System32 directory to the System32 directory of the original installation of Windows NT.
  3. Restart the computer, and select the original copy of Windows NT from the Boot.ini menu. The upgrade process should continue from where it stopped.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/9/2001
Keywords:kbsetup KB171590
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