I was getting this error when trying to import a physical Windows 2000 SP4 machine, “Unable to complete vCenter Converter agent installation on ‘(machine name)’. Error code: 1,603. I am vSphere client 4.1 currently. And my vSphere Converter is version 4.2.1. I noticed on many posts that in 4.1 the Windows 2000 support was pulled. But I still needed to virtualize this machine and I know I had done so in years past.

So I decided to download the standalone converter agent and see what that does. I googled for a 4.2.1 standalone and tried to install it on the machine I’m trying to import. It wouldn’t let me install it, saying I needed XP or later. Next I got stand-alone version 3.0.3, since I saw on the forums that others were successful with that version. I was able to install the 3.0.3 version no problem.

Next I ran the VMware Converter. I continued in starter mode.

There was nothing too fancy with the conversion process, so I waited for it to convert to see if it was successful. I had tried to do this with early 4.0 converter, but it did not really finish all the way and it would never fully start up. So I was hoping that the version 3 client would do the trick.

So I fired it up without connecting to the network.

And abba cadabra a working Windows 2000 machine!


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Written by Michael N
Paul is the owner of PaulSlager.com and enjoys writing a wide variety of technical articles for the community. Paul specializes in Virtualization, Storage, DR, Strategic Planning, Backup, SharePoint, Active Directory, and MS Exchange. He holds his PMP, MCITP, and VCP. Paul also does free community service and consulting for any companies that wish to use his resources.