ODE97: Comcat.dll Can't Be Registered During Run-time Install

ID: Q174217

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 97 Developer Edition Tools
Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you run the Setup Wizard for your custom application on a Windows 95 computer that is running Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or on a computer running Windows 98, and you then install your application on a computer that does not have Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 installed, you may receive the following error message

Comcat.dll was unable to register itself in the system registry

and Setup is not completed successfully.

CAUSE

You used the Office Developer Edition Setup Wizard to build disk images. These disk images include a later version of the Comcat.dll file than the version on the target computer. When you run Setup for your custom application, Comcat.dll is replaced with the newer version of the file from your disk image. Setup can not register this newer version properly; therefore, you receive the error described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

RESOLUTION

To avoid this problem, you need to ensure that the version of Comcat.dll included in your disk images is compatible with all the operating systems and configurations on which you plan to install your application.

NOTE: After you have used one of the following resolutions, you will need to re-create your disk images and re-install your application to the target computers. To do this successfully, you will need to rename or remove the newer version of Comcat.dll that was copied to the computer during the previous failed installation before you try to reinstall your application.

Solution 1

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

NOTE: A file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center (Mdtupdtr.exe) that automatically carries out the manual steps listed for this solution. For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q179567 SetupWizard Template Files Updater Available in Download Center

It is possible to change the version of Comcat.dll that is included in your disk images by changing an entry in two of the Setup Wizard tables.

WARNING: Because the following solution will modify the default tables in the Setup Wizard, you should back up the following two tables for reference. If you completed a default installation of the Microsoft Office 97 Developer Edition, move to the following folder

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ODETools\Setup Wizard\Msaccomp

and copy these files into a different folder:

01Microsoft Access Run-Time Version.MDT
07Microsoft Graph 97 Run-Time Version.MDT

After you have made backups of these two tables, follow these steps:

Copy a version of Comcat.dll that will register correctly into C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ODE Tools\Setup Wizard\Redist folder on your development computer.

NOTE: Version 4.71, which is on both the Office 97 Professional CD-ROM and the Microsoft Access 97 CD-ROM, will work.

Start Microsoft Access.

In the Microsoft Access dialog box, select Open An Existing Database, and then select More Files from the list. Click OK.

In the Open dialog box, select All Files (*.*) in the Files Of Type box, and move to the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ODETools\Setup Wizard\Msaccomp

Select and open the file, 01Microsoft Access Run-time Version.mdt.

Open the SHAREDMSO table and find the line with the following values:
LineID: add Comcat_dll
Param2: $(WinSysPath)
Param3: C:\Windows\System\COMCAT.DLL
Change these values so that they read as follows:

LineID: add Comcat_dll
Param2: $(SwizSetupFilesPath)
Param3: C:\program files\microsoft office\odetools\setup wizard \redist\comcat.dll

Close the database.

Select and open the file, 07Microsoft Graph 97 Run-Time Version.MDT, and repeat steps 6 and 7.

Solution 2

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

Use the Setup Wizard to create disk images on a computer that matches the lowest common configuration for all of the anticipated target computers for your application. Some configurations that would suit this purpose:

Windows 95 without Microsoft Internet Explorer

Windows 95 with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x or earlier

Windows NT 4.0 Workstation or Server running Service Pack 3

If you distribute an application using the Microsoft Office 97 Developer Edition and Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 from Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q174508 ODE: Run-Time Application Built on IE 4.0 Computer Breaks IE 3.x

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

The newer version of Comcat.dll that does not register properly is installed by both Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x and Microsoft Windows 98. Install custom applications that contain the newer file after installing either of these products on your development computer will cause the described behavior. You may receive the error message when you install your application that contains the newer file onto the following target machine configurations:

Windows 95 without Microsoft Internet Explorer

Windows 95 with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x or earlier

Windows NT with any version of Internet Explorer

The error occurs any time you install your application on a Windows NT 4.0 computer because when Internet Explorer 4.0 is installed onto a Windows NT 4.0 computer, it does not install the updated Comcat.dll file. The updated file is used strictly when installing on Windows 95.

For more information about other issues involving Office 97 Developer Edition and Internet Explorer 4.0, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q179011 ODE: Running Microsoft Office 97 Developer Edition with IE 4.0

For more information about other issues involving the Office 97 Developer Edition and distributing applications, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q160870 ACC: VBA Functions Break in Databases with Missing References

Q162884 ODE97: Troubleshooting ODE Setup Wizard Problems

Additional query words: pra ie4

Keywords : EvnOthr OdeGen
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug