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Article ID: 162627 - Last Review: January 19, 2007 - Revision: 3.3

OFF97: Error Message "Vbe.dll Was Unable to Register Itself"

View products that this article applies to.
This article was previously published under Q162627
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/ ) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

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SYMPTOMS

When you run Setup, you may receive one or both of the following error messages after all files have been copied to the hard disk on your computer.
VBA332.dll error The Visual Basic Environment could not be initialized. Please run Setup to install it correctly.
Microsoft <program> Setup
Vbe.dll was unable to register itself in the system registry.
-and/or-
Microsoft Visual Basic
Unexpected critical error: can't start program
When you click OK, you receive the following error message
Microsoft <program> Setup was not completed successfully.
where <program> is the program you are trying to install.

NOTE: You may also receive this error message if you click Tools on the menu bar and Setup stops responding.
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CAUSE

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true for any of the following cases:
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Case 1

  • You perform a Run From CD or Run From Network installation of Microsoft Office 97 on your computer.

    -and-

  • You remove Microsoft Office 97 from your computer by running the Setup program in maintenance mode and clicking Remove All.

    -and-

  • You attempt to perform a Typical or Custom installation of Microsoft Office 97 on your computer.
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Case 2

  • You install one of the programs listed at the beginning of this article from an administrative installation point on a network server and install the shared components so that they run from the network server.

    -and-

  • You install a second program listed at the beginning of this article.
NOTE: When the shared .dll files are being registered in the Microsoft Windows registry, the location of the shared files cannot be found.
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Case 3

  • You perform a Run From Network installation of Microsoft Office 97 on your computer. During installation, you choose to keep shared files on the server.

    -and-

  • You then perform a Run From Network installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1 on your computer. During installation, you choose to store shared files on your local hard disk drive.
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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use any of the following five methods.
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Method 1

Modify the path to point to the shared programs, and then run Setup again.

NOTE: This modification is required only while you are running Setup. You can remove the modification to the path statement after you successfully install the program.

Under Microsoft Windows NT

If you are running Microsoft Windows NT, follow these steps:
  1. First, use Windows Explorer to map a network drive to the location of the shared programs on the server. For example, map drive F to the following location
    \\<server name>\<share name>
    where <server name> is the name of the server and <share name> is the name of the share in which the shared programs are stored.
  2. On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Control Panel.
  3. Double-click the System icon.
  4. Click the Environment tab.
  5. In the System Variables box, select the Path variable.
  6. At the bottom of the window, click after the Value statement for the path.
  7. Type a semicolon (;), and then type the path to the location to the shared programs on the network.

    For example, type the following:
    f:\msapps\os\system
  8. Click Set.
  9. Click OK, and then run Setup for the program you want to install.

Under Microsoft Windows 95

If you are running Microsoft Windows 95, follow these steps:
  1. On the Start menu, click Run. Type sysedit in the Open box.
  2. In the Autoexec.bat window, find the "PATH=" statement.
  3. Type a semicolon (;), and then type the path to the location of shared programs on the network.

    For example, type the following
    \\<servername>\msoffice\msapps\os\system
    where <servername> is the name of the server.
  4. On the File menu, click Save.
  5. On the File menu, click Exit.
  6. Restart the computer.
  7. Run Setup for the program you want to install.
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Method 2

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To prevent this problem from occurring, follow these steps:
  1. On the Start menu, click Run. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. In the Registry window, click the plus sign (+) to the left of the following keys, in order: 
          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
      SOFTWARE
      Microsoft
      Shared Tools
    Then, click the yellow folder to the left of "Vba332.dll". The text in the status bar should be the following:
          My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\ 
      Vba332.dll
  3. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to delete the key.
  4. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
  5. Run the Setup program.
If the error message appears again, follow these steps:
  1. Using Windows Explorer, manually create the following folders on your hard disk (usually, drive C): 
          Program Files\Common Files
      Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared
      Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA
    NOTE: The Program Files folder should already exist on your hard disk. If it does not, create it before you create the folders listed in this step.
  2. Copy the following files from the OS\System folder on your Microsoft Office 97 compact disc: 
          Vba332.dll     (file size 1,596,688 bytes, version 3.0.6908, 11/96)
      Vbe.dll        (file size 745,232 bytes, 11/96)
    Paste the files in the Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA folder on your hard disk.
  3. In the Windows Explorer, go to the Windows\System folder on your hard disk.
    1. If the file Oleaut32.dll is present, select it. Right-click the file, and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Oleaut32.old and press ENTER.
    2. If the Ole32.dll file is present, select it. Right-click the file, and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Ole32.old and press ENTER.
  4. Copy the following file from the OS\System folder on your Microsoft Office 97 compact disc: 
          Oleaut32.dll   (file size 491,792 bytes, version 2.20.4054,
                     11/96)
    Paste the file in the Windows\System folder on your hard disk.
  5. Copy the following file from the Office\WMS\Common folder on your Microsoft Office 97 compact disc: 
          Ole32.dll      (file size 558,704 bytes, version 2.1, 11/96)
    Paste the file in the Windows\System folder on your hard disk.

    NOTE: If any of the four files mentioned in steps 2-5 are in use, you may receive an error message when you attempt to copy them to your hard disk. If this occurs, you may need to restart your computer in MS-DOS mode, copy the files to your hard disk, and then restart your computer again.
  6. Run Microsoft Office 97 Setup.
NOTE: After replacing the old copies of Oleaut32.dll and Ole32.dll with copies from the Microsoft Office 97 compact disc and running Microsoft Office 97 Setup, other programs that use these files may not work correctly. In this event, you may need to reinstall the other programs. Or, you may be able to rename the .old files in the Windows\System folder to their original file names.
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Method 3

In some cases, you may be able to correct this problem by using the Windows Explorer to copy the file Vbeext1.olb into the following folder: 
   C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Vba
If this folder does not exist on your hard disk drive, manually create it using the Windows Explorer.

You can find Vbeext1.olb in the OS\System folder of your administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97, or in the OS\System folder of your Microsoft Office 97 compact disc.

After you have copied the Vbeext1.olb file into the Vba folder, re-run Microsoft Office 97 Setup.
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Method 4

If the following folder exists on your hard disk drive 
   C:\Windows\Temp\Vbe
use the Windows Explorer to delete or rename the folder. Then, re-run Microsoft Office 97 Setup.
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Method 5

If none of the above solutions resolve the problem, try following the steps in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
158658  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158658/EN-US/ ) OFF97: How to Completely Remove Microsoft Office 97
Note that a utility that automates the process of removing Office 97 is available. The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Eraser97.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office97std/utility/4.0/win98mexp/en-us/eraser97.exe)
For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
119591  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/EN-US/ ) How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services
Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Office 97 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office 97 Service Pack 1
  • Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Project 98 Standard Edition
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Keywords: 
kbdownload kberrmsg kbfaq kbprb kbusage KB162627
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