PRB: Error "The Jet VBA File...Failed to Initialize When Called"

When you run an application that uses Microsoft DAO, you receive the following error message (run-time error 3447):

The Microsoft DAO or Jet files are mismatched, or one or more of the DAO or Jet files is missing.

This error most commonly occurs when you deploy a Visual Basic 5.0 application from a development computer that has the Visual Studio 6.0 versions of the DAO and Jet files installed. The Jet files that come with the Visual Studio 6.0 products require an additional file, Expsrv.dll. Because the Vb5dep.ini file does not include this file in the dependency information for Jet, the Visual Basic 5.0 Setup Wizard does not include Expsrv.dll in the Setup files for your application.

Use one of the following resolutions, depending upon your situation.

Expsrv.dll Is Missing from Setup Files

If you are deploying a Visual Basic 5.0 application from a development computer that has the Visual Studio 6.0 versions of the DAO and Jet files installed, you can work around the problem by adding Expsrv.dll in the File Summary screen of the Setup Wizard. However, you might encounter problems distributing other updated components.

The safest alternatives are as follows:

• Develop and create setup files for your Visual Basic 5.0 application on a "clean" computer. (See the MORE INFORMATION section later in this article.) -or-
  
  
• Upgrade the application to Visual Basic 6.0 and create the setup files using the Package and Deployment Wizard (PDW).-or-
  
  
• Download and install the latest MDAC components from:
  
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/aa937729.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/aa937729.aspx)
  
  Then run the setup for your application again.

Other DAO or Jet Files Are Missing or Mismatched

According to the master list of dependency files for Visual Basic 5.0 and 6.0 (Vb5dep.ini and Vb6dep.ini, respectively), the following files are required for DAO and Jet. Check for these files with the appropriate version numbers on the computer where the error occurs.

If you distribute an application using a Setup created by the Setup Wizard or Package and Deployment Wizard, you also need to check the file Setup.lst to verify the appropriate files and file version numbers. Setup.lst is the master list of the files that are installed by the application setup. You can find Setup.lst in the folder that contains the setup files for your application.

NOTE: All of these files are located in the \Windows\System (or on Windows NT, in the \Winnt\System32) folder, except DAO350.dll. The DAO350.dll file can be found in the \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DAO folder.

Visual Basic 5.0 Files and Version Numbers:

Visual Basic 6.0 Files and Version Numbers:

For more information about the files installed for each version of Jet, please refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

178880 INFO: Identifying the Jet Database Engine Components  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/178880/EN-US/ )


If you determine that the version of a file on the system is incorrect, perform the following steps to replace it. If you determine that a file is missing, skip to step 3.

1. If the file is one that requires registration (MSRD2x35.dll, MSJet35.dll, or DAO350.dll), perform the following steps to unregister it:
   1. On the taskbar, click the Start button, and then click Run.
   2. In the Run dialog, type the following command:

      Regsvr32.exe /u <DLL Name>
      							

      where DLL Name is the name of the DLL file, such as DAO350.dll.
   3. Click OK.
2. Rename the mismatched file.
3. Copy the appropriate version of the mismatched or missing file from the Visual Basic product CD to the computer experiencing the problem.
   
   NOTE: For Visual Basic 6.0, all the files are located in the OS\System folder on Disk 1.
   
   For Visual Basic 5.0, all the files, except DAO350.dll, are located in the OS\System folder on the Visual Basic CDs and the VB5.0\OS\System folder on the Visual Studio 97 CDs. DAO350.dll is located in the OS\MSAPPS\DAO folder on the Visual Basic CDs and the VB5.0\OS\MSAPPS\DAO folder on the Visual Studio 97 CDs.
4. If the file is one that requires registration (MSRD2x35.dll, MSJet35.dll, or DAO350.dll), register it using the following steps:
   1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Run dialog box, type the following command:
      
      

      Regsvr32.exe <DLL Name>

      where DLL Name is the name of the DLL file, such as DAO350.dll.
   3. Click OK.

As an alternative solution, you can run the DAO SDK redistribution setup on the target computer that has missing or mismatched DAO or Jet files. The DAO SDK redistribution is provided in the DAOSDK\REDIST folder on Disk 1 of Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Edition and Disk 3 of Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition. It consists of three folders -- Disk 1, Disk 2, and Disk 3. You can either run Setup.exe from the Disk 1 folder on the CD, or you can copy each of the folders to a diskette and run Setup.exe from the first diskette.

If you have multiple versions of Visual Basic or Visual Studio on the same computer, it typically does not alter the development environment. However, regarding application deployment, multiple versions can cause a Visual Basic application to fail to install correctly. This can be caused by newer versions of components that exist on the computer and the inability of the installation application to correctly determine dependency information or register those components. To ensure good distribution of your application, the development machine should have only the necessary version of Visual Basic or Visual Studio installed.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193270 INFO: Troubleshooting VB Application Installation Issues  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/193270/EN-US/ )

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

196057 PRB: The Jet VBA File VBAJet32.dll Failed to Initialize  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196057/EN-US/ )


191735 PRB: The Jet VBA File Failed to Initialize When Called  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191735/EN-US/ )