Troubleshooting a SQL Server 2000 Installation Error Message

I'm trying to install a SQL Server 2000 client image from the network drive, but I keep getting the error message

A previous program installation created pending file operationson the installation machine. You must restart the computer beforerunning setup.

My machine had SQL Server 7.0 installed, so I removed it, but the problem persisted. I restarted my machine many times, checked the registry for a pending file entry, and searched the local drive for a pending file, but I still haven't found the solution. Do you have any ideas?

SQL Server issues this error message when Setup detects that some files need updating and that the registry has operations pending to update those files on the next reboot. You can see this scenario in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSessionManagerpendingfilerenameoperations. One way to eliminate this error message is to delete the registry's pending file rename or delete keys. Note that deleting either of these keys might prevent a necessary file update from occurring, perhaps causing an incomplete operation. Renaming the keys might be safer; then, you can restore the names after your SQL Server installation is complete.