Shortcut to manually register DLL's..

Ever been stuck or advised to manually register a DLL on your or a client machine and been left scratching your head?

Here is what I do to save some time or test a file.

1. Open Explorer and locate the dll/ocx you are wanting to register. You could also use the Search for files function.

2. Click Start >> Run

3. Type Regsvr32 in the Open Box

4. Drag and drop the DLL from the Explorer window into the Open box right after Regsvr32

5. Click OK

You should now be presented with a dialog informing of the status of that action.

.:SPECIAL NOTE:.
1. If in the resulting dialog you see the message
"Entry point not found"

This would be an indication that the DLL does not need to be registered. Hence the 'No entry point'

[color green]CRYSTAL NOTE: --> The export format and destination and data access drivers do not need to be registered.[/color]

2. If the DLL is registerable (and all dependencies are present**, you should see a "...registered successfully.." message.


**If you have a DLL that you know needs to be registered, but fails, you can use a tool like Dependency Walker (http://www.dependencywalker.com) to open the dll (.exe or .ocx) and it will alert you to the problem component(s).


Of course this is not an all encompassing FAQ, but meant to provide a quick and painless way to try registering a DLL if it is a part of your troubleshooting. If you are not sure the file needs regsitering, try it.


Hope this saves you a bit of time.