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MS-Windows Troubleshooting

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ActiveX component can't create object

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Symptom:

A tool generates the error:

ActiveX component can't create object

For Visual Basic applications this may be accompanied by the error number 429.

Cause:

This error indicates that the application has attempted to use an ActiveX component and has failed.

This could be due to one of several reasons:

• The ActiveX component has not been installed correctly.
• The ActiveX component has not been installed.
• One of its dependencies is missing.

Remedy:

• If it is known which ActiveX component is giving trouble then try reinstalling or re-registering the component. If any errors arise during that process then be sure to deal with them.
• If it is not known which ActiveX component is causing the problem (for instance it is a third party application that is generating the error) or if the component appears to be installed correctly then the first step is to identify which component is causing the problem.

  System Internals publish Regmon (freeware), a tool for monitoring accesses to the registry. Use Regmon to capture all registry access when the application is run, up to the point where the error is produced. Look for where an ‘OpenKey’ request fails. Experience has indicated that the following are significant:

  HKCR\CLSID\NN..NN\InprocServer32

  HKCR\TypeLib\NN..NN

  For each of these ‘NN..NN’ indicates the class sid of a missing COM object. On a machine where this COM object is available (possibly contact the original developer of the COM object) locate this class sid in the registry, this will reveal the full pathname of the missing item. Obtain a copy and use regsvr32 to register it.

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These notes have been tested with Windows NT4 and W2K.