I wanted to use the PendingFileRenameOperations registry key to instruct windows to copy a file during the boot process.

The issue with this key and behavior is that in order to tell windows to delete a file, the next line to the source file must be blank… if you manually try to add a blank line to regedit you receive the following error!

I needed an application to move a file during the boot process of windows before the service or handle held the file I wanted to replace open. I decided to write a new tool called MoveOnBoot.exe.

MoveOnBoot leverages the PendingFileRenameOperations registry key and the MoveFileEx Api to move the file on boot simply and easily.

Move on boot does the following:

1. Adds the copy jobs to the PendingFileRename key you specify.
2. Copies the new file into the target directory with an  _newer file extension.
3. Optional: instructs windows to copy the current file to a _old extension
4. instructs windows to replace the target file with the _Newer file.

How to use it:

Simply select the source and destination files as below:

Optionally choose to backup the target file during the operation with the check box above.

Once you have added all the files you need to replace, you can check the queue by going to file > view pending operations:

And that’s it! restart the device and let windows do the hard work.

Optionally, if you chose to backup the file as part of the operation, you will find an _old file in the target directory as below:

Download:

Stand alone Binary.

Source code.

Support information:

• Requires Administrator privileges.
• Requires .net framework 2.0 or greater.