How to resolve VISUAL BASIC ERROR MESSAGE?

Every time I try to open MS Excel, MS Word or MS Powerpoint - I get an error message. I hit the OK button and I have to keep hitting the OK button a few times because the error message appears each time. Finally, after about 5 times - the program will start. The error message reads:

VISUAL BASIC ERROR MESSAGE: MS Excel requires file OLEAUT32.DLL to run. The version of OLEAUT32.DLL that is on your computer is older than the one required by this version of MS Excel. Please run Setup again and select the Reinstall option to install the correct version of the file. An error message occurred initializing the VBA libraries (16389).

When I ran Setup again, it said it was correctly installed. Yet I still receive this error message every time.

It's frustrating. Can you help? Is there a bug on this computer? I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling MS Office.

This question was answered on March 28, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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SYMPTOMS:

When you start any of the Microsoft Office 2000 programs listed at the beginning of this article, you may receive the following error message:

There was a problem starting the Office Assistant Would you like to try reinstalling it?

If you click Yes, you receive the following error message:

The Office Assistant could not be started Please repair the Assistant by running Office 2000 setup and selecting "Repair Office 2000"

When you start Microsoft Excel 2000, you receive the following error message:

Microsoft Excel requires file OLEAUT32.DLL to run The version of OLEAUT32.DLL that is on your computer is older than the one required by this version of Microsoft Excel.

Please run Setup again, and select the Reinstall option to install the correct version of the file

When you start Microsoft Outlook 2000, you receive the following error message:

The required file OUTLRPC.dll cannot be found in your path, please reinstall Microsoft Outlook

When you start Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, you receive the following error message:

The AGENTSVR.EXE file is linked to missing export OLEAUT32.DLL:277

When you start Microsoft FrontPage 2000, you receive the following error message:

Microsoft FrontPage is not installed properly on this system and cannot function Please reinstall Microsoft FrontPage.

Click OK to exit

followed by:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down If the problem persists, contact the program vendor

If you click Details, you receive an error message similar to the following:

FRONTPG caused an invalid page fault in module MFC42.DLL at 0137:5f4086f7

When you start Microsoft Access 2000, you receive the following error message:

The file 'OLEAUT32.DLL' is out of date This program requires a newer version

CAUSE:

This problem occurs if an outdated version of the Oleaut32.dll file is installed on your computer

RESOLUTION:

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods

Method 1: Run Detect and Repair

If the program does not close after you receive any of the error messages in the "Symptoms" section of this article, follow these steps to resolve the problem:

1 Click Detect and Repair on the Help menu

2 Click Start in the Detect and Repair dialog box.

Office Setup replaces the outdated copy of Oleaut32.dll.

If the Office program closes after the error message appears, follow these steps to resolve the problem:

1 Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.

2 Double-click Add/Remove Programs.

3 Double-click Office 2000.

4 Click Repair Office.

5 Click Reinstall Office and click Finish.

NOTE: Because of the outdated version of Oleaut32.dll, you may receive error messages during the reinstallation Click Ignore in each error message dialog box to continue

Method 2: Copy Oleaut32.dll from the Office 2000 CD-ROM

If Method 1 does not resolve the problem, follow these steps:

1 On Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98:

Quit all running programs.

2 Insert the Office 2000 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive.

3 Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.

4 In the Office 2000 CD-ROM, browse to the System folder, copy Oleaut32.dll, and then paste it into C:\.

5 Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode.

6 Type the following at the MS-DOS prompt, and then press ENTER:

copy C:\oleaut32.dll c:\windows\system\oleaut32.dll

NOTE: The path may vary, according to the installation folder of Windows and your computer's operating system (for example, Winnt\System32)

NOTE: If you are asked to overwrite, press Y and then press ENTER.

7 Run Office Setup, click Repair Office, and then click Reinstall.

Method 3: Install the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000 For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

REFERENCES:

For additional information about Office errors that can occur with an outdated version of the Oleaut32.dll file, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

224315 OFF2000: Error Starting Visual Basic Editor with Outdated Oleaut32.dll

About the author

Posted by Enyenihi of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on March 28, 2003

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