setup failed open windows image file

I am using Virtual PC 2004 SP1. I have Windows XP installed through that and I am trying to upgrade it to Vista. I don't care if it has to be a clean install or upgrade, I just want Vista to be one of my Virtual PC's.
During install of Windows Vista Beta 2 (x86), I only get to the point where you enter your CD key. I enter my CD key and click next. Every time it gives me the same error - "Setup failed to open the windows image file".
I have posted on many forums and looked as well. I really need a solution to this problem. I burned to a Memorex DVD+RW at 2.4x. I downloaded the 32-bit version from Microsoft.com. I have run Nero MD5 Verifier. Please reply to this post and tell me what is wrong and what I can do to fix it. Thank you!

First of all, I would say Virtual PC 2004 is not a recommend choice, but persons have been successful. I recommend using VM Ware Workstation 5.5 or Virtual Server 2005 R2. VM Ware Workstation 5.5 preferrably. The more RAM you assign to the Virtual Machine, the better the experience, I recommend a minimum of 512 MBs or more.
You can download the VM Ware trial here: http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/eval.html
Virtual Server 2005 R2: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/software/default.mspx -- -- Andre Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
"R o_O k Y" wrote in message

I am using Virtual PC 2004 SP1. I have Windows XP installed through that and I am trying to upgrade it to Vista. I don't care if it has to be a clean install or upgrade, I just want Vista to be one of my Virtual PC's.
During install of Windows Vista Beta 2 (x86), I only get to the point where you enter your CD key. I enter my CD key and click next. Every time it gives me the same error - "Setup failed to open the windows image file".
I have posted on many forums and looked as well. I really need a solution to this problem. I burned to a Memorex DVD+RW at 2.4x. I downloaded the 32-bit version from Microsoft.com. I have run Nero MD5 Verifier. Please reply to this post and tell me what is wrong and what I can do to fix it. Thank you!

I'm trying to install the vista beta 1 on microsoft virtual server using the iso file . During set up after keying in the product code i get the message "setup failed to open the windows image file" and setup aborts.
Any suggestions ?

sorry that should have said beta 2
"Tony" wrote:

I'm trying to install the vista beta 1 on microsoft virtual server using the iso file . During set up after keying in the product code i get the message "setup failed to open the windows image file" and setup aborts.
Any suggestions ?

What method did you use to burn the .iso image? Did you verify the checksum of the image after downloading it?
"Tony" wrote:

I'm trying to install the vista beta 1 on microsoft virtual server using the iso file . During set up after keying in the product code i get the message "setup failed to open the windows image file" and setup aborts.
Any suggestions ?

Never actually burned the iso file at all as don't have access to dvd writer at moment . Just pointed virtual server to the iso file itself as the boot device . Not sure how to verify the checksum . Only other info is that download got to 99% & seemed to stop , I then paused & restarted using download manager & it straight away went to 100%
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

What method did you use to burn the .iso image? Did you verify the checksum of the image after downloading it?
"Tony" wrote:
I'm trying to install the vista beta 1 on microsoft virtual server using the iso file . During set up after keying in the product code i get the message "setup failed to open the windows image file" and setup aborts.
Any suggestions ?

You must either burn the .iso file you downloaded to a DVD or create a virtual drive. This has been discussed at length in this forum. I think my list of tips will help you immensely:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general&tid=85baaee2-adb8-455e-b81e-17de55b4b4f0&cat=en_US_9CA88DDB-D18D-FA0E-A366-6E527B0FBA67&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1
"Tony" wrote:

Never actually burned the iso file at all as don't have access to dvd writer at moment . Just pointed virtual server to the iso file itself as the boot device . Not sure how to verify the checksum . Only other info is that download got to 99% & seemed to stop , I then paused & restarted using download manager & it straight away went to 100%

Already created the virtual drive so your"smart tips" don't really help much
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

You must either burn the .iso file you downloaded to a DVD or create a virtual drive. This has been discussed at length in this forum. I think my list of tips will help you immensely:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general&tid=85baaee2-adb8-455e-b81e-17de55b4b4f0&cat=en_US_9CA88DDB-D18D-FA0E-A366-6E527B0FBA67&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1
"Tony" wrote:
Never actually burned the iso file at all as don't have access to dvd writer at moment . Just pointed virtual server to the iso file itself as the boot device . Not sure how to verify the checksum . Only other info is that download got to 99% & seemed to stop , I then paused & restarted using download manager & it straight away went to 100%

Then it is possible that you have a bad .iso file. There have been numerous postings on this forum for how to check the file, what the correct values should be, etc... There has been a lot of issues with the 64-bit version, but the 32-bit version seems to download and hash well. Also, I have found this website to be very informative:
http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?getstarted

"Tony" wrote:
> Already created the virtual drive so your"smart tips" don't really help much

I have the same issue. I downloaded from MSDN then downloaded from the Vista site. Checksums are just fine. I tried using Virtual CD, also burned the DVD. All error out after entering the key.
Unless Microsoft posted a bad iso, that is clearly not the issue here.
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

Then it is possible that you have a bad .iso file. There have been numerous postings on this forum for how to check the file, what the correct values should be, etc... There has been a lot of issues with the 64-bit version, but the 32-bit version seems to download and hash well. Also, I have found this website to be very informative:
http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?getstarted

"Tony" wrote:
Already created the virtual drive so your"smart tips" don't really help much

I have the same issue, with the error occuring after entering the key.
I downloaded the file from MSDN, and downloaded a second file from the Vista site (which were identical in size). I tried Virtual CD, and also burned a DVD. I tried installing off the image, and also tried installing XP SP2 and then upgrading.
All produced the same error. So unless Microsoft posted a bad image in multiple places, there is something else going on.
jdn
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

Then it is possible that you have a bad .iso file. There have been numerous postings on this forum for how to check the file, what the correct values should be, etc... There has been a lot of issues with the 64-bit version, but the 32-bit version seems to download and hash well. Also, I have found this website to be very informative:
http://www.vistabase.co.uk/welcome.php?getstarted

"Tony" wrote:
Already created the virtual drive so your"smart tips" don't really help much

If anyone can help I'd appreciate it. I have downloaded the 32-bit version image twice with no problems, each time burning it to DVDs. I've tried 2 different brands of DVD, one -R one +R with two different DVD burners. Media is rated at 8X as are both burners, all burns were at slowest speed at 2X using two different software packages to burn the ISO. Every DVD I've burned with either download shows 3.12 gb of space used. Each one had no problem booting up the system from DVD and taking me to the page to enter the 25 digit code, which I have have verfified is the correct code emailed to me. If I enter the wrong code on purpose, setup tells me the code is wrong. I enter the correct code I get the same "setup failed to open the Windows image file".
I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that both downloads were bad or that all seven or 8 DVDs were bad burns. I can only wonder if the system is having problems because I have two DVD drive or a SATA hard drive. Mitch
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

What method did you use to burn the .iso image? Did you verify the checksum of the image after downloading it?
"Tony" wrote:
I'm trying to install the vista beta 1 on microsoft virtual server using the iso file . During set up after keying in the product code i get the message "setup failed to open the windows image file" and setup aborts.
Any suggestions ?