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"pendmoves.exe" prints error "Source file lookup error: The filename ... syntax is incorrect" #956

@WolfgangHG

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@WolfgangHG

In my registry key "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations", there are currently two entries. One points to a file that does not exist, the second file is valid (and will disappear on next reboot).

"pendmoves.exe" prints an error for each file (german error message, it should translate to "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."):

PendMoves v1.3 - Lists pending delayed movefile operations
Copyright (C) 2004-2016 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

Source: *1\??\C:\Windows\System32\gamingservicesproxy_e.dll.0
   *** Source file lookup error: Die Syntax f³r den Dateinamen, Verzeichnisnamen oder die Datentrõgerbezeichnung ist falsch.
Target: DELETE

Source: *1\??\C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\update_service.exe
   *** Source file lookup error: Die Syntax f³r den Dateinamen, Verzeichnisnamen oder die Datentrõgerbezeichnung ist falsch.
Target: DELETE

Time of last update to pending moves key: 31.05.2026 11:06

The plain text value of the registry keys is this (as seen in RegEdit):

*1\??\C:\Windows\System32\gamingservicesproxy_e.dll.0

*1\??\C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\update_service.exe


Was there a change in syntax? According to e.g. https://qtechbabble.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/use-pendingfilerenameoperations-registry-key-to-automatically-delete-a-file-on-reboot/ , the "*1" part might be new or somehow invalid?

I use the version from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/pendmoves (version 1.3, date of exe: 2020-09-03).

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