Running activex dll fromVB6 under windows 7

Question

I'm adding some functionality to an old admin tool written in VB6. The tool uses a c++ activeX object. I haven't worked on the tool since I upgraded to windows 7 and now the active X object fails to load with the 429 "ActiveX component can't create object" error. I'm not knowledgeable about VB6 but I have registered the activex dll and type library and I can remove and add the object from the project via the project->references window (the program fails to compile when the reference is removed as expected). The VB6 ide is running in administrator mode and I get the same error if I run the exe directly as an administrator.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem and found a way to sort it out?

Thanks, Patrick

PS : I have also tried putting the dll in question in the working directory of the exe

EDIT: I've had no luck trying to sort this out and ended up remoting into a windows 2003 server to test the changes.

Answer 1

You might try using Mark Russinovich's regMon and FileMon to see exactly what files or regkeys are being requested during the load of that dll. That can often tell you if you've got a missing dependency.

Also the DEPENDS.EXE that comes with VS6 is sometimes good for that (though it doesn't necessarily get ALL the dependencies of a dll or exe).