Error occured during upgrade of SQL2000 to SQL2005 STD

I have a Windows 2003 Server which is running SQL2000 Server with several host databases.  During the install setup wizard, everything processes normally during the System Config Check step. I continue through the install wizard where it asks you to check the instance you want to upgrade.  I select the only one listed and the next screen asks you to select the authenication mode (Windows or SQL).  I enter the cridentials for SQL or just try using Windows to process the upgrade and when you click next, and it starts analyzing the upgrade.  This is where I am getting an error stating "UpgradeAdvisor returned -1. Error Message:" (no message).  But if you click the help icon to see what the error really relates to, it says the following:

Details Product: SQL Server ID: SQLSetup90 Source: setup.rll Version: 9.00.1291.00 Component: SQL Server Setup Message: To continue you must provide a strong sa password.     Explanation You selected Mixed Mode authentication, but did not provide a strong password.     User Action Mixed Mode authentication requires that you enter a strong sa password before you can continue to the next page of the Installation Wizard. A strong password must contain six or more characters, including at least one from three of the following categories: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and non-alphanumeric characters (such as #, %, or ^). A strong password cannot be a reserved keyword, cannot include the computer name, and cannot include the username of the person logged onto the computer. For additional information on setting strong passwords, see the "Authentication Mode" topic in Books Online.

The sa password is extreemly strong and exceeds the criteria identified in the note.  Please let me know if anyone has any ideas as to what can be done to get this upgrade to process correctly.

Thanks for your help :)