PRB: "License Information for This Component Not Found" Error

ID: Q177799

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 6.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you try to add a control to a form, the following message may appear:

License information for this component not found. You do not have an appropriate license to use this functionality in the design environment.

CAUSE

When a control is installed for run time use only (such as those installed by an application created with Visual Basic), if the Visual Basic Development Environment is installed onto the same machine afterwards and the existing control is of equal or higher version than that from the CD, the license key for that control is not updated.

RESOLUTION

If the control in question is any of the ones listed below, then find and double-click on the file Vbctrls.reg on the Visual Basic CD-ROM:

AniBtn32.ocx
Gauge32.ocx
Graph32.ocx
Grid32.ocx
KeySta32.ocx
MSOutl32.ocx
Spin32.ocx
Threed32.ocx

This will update the design-time licenses for these controls. For Visual Basic 5.0, Vbctrls.reg is found in the \Tools\Controls folder. For Visual Basic 6.0, it is found on Disk 1 in the \Common\Tools\Vb\Controls folder, and for Visual Studio 6.0, it is in the same folder of Disk 3. The Visual Basic 6.0 CD-ROM also contains these files for the Visual Basic 5.0 Custom Controls that were discontinued in Visual Basic 6.0:

Dbgrid.reg
Mschart.reg

For more information, please refer to the Readme.txt file in the same folder.

If the control in question is not among the controls listed above, please do the following:

Locate Regsvr32.exe on your machine. Note its path.

Locate the offending OCX file(s), usually found in the Windows\System folder for Windows 95 and Windows 98, or the Windows\System32 folder for Windows NT.

On the Start menu, click Run.

In the Run dialog box, type the following:

<Path to RegSvr32>\REGSVR32.EXE /u <Path to OCX>\OCXFILE.OCX

For example:

C:\Devstudio\VB\REGSVR32.EXE /u C:\Winnt\System32\COMCTL32.OCX
NOTE: If Regsvr32.exe is in the System or System32 folder, the path is optional.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each offending OCX.

On Control Panel, click Add\Remove Programs.

Select Visual Basic, and click Add\Remove.

Click Reinstall when the options (Add\Remove, Remove All, Reinstall) dialog box appears.

If the problem persists, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q181854 FILE: Vbc.exe Fixes VB 5.0 Control Installation Problem

Q194751 FILE: VB6Cli.exe Fixes License Problems with Visual Basic 6.0

Q195353 FILE: VBUSC.EXE Provides Licensing for Discontinued Controls

STATUS

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Set up a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT machine, Machine A, without Visual Basic 5.0 installed. Then set up a development machine, Machine B, with Visual Basic 5.0 and Service Pack 3 installed.

On Machine B, create a Standard EXE project. Form1 is created by default.

Add the following component (OCX) to the Toolbox:

Comctl32.ocx

Add at least one control from this OCX to Form1.

Compile and save the project.

Create a setup application using the Visual Basic Application Setup Wizard, selecting all default options.

Install the application onto Machine A.

Install Visual Basic 5.0 on Machine A.

Start a Standard EXE project and add Comctl32.ocx to the Toolbox.

Try to add any of the controls from this OCX, and this error message appears:

License information for this component not found. You do not have an appropriate license to use this Functionality in the design environment.

REFERENCES

Please see the RESOLUTION section of this article for additional Microsoft Knowledge Base articles. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q172193 INFO: List of VB 4.0 Custom Controls Discontinued in VB 5.0

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbCtrl kbRegistry kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpVB kbVBP500FAQ
Version : WINDOWS:5.0,6.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb