Does installing Microsoft Office break VB6?

[Tabi]

I think this post is more of a "Warning" than a request for help.

I hardly use Office. Only Excel sporadically. I had an old version 2003, which for me was more than enough, but it sometimes causes problems in W11. So I installed the latest version of Office for a job, and the VB6 IDE stopped working.

Has this happened to anyone? Can it be fixed?

Thanks!

[fafalone]

I've got an issue with it breaking addins but the IDE still works; though I'm using 2021 on Win10.

[Tabi]

Sorry, I expressed myself inaccurately, what you say happens to me. The IDE starts without problems, but when loading a project, a multitude of errors appear, caused by lack of References and/or Components.

[Phill.W]

... when loading a project, a multitude of errors appear, caused by lack of References and/or Components.

If you had references to an older version of Office then you'll have to update those reference to use the newly installed version instead.

Alternatively, you might be able to use Late Binding instead, and remove the need for the Excel reference[s]:

' Instead of ... 
Dim oExcel As Excel.Application 
Set oExcel = new Excel.Application 

' ... Use ... 
Dim oExcel As Object ' Excel.Application
Set oExcel = CreateObject( "Excel.Application" )

Of course, you lose all the intellisense in the IDE but, you get used to that after a while (and can always "ask" the Macro Recorder in Excel if you need to know how to do something!)

Regards, Phill W.

[AAraya]

I recently installed Office 365 and didn't notice any problems with VB6 due to that.

[Arnoutdv]

Can it be the same problem as described in these threads?:
https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....6-on-Windows-7
https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....g-to-a-project

[qvb6]

Open your VBP file with Notepad, and post the lines that begin with Object= and Reference= here.

I have stopped using MS Office and have been using LibreOffice instead, which could open and save Excel/Word/PowerPoint files, so I never looked back. It could open MDB files, but through ODBC or OleDB? I prefer SQLite, and could easily use a GUI such as "DB Browser for SQLite", to create a DB, or generate SQL statements.

It's a good thing though that you are running into problems, just in case the end user is using MS Office.

[SamOscarBrown]

Yes...it has all the telltale signs of the incorrect version in the References. Had that issue. I have 2021 on one computer (actually on two but I don't see it in programs installed). I had to change the reference on that one computer to use it instead of 2007. On the one computer that (sorta) has both, when I start Office, 2007 formats show up. But when I create an office file (e.g. Docx, XLSX, etc) using VB6, it opens it in 2021 (even though my computer doesn't show 2021 as an installed program!!). THAT is confusing. But, for you, change the reference to the proper Office installation.

[qvb6]

See this article as well:

Fixing the Microsoft Windows Common Control Library (MSCOMCTL.OCX) Security Update:
http://www.fmsinc.com/microsoftacces...rols/mscomctl/

[SomeYguy]

No problems here with VB6 projects after installing MS Office on Windows 10 but my projects are all self-contained i.e. no external MS controls are used.

[el84]

My projects are used on several machines (all W10) running different versions of Office, so I always use late Binding to avoid any problem (although admittedly I could just change references as required for each machine).

[zx81sp]

I had that issue a few times so every time a prepare a new VM I install VB6 the latest. I upgraded a few times Office (specially from 2003 to >2010) or installed VS2019 with VB6 previously installed and it started to fail in many ways.

My path is usually OS->Office->VS2019->VB6.

[tmighty2]

I wanted to take the opportunity to mention that I am using LibreWriter, and it works much better in aspects of instantiating and being stuck (meaning that it does not get stuck like Office).

[zx81sp]

I wanted to take the opportunity to mention that I am using LibreWriter, and it works much better in aspects of instantiating and being stuck (meaning that it does not get stuck like Office).

99% of private users could use OnlyOffice as a MS Office replacement but in the enterprise world you really can't survive without MS, it's a standard (specially Excel).

Sometimes you cant' choose other software, no matters if it's better or not.

[SamOscarBrown]

99% of private users could use OnlyOffice as a MS Office replacement but in the enterprise world you really can't survive without MS, it's a standard (specially Excel).

Sometimes you cant' choose other software, no matters if it's better or not.

Not sure where you are getting your data....as a matter of a fact, have never HEARD of OnlyOffice. EVERYONE I know of who has a MS OS computer uses MS Office...some version of it.

[VanGoghGaming]

There are many Office clones (which all fall short one way or another) for those who wish to escape the Micro$oft monopoly!

[zx81sp]

Not sure where you are getting your data....as a matter of a fact, have never HEARD of OnlyOffice. EVERYONE I know of who has a MS OS computer uses MS Office...some version of it.

More that 35 years of experience is a good start point to get data. I'm not saying that OnlyOffice is THE MS replacement, it's one of the multiple choices you have in the market and I suggest you to take a look to that specifical distro (https://www.onlyoffice.com) since is one of the most complete product line with things like Document Server that lets you have your own "Office online" runing with for example your own private cloud like Nextcloud, all self-hosted.

You're right about most of the (domestic) users that use Windows also use MS-Office but they don't use the features what make MS-Office (paid) different to any other free Office distribution (LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Collabora and many others) so they are using normally a pirated copy of a product that does a lot of things thay they don't need when they could use any other product for free to do exactly the same, usually with less resources and simple installations. And if it's not pirated, it's a waste of money.

The enterprise environment runs different, if depends of the company size but specifially Excel is a must because many ERPs use it for reporting or data analysis (SAP B1 for example), a lot of forms use VBA that does not run in any other package, etc.

I use Office365, nothing against M$, but for most of the users there are better an cheaper options.