How to force replace Windows 2000 Server in-use files using registry tricks

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). This is sort of a wasteful approach since you will need another partition and another OS just to edit the files of the other one.
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>.sysAfter 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 steps below 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.

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.sNote that the value data is typed on two separate lines.
Quit Registry Editor.
Restart the computer.

I have tried this approach in my XP machine and it seems to work so far. I have yet to find a way to do this in Vista and Windows 7.