BUG: Visual C++ 4.2 DAO Breaks Certain Access95B Functions (154430)

SYMPTOMS

When installing the DAO Components of Visual C++ 4.2 followed by an install of Access95, some of the functionality of Access95 may fail. Specifically, two instances have been reported:

The Table Wizard within Microsoft Access95 version 7.0b will fail with the following message:

      This feature isn't installed.

      Solution:
      To install this feature, re-run the Microsoft Access Setup
      program to reinstall Microsoft Access, or if you're using
      a 3rd-party add-in, reinstall the add-in.

.MDB files created with previous versions of Access, via DAO, or via ODBC can be opened in Access95 once, but subsequent attempts to open these files results in the following message:
OLE Automation error

CAUSE

The problem occurs when a user has only installed DAO3032.DLL and not DAO2532.TLB. Visual C++ is the only Microsoft product that doesn't install both files. Both files are typically installed in \PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\MICROSOFT SHARED\DAO. If a user's machine has DAO3032.DLL and not DAO2532.TLB, and the user then installs Access95B, the DAO2532.TLB will exist, but objects in that file will not be registered. The Access95B Table Wizard relies on these objects so it fails with one of the messages given above.

No problem will be encountered if the user first installs Access95B (or any other application that installs DAO3032.DLL and DAO2532.TLB), and then later installs the DAO SDK. This is because Access95B will register DAO3032.DLL, thereby registering objects in both files. When the DAO SDK registers DAO3032.DLL, it again registers DAO2532.TLB's objects as well, because the file already exists.

RESOLUTION

To properly register DAO3032.DLL, enter the following command at the MS-DOS-PROMPT: regsvr32 dao3032.dll This will register DAO3032.DLL correctly and the Access 7.0b Table Wizard should now work.

REGSVR32.EXE is installed by Visual C++ 4.2 in the MSDev\Bin directory.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this bug and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

On a Windows 95 machine, install a typical Visual C++ version 4.2.
Install Office 95(b) Professional, which installs Access version 7.0b.
Open an existing database, and try to insert a new table using the Table Wizard. -or-
Open an .MDB file created by Access 2.0, DAO (for instance the DAOTable sample) or ODBC. Close the file and reopen it.

NOTE: It appears that at least in some cases Access95 will actually corrupt the .MDB file so that it can no longer be used by Access95. Even performing a repair on the .MDB does not appear to correct the problem. It may be possible to retrieve data from such .MDBs via a DAO or ODBC application.