Cannot register an ActiveX control on only one computer

1
votes

I have run into an odd problem while attempting to register a vendor-supplied ActiveX control on two different computers. On one computer, I can register the part using regsvr32, and then use it in an Access 2007 form with no problems. On the other computer, after I register the same DLL, it is simply not recognized as a valid ActiveX part by Access 2007, or any other Office 2007 program.

  • The ActiveX part is contained in a single DLL. I am not missing an additional file on one of the computers.
  • I cross-checked the exact version of the DLL on both computers using md5sum. Both DLL files are exactly identical.
  • I cross-checked all of the registry entries generated when the part is registered, using the Nirsoft ActiveX Helper utility. The entries are identical.
  • I checked Access to make sure that the part had a reference entry which pointed to the DLL.
  • I checked that the location of the DLL was specified as a Trusted Location in Access.

Unfortunately, I am not enough of a COM expert to know whether or not I am overlooking something odvious. Any additional ideas would be appreciated.

2
comactivexregistry
Have you checked the event log for anything helpful? Maybe an error logged by Access when it tries to load the DLL? - jac
On the problematic computer, have you checked to see if the VBA is screwed? Because you mentioned on the working computer, Access 2007 can access the activeX...sounds like office 2007 needs to be reinstalled or repaired...I would be inclined to suspect the VBA automation...worth a try... - t0mm13b
Have you checked the registry to verify that the control's progid and clsid are in HKLM & HKLM\CLSID (respectively)? - Ruddy
Unfortunately, nothing helpful in the event log. All but one of the entries in HKCR\CLSID and HKCR\TypeLib have a progid that looks OK (I think). Also, monitoring MS Access registry and file I/O activity with Microsoft Sysinternals Process Manager didn't show any smoking guns. - mkClark

2 Answers

0
votes

OK, total shot in the dark, but we have some computers in our organization the the IT has locked down pretty tight. When we run setup's they run OK and register our ActiveX components, but the first time we run the program it has to be as an administrator. After that the normal user is able to run the program.

0
votes

You could try a simple VBS script to verify that the control can be created.

Using Notepad (or similar) save the following as test.vbs, and then double click it to run it.

set oTest = CreateObject("<YOUR PROGID HERE>")

MsgBox ("All Done Successfully")

You should get an reasonably descriptive error or "All Done Successfully".

This would at least point to whether its a system wide or Office specific problem.

And if you get an error it may well point to the actual problem.

OTH, if you don't get an error then you probably have an Office installation issue - which could be resolved by a re-install.