How do I fix the error “Cannot load control SSPanel; license not found” in VB6 program

Question

I have a VB6 legacy program which I need to change. I am unable to run the program from the IDE. When I activate one of the forms in the IDE I get an error which refers me to an

Answer 1

One possibility was in Microsoft article kb177799 "License Information for This Component Not Found Error" (also Q177799)

Though the original article is gone, an archive is here and here and relevant text reproduced as follows:

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

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

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

2. Locate the offending OCX file(s), usually found in the Windows\System folder...

3. On the Start menu, click Run.

4. In the Run dialog box, type the following:

   \REGSVR32.EXE /u \OCXFILE.OCX

5. For example:

   C:\Devstudio\VB\REGSVR32.EXE /u C:\Winnt\System32\COMCTL32.OCX

6. If you are reinstalling an older version of the control, you should delete/remove the .OCX, .OCA and .DEP files so they will be replaced.

7. Repeat the previous 3 steps for each offending OCX.

8. On Control Panel, click Add\Remove Programs.

9. Select Visual Basic, and click Add\Remove.

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

11. Reapply the latest Visual Studio Service Pack