not able to open VB project, getting error “C:\windows\system32\mscomctl.ocx” could not be loaded

Question

I have a VB project was able to work without any issues, but now when i open the project i am getting the error with mscomctl.ocx. I have re-registered the ocx but still am not

Answer 1

I had the same problem. user1272267 answer worked (thanks), but it bothered me that I didn't understand why, I also wasn't sure if I would end up breaking the project for my colleagues who it worked fine for.

So I did a bit more digging and found that in the registry there was a key; reg hkcr\typelib{831FDD16-0C5C-11D2-A9FC-0000F8754DA1}\2.0 (Note the 2.0)

I changed the 2.0 to 2.1 and hey presto, everything worked fine. I also checked the DLL and it turned out my copy was older than my colleagues copy. I think this may be because when I installed service pack 6 I kept some of the original files when asked since the replacement files were for American english and I had the UK version, but i'm not 100% certain of this