Missing Microsoft Data Environment

[NeilFrank]

I've reinstalled VB6 on my machine after reformatting & rebuilding my hard drive.

When I try to run any VB6 app, I get a 'Can't find project or library' error, and one of my variable declarations is highlighted (eg Public FOO As Node). This is a red herring. The real culprit shows up immediately: the References window opens itself up and Microsoft Data Environment Instance 1.0 – whatever that is - is flagged as MISSING.

I've seen this problem in the past and was able to correct it by reinstalling VB6 Service Pack 6, but this time that fix is not helpful.

So . . .???

Thanks in advance!

 

[harebrain]

Have you tried registering MSDE.DLL?

 

[NeilFrank]

Thanks for this suggestion.

I found the MSDE.dll file on my VB6 installation CD (it was not on my hard drive) and added it to the Windows\System32 folder. Then, in the Start/Run box I typed:

RegSvr32 C:\Windows\System32\msde.dll

which succeeded.

However, I still have the same problem. Is this what you were suggesting?

 

[harebrain]

Yes. If you still have the same problem, then I'd guess that the "missing references" error is another red herring, or, more properly, a symptom of bigger problems.

I don't think SP6 is a complete roll-up. For instance, it requires Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.5 or later to be already installed. (I think MDAC is up to 2.8.)

Something is missing from your installation. Not going to be easy from here to tell what it is.

 

[strongm]

I've had this. And there is a Microsoft article on how to fix it - but I've mislaid, I'm afraid ...

 

[NeilFrank]

Thanks for these.

The point that SP6 is not a complete roll-up brings the following to mind. I note that on my laptop, where VB6 is running fine, the reference is listed as MS Data Environment Instance 1.0 (SP4).

Does this mean I might want to install SP4 _over_ SP6 (assuming that SP4 is still available)?

 

[harebrain]

I don't think SP4 is still out there, but SP5 is. I definitely would NOT install out of sequence.

 

[NeilFrank]

FWIW, I was able to fix this problem as follows:

Clicking on the entry 'MISSING MS Data Environment' in the Reference window gave its expected location and dll file: Program Files\Common Files\designer\MSDERUN.DLL Indeed this dll file was not in this folder or anywhere else.

Simply (?) replacing the designer folder with one from another machine on which VB ran OK and which did contain MSDERUN.dll - a/w several other files - the bug vanished.

Which goes to show that it's sometimes possible to fix a deep VB6 bug while having almost no idea what caused it.

Thanks again for the input.