Endpoint Security Cigarettes

I had a Windows 2008 server that I was attempting to install the Symantec Endpoint client on, but the client would not install, and the following message was left in the event log:

Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) Installation fails with the following error “Symantec Endpoint Protection has detected that there are pending system changes that require a reboot. Please reboot the system and rerun the installation.”

I rebooted the server and then tried to install the client again, but the same error would appear.

I found that there was a registry entry that was giving me grief with the install, and here are the instructions that I used to fix the problem.

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\PendingFileRenameOperations     Back up the registry key Delete the registry key Install the software without restarting the computer first (Restarting the computer may result in the registry key being placed back in the registry before installation.) Restore the registry key from the backup location.

NOTE: If you are running  Windows Vista look for this key –  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current\ControlSet001\ControlSessionManager\PendingFileRenameOperations  

* Thanks to Bill for this Windows Vista suggestion.