Symptoms
When attempting to upgrade a 2000 Server computer to Server 2003, you may receive a Stop error message similar to the following during the text-mode portion of Setup: STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000006, 0x808F1210, 0xFC99F5C0). Additionally, you can no longer access the partition that contains the operating system.
Resolutions
To avoid this problem, remove the disk that contains the Winnt.sif file from the computer's floppy disk drive before you upgrade to Server 2003. The Winnt.sif file is only used in unattended installations. Do not use it with the repartition=yes parameter when you upgrade a 2000 server to Server 2003.