[RESOLVED] Resolving VB6 OCX issues with Windows 7

G'day, I have been at wits end for a couple of weeks over trying to register required OCX files that my project uses. I have recently installed a new hard drive along with Windows 7 (64 bit) and VB6 or rather Visual Studio Enterprise. I copied my project over to the new hard drive but kept getting OCX registraion errors whenever I started it.
Running my project requires Listviews (MSCOMCTL.OCX), Rich TextBox (RICHTX32.OCX) and Calendar (MSCAL.OCX). These files refuse to register.

I must have read dozens of related problems & supposed fixes and tried almost all of them...
* Reinstalled VB ... 6 times. :(
* Using another MSCOMCTL.OCX
* Moving the MSCOMCTL.OCX file to my project's folder
* Run the Package and Deployment Wizard
* Compile my working project with all it's dependancy files of the old harddrive and install it on the new drive.
* Change the system date
* Run ACM.EXE (ActiveX Component Manager) and enable it. (Where ever the hell that is hiding???? Not in "Windows", "System32" or "SysWOW64" directories.) :(
* Even running the command prompt as admin to register the files did not resolve the issues
64bit example: regsvr32 C:\Windows\sysWOW64\MSCOMCTL.OCX
otherwise: regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\MSCOMCTL.OCX
* Holding your tongue to the left whilst rubbing your belly and patting your head (only joking, :) but it is just as effective as those other so called remedies)

The ONLY recommended solution that worked for me was to uninstall Internet Explorer 11. Internet Explorer 10 also causes these same issues, so if you have it installed then uninstall it.
Windows will configure the changes upon shut down and again when rebooting. Just let it do it's thing as it will register and load the files.
I know this is a common issue for many so I thought to share it here in hope that it would show up in a google seach and save many from stressful weeks if not months trying to run their projects on a new Operating System. I have posted this in the FAQs as well.
So there you have it folks. The problem with Microsoft is Microsoft. Good luck.

Now that I have tested and ran my project successfully, I will try to upgrade IE again and see if the problems return or not and let you know.
BTW, there is one issue now. I have multiple instances of the effected tool icons in the VB toolbar, but hey, it's working again, so nothing else matters. :) :thumb:

Okay I have reinstalled Internet Explorer 11, rebooted and my VB project still works with the registered OCX files. Whoohoo!! :thumb:

I still have multiple copies of certain icons in the VB6 toolbar but I can live with that. :)

If this thread is finished with please mark it "Resolved" by selecting "Mark thread resolved" from the "Thread tools" drop-down menu. Have you tried resetting the toolbar?

Sorry I thought to mark it as "RESOLVED" but it wasn't a query, it was the answer to resolve the issues for many. Done now. :)

No I haven't tried resetting the toolbar. How exactly is that achieved? Sorry, just poking around with it now and it's the "Toolbox" and not the "Toolbar".


EDIT: Not to worry. As I had installed VB so many times in various locations and tried registering the OCX so many times, I decided to uninstalled VB and deleted all copies of MSCOMCTL.OCX
I installed VB again (just the once). Now selecting the OCX in my project's components made it hang so then I did a system restore to two days ago, tried it again knowing that it wouldn't work and finally uninstalled IE 11 again.
All is well, fully functional and no double ups of the toolbox icons. :) :thumb: