Exchange Setup Repeatedly Says ‘A Restart from a Previous Installation is Pending’

I have had this issue with EVERY upgrade that I have ever attempted for Exchange Server from 2013 through 2019 CU5. You go to run the setup program and during the prerequisite checks, setup stops. The error listed is:

A restart from a previous installation is pending. Please restart the system and rerun setup.

During the prerequisite checks, Exchange Setup looks in the registry at the following keys:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\UpdateExeVolatile
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations

Nine times out of ten, a restart does NOT remediate this error. In order for setup to continue properly, you must do the following:

  • Open regedit: Start > Run > regedit.exe
  • Set the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\UpdateExeVolatile key value to 0 or delete it if present. <– This one is usually NOT present.
  • Delete the HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations key.
  • Re-run Setup.

You should now be able to run setup and upgrade your Exchange Server.

PLEASE COMMENT!
HAPPY TROUBLESHOOTING!

References:
A Restart From Another Installation Is Pending
Exchange Setup Fails – A Restart From Another Installation Is Pending
Microsoft Document – A Restart From Another Installation Is Pending

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