My machine had SQL Server 7 installed, so I removed it, but the problem persisted. I restarted my machine many times, checked the registry for a pending file entry, and searched the local drive for a pending file, but I still haven't found the solution. Do you have any ideas?
SQL Server issues this error message when Setup detects that some files need updating and that the registry has operations pending to update those files on the next reboot. You can see this scenario
in the registry key :HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\pendingfilerenameoperations.
One way to eliminate this error message is to delete the registry's pending file rename or delete keys. Note that deleting either of these keys might prevent a necessary file update from occurring, perhaps causing an incomplete operation. Renaming the keys might be safer; then, you can restore the names after your SQL Server installation is complete.
