Error Message: Microsoft Windows 2000 Has Detected Software That Is Not Completely Installed on Your Computer

ID: Q242435

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to upgrade to Windows 2000, you may receive the following error message:

Microsoft Windows 2000 has detected software that is not completely installed on your computer. Windows 2000 Setup cannot continue until you finish installing this software.

To finish the installation process for this software quit Windows 2000 Setup.
Log off of your computer and then log back on again.
Restart Windows 2000 Setup.

The error message occurs again even after you log off and back on as the error message suggests.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if either of the following registry keys are populated:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce

RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To resole this issue, use Registry Editor to remove information in the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbsetup
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb