"Setup Cannot Copy the File" Error Message During In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000 (319344)


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 Q319344

SYMPTOMS

When you try to perform an in-place upgrade of Microsoft Windows 2000, you may receive the following error message:
Setup cannot copy the file 'FileName'

To retry, press ENTER.
To skip this file, press ESC.
To quit Setup, press F3.
If you press ENTER, you receive the same error message again with the same file name. If you press ESC, skip the file that is referenced will be skipped; however, you receive the error message again with a different file name. If you press F3, you quit the setup process.

CAUSE

This behavior may be a result of incorrect NTFS permissions on the partition on which Windows 2000 is installed.

For example, you may experience the behavior described in the "Symptoms" section of this article if you try to perform an in-place upgrade after you remove the Everyone group from the drive on which Windows is installed. As a result, Setup cannot access that partition to copy files to it.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, follow these steps:
  1. Create a new partition on the hard disk and install Windows 2000 to the new partition. Make sure that the partition is formatted with the NTFS file system.

    NOTE:If there is no available space to create a new partition, install a new hard disk on this computer to install a parallel copy of Windows 2000. If this is not possible, you may be able to physically move the hard disk from this computer to another computer that has Windows 2000 installed with the NTFS file system.

    266118 HOW TO: Restore the Default NTFS Permissions for Windows 2000

    Now you can make changes to the permissions on the affected drive.

    For additional information about how to install Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    304868 HOW TO: Install Windows 2000 Professional

  2. Restart the computer.
  3. When you are prompted to select the operating system to start, use the ARROW keys to select the new installation of Windows 2000 that you performed in step 1, and then press ENTER.
  4. Restore your custom NTFS permissions to the partition that contains the original installation of Windows 2000. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start Windows Explorer, and then browse to the drive that contains the original installation of Windows 2000.
    2. Right-click the drive, and then click Properties.
    3. Click the Security tab.
    4. Click Add.
    5. Add the users that you originally gave permissions to on this partition, and then click OK. Make sure to have either the SYSTEM or the EVERYONE group with full control on this partition for the upgrade to continue without errors.
  5. Quit Windows Explorer.
  6. Restart the computer and continue to perform an in-place upgrade of the original installation of Windows 2000 which you were having problems with.
NOTE: The default permissions for the C:\ root folder, and all other hard disk root directories (for example D:\, E:\), give Full Control to the Everyone special group, in Windows 2000.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

292175 How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000

For additional information about default NTFS permissions in Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

244600 Default NTFS Permissions in Windows 2000

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/19/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB319344
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