PRB: Using MDAC with Internet Component Downloads (251325)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 3.02
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 4.01
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 4.01 SP1
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 4.01 SP2
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 5
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 5.01
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0 SP3
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.0
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 (GA)
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 SP1
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 SP2
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.5
This article was previously published under Q251325

SYMPTOMS

If your software component uses Internet component download to deploy Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) inside .cab files, multiple errors often result. The most common problems are that the component never displays and the user's computer restarts multiple times during the installation process.

CAUSE

MDAC is not designed to be installed using Internet component download.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, instruct users to install MDAC from Microsoft Universal Data Access Web Site before accessing your component.

For Windows 2000 users, MDAC 2.5 is installed with the operating system. Subsequent MDAC upgrades are scheduled to be shipped with the service packs for Windows 2000.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

If your component includes ActiveX Controls or ActiveX documents that depend on an MDAC component in Visual Basic, Package Deployment Wizard (PDW) by default includes a reference to download the MDAC component via a Microsoft site. However, this is faulty behavior and leads to many problems. It often causes the ActiveX Controls and ActiveX documents not to be installed successfully through Internet component download.

If your component is dependant on any MDAC components, manually clear the references in the PDW and make sure MDAC is not referenced in the .inf file generated by the PDW.

If you package components for Internet component download with other tools, you should make sure that MDAC is not distributed inside your CAB files. If the application has MDAC dependencies, these tools might attempt to include MDAC in the package, either by including the MDAC DLLs or by referring to the older MDAC CAB files, such as MDAC20.cab or MDAC_TYP.cab, which are available on the Microsoft Web site. These methods of redistributing MDAC are not supported.

In order for your components to work correctly, make sure the required MDAC component is already installed on the client computer. Instruct users to install the correct version of MDAC from the Microsoft Universal Data Access Web Site before accessing your component.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

176810 HOWTO: Manually Modify and Rebuild CAB Files



For more information, see the following Webcast:

How Does Internet Component Download Work?

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/24/2004
Keywords:kbcode kbDownload kbFAQ kbprb KB251325
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