Windows 7 upgrade fails with message "This version of Windows could not be installed" after a successful rollback. Upgrade loop occurs with same message when rebooting.

Source: Microsoft Support

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When attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 the upgrade attempt may fail with the message “This version of Windows could not be installed, Your previous version of Windows has been restored, and you can continue to use it."  However, the next reboot of the machine will launch the upgrade process again only to fail with the same message.

Windows Vista will have been restored on the computer but the Boot Configuration Database (BCD) store has not edited to restore Windows Vista as the default booting operating system.

The computer will continue to boot to the Windows 7 Setup and then fail until the BCD database has been restored to its previous state.

To resolve these issues, select Windows Vista instead of the default Windows 7 setup when you see the boot entry menu and then follow the steps listed below.

 

1. Insert the Windows Vista Media into the drive and exit the Windows Vista Setup when its launched

2. Click Start, All Programs,  Accessories, and then right-click the Command Prompt icon, and then click Run as Administrator.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt and press ENTER

Drive:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All
Note: In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista installation media is located.

4. Restart your computer

For more information about Boot Configuration Data (BCD), visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa362692.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa362692.aspx)

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