Using Winnt32.msi to Install or Upgrade to Windows 2000 (254382)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q254382

SUMMARY

Windows 2000 includes a Winnt32.msi file that you can use to upgrade previous versions of Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000. This file is used as a wrapper to start Winnt32.exe.

MORE INFORMATION

Typically, a Group Policy object (GPO) is created that assigns Winnt32.msi to computers in the domain to upgrade the operating system. This works as long as a user does not experience any unforeseen problems. If there is a problem (for example, not enough disk space) Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) still pushes the installation to the client, but the installation does not succeed. In this case, the installation may seem to succeed even though it does not. When the user corrects the problem and restarts the computer, the Winnt32.msi part of the policy is not reapplied because the installation appeared to be successful.

To correct this, the administrator must remove the registry entries from the client so that the policy is reapplied, or use the Windows Installer CleanUp utility from the Customer Support CD-ROM.

The Winnt32.msi file was created only to install Windows 2000, it does not check for disk space. It checks only for a 16-KB temp file to start Winnt32.exe.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/13/2003
Keywords:kbinfo kbsetup w2000setup KB254382
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