KB181345 - How to replace in-use files at Windows restart

Article ID: 181345

Article Last Modified on 2/22/2007

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)

This article was previously published under Q181345

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY

If you need to replace a file that is in use by Microsoft Windows, you typically must use one of the following methods:

Start the computer with an MS-DOS boot disk to replace the file if your computer uses the File Allocation Table (FAT) file system on the boot partition.
Perform a parallel installation of Windows if the boot partition uses the Windows NT file system (NTFS).
Use the Mv.exe method that is specified in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

184408 How to replace in-use Windows NT system files
Rename the file at a Windows command prompt. To do so, type the following lines at a command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line:
ren <drive>:\<path>\<file>.sys <drive>:\<path>\<file>.old copy <drive>:\<temp folder>\<file>.sys <drive>:\<path>\<file>.sys
After you type these lines, restart the computer. Many files cannot be renamed using the Windows Explorer shell, but can be renamed using a command prompt.

This article describes another method you can use to replace files that are in use by Windows. This method uses the registry to replace a file at startup, before the file is accessed by Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
The following steps demonstrate how to replace the Win32k.sys file in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder with the Win32k.sys file located in the C:\Temp folder. You can use variations of this method to replace any file if your installation of Windows is bootable.

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate the following key in the Windows registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
Create a new value by using the following information:
Value name: PendingFileRenameOperations Data type : REG_MULTI_SZ Value data: \??\c:\temp\win32k.sys !\??\c:\winnt\system32\win32k.s
Note that the value data is typed on two separate lines.
Quit Registry Editor.
Restart the computer.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

184408 How to replace in-use Windows NT system files

Additional query words: replaced inuse in use system files file FileRenameOperations cannot rename move

Keywords: kbenv kbhowto KB181345