Article: Q150946
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 4.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbAppSetup kbVBp400 kbGrpDSVB
Last Modified: 19-FEB-2002
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition for Windows, version 4.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 4.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 4.0
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SYMPTOMS
========
During the installation of Visual Basic 4.0, the computer hangs at the end of
the setup while the "Updating System Files" dialog is displayed. Performing a
CTRL+ALT+DELETE usually frees the system and shows a General Protection Fault in
REGOCX16.EXE.
The Visual Basic 4.0 setup installs all of the program files and then attempts to
register the components that need registering. OLE automation servers and OCX
Custom Controls are self-registering. This means that the function within them
that causes the control to write its registration information to the registry
must be called by some other application. The Visual Basic 4.0 setup program
uses the registration utility REGOCX16.EXE to call the function in the control
that performs the registration.
In some cases, other OCX Custom Controls have exhibited the same behavior as
described above.
CAUSE
=====
The problem is not with the REGOCX16.EXE file, as the General Protection Fault
might indicate. Rather, the cause is with the OCX Custom Controls. The problem
appears to a timing issue caused by a combination of the OCX registration code,
the operating system and BIOS/hardware caching algorithms.
RESOLUTION
==========
Four of the most troublesome controls have been fixed in the maintenance release
of Visual Basic 4.0. Any customer with this problem is eligible for the upgrade
free-of-charge. Contact Visual Basic Technical Support for the update.
The following controls have been updated:
COMDLG16.OCX
PICCLP16.OCX
MSOUTL16.OCX
DBLIST16.OCX
Procedure for Replacing Regocx16 During Setup
---------------------------------------------
1. Obtain the updated registration utility by using the following methods:
a. This file ships with Microsoft Visual C/C++ version 1.52. It is named
REGSVR.EXE. Rename it to REGOCX16.EXE.
b. Contact Visual Basic Support for the file.
NOTE: This file is not really an update. It is simply a different version. that
displays message boxes that seem to suppress the problem.
1. Uninstall Visual Basic:
a. Run the Visual Basic Setup and Remove All. This is not always possible
given the nature of the problem.
b. Delete the directory that Visual Basic was installed into.
c. Delete OC25.DLL from the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
2. Where applicable, go into the CMOS/BIOS settings and disable all caches.
3. Start the Visual Basic 4.0 16-bit installation.
4. Replace the REGOCX16.EXE file.
a. The first dialog has a caption that reads "Microsoft Visual Basic
4.0-16-bit Setup". At this time, go to the File Manager. From the View
menu, go to the submenu By File Type... and select Show Hidden/System
Files.
b. Search your hard drives for a subdirectory (it has the hidden attribute
set) named ~mssetup.t. Change to that subdirectory. Look for another
subdirectory named ~msstfqf.t.(you should now be in
c:\~mssetup.t\~msstfqf.t, where c: is one of your hard drives.)
c. From File Manager, select the file REGOCX16.EXE. Go to the Properties
submenu under the File menu. Deselect the read-only attribute. This allows
you to replace the REGOCX16.EXE file.
d. Copy updated REGOCX16.EXE to this location (c:\~mssetup.t\~msstfqf.t,
where c: is one of your hard drives).
e. After replacing REGOCX16.EXE, set the attribute for the new one back to
read-only.
f. Quit File Manager.
5. Go back to the installation screen and continue with installation. Ignore all
registration message boxes until the installation is complete.
NOTE: The above procedure has proven to be ineffective on some machines. If the
procedure fails, follow the steps to make Visual Basic 4.0 function on the
machine. Some of the controls may not register and may not be usable but the
Visual Basic environment and most of the controls will be completely functional.
There are VBX versions of many of the 16-bit OCX Custom Controls shipped with
Visual Basic 3.0. These files can be used in place of the OCX version of the
controls and can be obtained from the Visual Basic 3.0 CD-ROM or diskettes, or
by calling Microsoft Visual Basic Technical Support.
Registering Visual Basic Manually
---------------------------------
1. Run the Visual Basic setup until it stops responding.
2. Reboot the machine, and start Windows.
3. Start the File Manager, and select \SETUP directory on the Visual Basic
CD-ROM.
4. Use the EXTRACT.EXE utility to find and decompress the Visual Basic
registration file:
On the File menu, in the Run dialog box, type:
EXTRACT.EXE /A /L C:\WINDOWS\ VB4-1.CAB *.REG,
where C:\WINDOWS\ is the windows directory of the machine, and press the ENTER
key.
5. Use REGEDIT.EXE to register the registration files:
On the File menu, in the Run dialog box, type:
REGEDIT.EXE OLE2.REG and press the ENTER key.
Then type REGEDIT.EXE VBxxx.REG, and press the ENTER key, where xxx is PRO or
ENT depending on the version.
6. Remove the OCX Custom Control references in the AUTO16LD.VBP.
a. Open the file AUTO16LD.VBP in Notepad in the Visual Basic directory.
b. Delete all lines that begin with "Object=". These are references to OCX
controls that will not be registered.
c. Save the file, and exit Notepad.
7. Launch Visual Basic. It should now run properly.
8. From the Tools menu, in Custom Controls, add any OCX that you choose. Do this
by using the Browse button and selecting the file. Visual Basic registers the
control and adds it to the project. All of the controls will be in the
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory with the extension *.OCX. One or more of the
controls may hang the machine when Visual Basic attempts to register them.
These controls will not be usable, but Visual Basic should still provide
enough functionality and have enough functioning controls to satisfy most
programmers. Some of the supporting DLL, TLB, and OLB files may not be
properly registered. They can be registered and used in the References dialog
in the same manner as the Custom Controls.
NOTE: The OCX Custom Controls may cause similar problems with installation disks
created using the Setup Wizard or a third-party setup utility. Register the
incorrect controls manually using the REGSVR.EXE utility with CMOS/BIOS caches
disabled (wherever possible).
STATUS
======
This behavior is by design.
Additional query words:
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Keywords : kbAppSetup kbVBp400 kbGrpDSVB
Technology : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB400Search kbVB400
Version : :4.0
Issue type : kbprb
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