"Setup Was Unable to Load File" Error Message When You Upgrade to Windows XP Home Edition

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This article was previously published under Q315324

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SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) to Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you may receive one or more of the following error messages:

The option to upgrade will not be available at this time because Setup was unable to load file:

CD-ROM drive:\I386\WIN9XUPG\W95UPG.DLL

A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Setup cannot continue because upgrade functionality is disabled and your copy of Windows XP only allows upgrades.

You may receive these error messages when the installation program is copying files from the i386 folder on your Windows XP CD-ROM to your computer's hard disk.

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CAUSE

This behavior can occur if your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is unable to properly read the Windows XP CD-ROM.

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If your computer contains more than one CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, rerun the Windows XP installation from another available CD-ROM drive. If no additional CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive (or drives) is available, run Setup on another computer to determine whether the Windows XP CD-ROM is damaged.

For help with CD or DVD drive problems in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft web page:

Fix problems in which your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media in Windows (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cd_dvd_drive_problems)

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