Error Message: Setup Cannot Load the Keyboard Layout File Kbdus.dll

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The information in this article applies to:

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

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SYMPTOMS
When you are upgrading to or installing Windows 2000 on a hard disk that uses the NTFS file system, you may receive the following error message during Setup:

Setup cannot load the keyboard layout file Kbdus.dll. Setup cannot continue. Shut down or restart your computer.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because the system does not have any rights (Access Control Lists [ACLs]) to the root of the volume on which the %SystemRoot% folder is located.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods:

If you are upgrading, reboot the computer and select the option to start the operating system that is being upgraded (Setup has not yet made any major changes to the operating system being upgraded, so it is still bootable). Give the following groups Full Control permission on the root of the volume on which the %SystemRoot% folder is located:


Everyone
Administrators (local administrators group)
System
If you are performing a new installation, take the drive to another computer and set the appropriate permissions (Recovery Console cannot set ACLs on the volume). Because this takes place on a different computer, Microsoft recommends giving the Everyone group Full Control permissions on the root folder.


After you use either of these methods, restart the computer. Setup should continue.

Error Message: Setup Cannot Load the Keyboard Layout File Kbdus.dll

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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

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SYMPTOMS
When you try to start your computer from the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM, you may receive the following error message:

Setup cannot load the keyboard layout file Kbdus.dll.
Setup cannot continue. Shut down or restart you computer

This behavior may occur when you start from the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM to perform an installation or repair, or to use Recovery Console.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs when all drive letters are already used and assigned to existing disk partitions, because the CD-ROM drive is the last device to be assigned a drive letter by Mount Manager (MountMgr). After you start from the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM, MountMgr queries your hard disks and assigns drive letters to all partitions that exist. If your computer contains more than 24 partitions, MountMgr cannot assign a drive letter to the CD-ROM drive to continue Setup.



RESOLUTION
Power off one or more of your physical hard disks--preferably, hard disks that do not contain software fault-tolerant sets (mirrors, volume sets, or stripe sets) before you start from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. This enables the CD-ROM drive to be assigned a drive letter so it can be used during Setup.



MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q234048 How Windows 2000 Assigns, Reserves and Stores Drive Letters
Q221799 Drive Letters Assigned to Unsupported Partition Types
This error message can also occur if you have removed the Everyone group from the root of the system drive on a disk that uses the NTFS file system. Restricted NTFS permissions keep Setup from copying the file.