BUG: No Intl Section in WIN.INI Causes Problems w/ VB 4 16- Bit (145682)

SYMPTOMS

A variety of design time problems can be experienced with the 16-bit version of Visual Basic 4.0 on some 16-bit Windows machines when the [Intl] section of the WIN.INI is missing or does not contain some entries. Symptoms caused by this problem include:

A compile error in a hidden module named "_#watchmodule#_".
Visual Basic not accepting standard syntax, such as "Option Explicit". The IDE flags the syntax and turns it red. Some errors raised in the design environment are "Invalid character" and "Not valid in a procedure or module.
GPFs (General Protection Faults) in VBA2.DLL at various times.
The following OLE automation error can also occur when you run the standalone .exe:
-2147483656 or 0x80000008 unspecified error.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be an issue in the Microsoft the products listed at the beginning of this article. Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

RESOLUTION

To resolve the problem, ensure that the WIN.INI file (located in the Windows directory) contains the following text:

[intl]
   sLanguage=enu
   sCountry=United States
   iCountry=1
   iDate=0
   iTime=0
   iTLZero=0
   iCurrency=0
   iCurrDigits=2
   iNegCurr=0
   iLzero=1
   iDigits=2
   iMeasure=1
   s1159=AM
   s2359=PM
   sCurrency=$
   sThousand=,
   sDecimal=.
   sDate=/ 
   sTime=:
   sList=,
   sShortDate=M/d/yy
   sLongDate=dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy

The following setting can also be added to this section although it is not required.

   dialog=yes