FIX: VB 2.0 Prof Demo Causes Error: Invalid File Format

The information in this article applies to:

- Professional Edition of Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows, version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

Running the Professional Edition Demo for Visual Basic version 2.0 for Windows may immediately cause an "Invalid File Format" error. This problem may also occur when you run a Visual Basic program that uses the common dialog custom control.

CAUSE

This error is usually caused by an incorrect version of the common dialog VBX (CMDIALOG.VBX) file in the \WINDOWS directory. The Visual Basic version 1.0 Professional Toolkit installs the common dialog VBX into the \WINDOWS directory, whereas the version 2.0 Professional Edition installs the common dialog VBX into the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory leaving the old version of the common dialog VBX in the \WINDOWS directory.

When the version 2.0 professional demo is run, the demo finds the old common dialog VBX in the Windows directory first and gives the error "Invalid File Format."

WORKAROUND

To work around the problem, delete or move the Visual Basic version 1.0 version of the CMDIALOG.VBX out of the \WINDOWS directory. This will leave the correct version of the common dialog VBX in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the product listed above. This bug was corrected in Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0 for Windows. In Visual Basic version 3.0, the Common dialog control ships with both the Standard and Professional editions, so the version 3.0 Professional edition demo doesn't discuss the Common dialog control, which avoids the the error. Version 3.0 of the Common dialog control replaces version 2.0 of the control.