XP Home to Pro Fatal Error - Invalid Paramenter

[IrishHairyMan]

Upgrading a Dell Inspiron 1100 from XP Home SP2 to XP Pro SP2 for a school. Original Volume License CD (2 off) and was used to upgrade 30 other PCs so CD not an issue.

After 39 minutes of the upgrade i get a fatal error, invalid parameter message. When i click OK the Dell reboots and starts the setup process again and the same thing happens.

Tried F8 and safe mode but get the message that upgrade is in process and that Safe mode is not available. Last known good just resumes the setup process, so seem to be in an endless setup loop.

Have booted direct to the CD. The recovery console seems pretty useless as i cannot run osuninst or the restore point exe from there. If i choose new install and then R for repair i get a message saying an upgrade is in process, continue with the upgrade, reinstall or quite.

It is an NTFS volume so the W98 boot disk is useless.

Is there any way to get out of the setup loop and fix the issue, or should i just give up and go for the reinstall?

 

[Sival]

I'd opt for the reinstall. Before you do, if you haven't already, I'd run some diagnostics to make sure all is well, especially with the hard drive and memory. I'd also do a low level format before reformatting.