"The System Must Be Restarted Before Installing the Service Pack..." Error Message When You Install Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (298890)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP2
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2
This article was previously published under Q298890

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to install Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2), you may receive the following error message:
The system must be restarted before installing the Service Pack, to allow some prior file update operations to complete. (These operations were previously scheduled by some other install or uninstall operation.)

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if you previously installed a device or program, but did not restart the computer before you attempted to install SP2.

RESOLUTION

Restart the computer so that the PendingFileRenameOperations queue is cleared. After the computer restarts, start the SP2 installation again to continue installing the service pack.

MORE INFORMATION

The PendingFileRenameOperations key contains a list of files that are currently set to be replaced when you restart the computer after installing a device or program. The key is located in the registry in this location:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/3/2003
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb kbsetup KB298890
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