Windows 7 Upgrade Reboot Problem

Posted on by John Nash

(reference Network World, Computer World Articles)

Apparently a significant number of people who have tried to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 instead of doing a disk wipe and clean re-install are finding their computer locks up in a continuous reboot cycle: the install fails and then the computer reboots, the install fails and so forth. We only do clean installs, so we did not test this mode.

In a similar trouble report last July, Microsoft suggested the problem was that “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.” (See this link) Microsoft lists the fix for this problem as follows:

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

A current suggestion posted to the Microsoft support forum by senior group manager for Windows supportability, Paul Aaron, includes a link to this support document and reads:

“From reading through the article, it looks like there is a service running in the background that is preventing the upgrade from completing,” The document, published in early September, noted that the “iphlpsvc” service — which offers IPv6 connectivity over an IPv4 network — may cause Vista-to-Windows 7 upgrades to hang at the 62%-completed mark. The fix that Aaron highlighted requires users to modify the advanced system settings of the PC.
(THE FIX)

1. Reboot the computer; this will cause a rollback to Windows Vista.
2. Click Start, and right-click Computer.
3. Click Properties, and then click Advanced System Settings
4. Click Environment Variables.
5. Under System Variables, click New, and then press ENTER
6. Type in the following variable information:
Variable Name: MIG_UPGRADE_IGNORE_PLUGINS
Variable value: IphlpsvcMigPlugin.dll
7. Then Restart Setup.
Note This workaround only applies to the iphlpsvc service hangs

How people are supposed to do this with the computer continuously rebooting I do not understand. It would have to land in Vista and stop long enough to click the start button.

As a business I would simply wipe the disk and do a clean install. Hopefully all necessary data, such as email records, was backed up first. My Outlook 2007 e-mail data is in C:\Users\jdnash\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst if that helps anyone. I generally use Mozilla Thunderbird for my email because I can backup everything needed by zipping the .thunderbird folder (Linux and Microsoft) in my home folder and moving the archive to my netowrk file server. Of course if you are using web mail or MAPI there is no need to save mail as it resides on another server.

Other Links:
Continual reboot after attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7
WIndows 7 Install Reboot cycle
Continued reboot mode after an unsuccessful attempt, how do I get back to a functioning version of windows (Vista or 7)?

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Note: this article is the writers personal opinion. It is based upon almost 40 years of experience in small computers and communications, but it is still an opinion.It is presented AS IS. All use is at your own risk.