When installing Applications or operating system hotfixes the installation process sometimes requires replacing or deleting files that are in use, if that is the case these files can only be replaced or deleted during the next system reboot.

When you plan to install multiple applications in a row you can run into the situation where an application cannot be installed due to a pending FileRename operation from a previous application installation. So if you plan to install several applications in a row without a reboot, it’s highly recommended to check if a given application does actually require a reboot or not. If you launch the installation process manually you will most likely get a “Reboot required” prompt at the end of the installation. But if you run your installation packages in silent mode with the REBOOT=ReallySuppress option you will not notice if a reboot is required or not.

The information for Pending FileRename Operations is stored within the Windows Registry under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\ under the key PendingFileRenameOperations if this key does not exist there are no Pending FileRename Operations, if the key does exist the key value data contains the files that need to be replaced or deleted.

Mark Russinovich provides two useful utilities that deal with Pending FileRename Operations PendMoves.exe and MoveFile.exe. PendMoves.exe allows you to list any pending filemoves and FileMove.exe allows you to configure the system to replace or delete a file during the next system reboot. The tools can be downloaded from here and for more information you might also want to read this article. For those that are looking for a script based solution have a look at the WMI script from Tom Mills which does the same as PendMoves.exe.

Other interesting resources describing Pending FileRename Operations are:
Microsoft TechNet: A Restart from a Previous Installation is Pending
Description of the new features in the package installer for Windows software updates

When opening the “Change Desktop Background” Control Panel Windows by default uses the “Windows Desktop Backgrounds” picture location which is the content stored under C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper

In addition to the Windows Desktop Backgrounds location Windows also let you choose a Wallpaper from other locations such as the Picture Library, Top Rated Photos, Solid Colors or you can simply browse and select a Wallpaper that is stored anywhere on your computer.

But there is another option, that I figured out today and wanted to share with you. To demonstrate this I have created the following folders and copied a wallpaper file in each of the folders.

C:\Users\Alex\Documents\Wallpapers\Snowboard
C:\DATA\Wallpapers\The Netherlands\Amsterdam

Now we have to tell Windows that we want to include these 2 folders into the “Windows Desktop Backgrounds” listing. To do that, we have to modify the Windows Registry. Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\
KnownFolders\0\Windows Wallpapers\MergeFolders

Now create a new String or Multi String value for each folders that you want to include. Note that if you use variables in the folder name, you must create a Multi String Value (REG_EXPAND_SZ) otherwise a String Value (REG_SZ) is enough.

The Result. When opening the “Change Desktop Background” Control Panel the Wallpapers from all the 3 different Wallpaper folders are being displayed.

The Application Paths Editor allows you to add, edit and remove Application Paths. Setting an application path for your favorite application or script allows you to run the application directly from the “Run” dialog at the Start Menu.

So assume you have a script called “HelloApp.vbs” which is stored under C:\Program Files\HelloApp without having set an Application Path, you would have to navigate to the scripts folder or type the full path to launch the script. But once you have set an Application Path, you can launch it directly form the run dialog at the Start Menu.

Application Paths are stored in the Windows Registry, so if you are familiar with editing the Registry, you can of course also add Application Paths directly there.

  The Application Paths Editor can be downloaded from here