Setup Cannot Load the Keyboard Layout File Kbdus.dll

SYMPTOMS

When you are upgrading to or installing Windows XP 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.

CAUSES

1. This behavior occurs because the system does not have any rights (Access Control Lists [ACLs]) to the root of the volume on which the $Win_nt$.~bt folder is located.
2. It occurs when Mount Manager has assigned all drive letters to existing disk partitions and it can't assign a drive letter to your CD-ROM drive.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods for cause (1):

• 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 $Win_nt$.~bt 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.

Or use this method for cause (2):

• Power off one or more of your hard drives to reduce the total number of existing partitions on your system, until you have less than 24 partitions. Then restart your machine from the WinXP installation disk. This enables Mount Manager to assign a drive letter to your CD-ROM drive.
• If you are installing WinXP on a new hard disk, check how many partitions there are and reduce it until you have less than 24 partitions.