OFF97: Errors Opening File Containing ActiveX Controls (175289)

SYMPTOMS

When you open a file or run a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro that displays a user form, you receive the following error message:

Compile error: ActiveX component can't create object.

When you click OK, you receive the following error message:

Could not load an object because it is not available on this machine.

When you click OK, you receive one of the following error messages:

License information for this component not found. You do not have an appropriate license to use this functionality in the design environment.

-or-

The control cannot be created because it is not properly licensed.

CAUSE

This problem occurs under the following two conditions:

You opened a file in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel or ran a macro to display a user form containing an ActiveX control that ships with the Microsoft Office 97 Developer Edition (ODE) Tools.

-and-
You did not have the ODE Tools installed on your computer. Instead, the ActiveX controls were distributed to you.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows and Microsoft Word 97 for Windows. This problem was corrected in Excel 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1) and Word 97 SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

172475 OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

MORE INFORMATION

The ODE includes a Setup Wizard that you can use to create a Setup program for installing files for a custom application. Unless the users have Microsoft Office 97 SR-1 installed, they will receive the error messages listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article when you distribute ActiveX controls with the Setup program.