ActiveX component can't create object

Question

I have just installed a third party app on my Windows Server 2008 server and I get the

ActiveX Component can't create object

message when I try to access using a CreateObject in VBScript.

It is definitely installed and exists under "Programs and Features". Does anyone have a list of things that I can check to figure out what is going on?

I have now tried to register the DLL using regsvr32.exe /i bob.dll as suggested but I get this error:

The Module "Bob.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found.

Make sure that "Bob.dll" is valid DLL or OCX file and then try again.

I should note that this is a 32-bit application on a 64-bit machine at this point. It also works fine on my machine which is Windows XP 32-bit.

Answer 1

It turns out to get this application working under VBScript, I had to do two things.

1. Run RegAsm.exe to register the DLLs.
2. Run the C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cscript.exe to run my VBScript.

Thanks for all your help.

ALSO if these don't work, check out the other answer here about enabling 32-bit applications.

Answer 2

It's also worth checking that you've got "Enable 32-bit Applications" set to True in the advanced settings of the DefaultAppPool within IIS.

Answer 3

The app is trying to create a COM Object and even if that COM DLL exists, it may depend on another DLL which isn't installed. You can use DependencyWalker to find out if this is the case.

Answer 4

I know this is an old question and already has an answer marked as correct but that didn't help me.

For any poor souls coming this way in future, check your browser settings-

For me, using IE, the fix was to go into Tools/Internet Options, Security tab, for the relevant zone, "custom level" and check the ActiveX settings. Setting "Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting" to "Enable" fixed this problem for me

Answer 5

Also when you register the component make sure you use the 32-bit version of regsvr32.exe. If you simply run regsvr32.exe in a elevated prompt, it will default take the standard 64-bit version (which oddly enough is located in C:\Windows\System32)

The version I believe you need is located in C:\Windows\SysWow64\regsvr32.exe

Answer 6

It really looks as though the object you are referencing is not registered on the system. I know you said it's installed, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's registered. To confirm this, search for the progID that you used in your registry.

Example for this code:

set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") 

I would search for Scripting.FileSystemObject in the registry. Then I would look at registry key above the found value, for InProcServer32 value. This will give you the path to the ActiveX file that it was registered from (for Scripting.FileSystemObject the file is "c:\windows\system32\scrrun.dll").

If you can't find your progID in the registry, then it's not registered on your system which is your problem. If it's not registered you need to find out what file registers it, which is usually an .ocx or a .dll in the same folder path of your third party app, and then register these file(s). Here is the command to register a file:

regsvr32 /i "c:\windows\system32\scrrun.dll"

Even if you find the progID value in the registry and it references a file that is present on your system, you may still want to try re-registering the file. I have found that sometimes the registration got broken somehow somewhere and it was easier to re-register the files then it was to fix the issue.

Answer 7

If its a 32 bit COM/Active X, use version 32 bit of cscript.exe/wscript.exe located in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\

Answer 8

I also meet the same error in vbscript.

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Solution:
Open command line, run :

regsvr32 /i "c:\windows\system32\scrrun.dll"

and it works

Answer 9

I've had the same issue in a VB6 program I'm writing, where a Form uses a ScriptControl object to run VBScripts selected by the User.

It worked fine until the other day, when it suddenly started displaying 'Runtime error 429' when the VBScript attempted to create a Scripting.FileSystemObject.

After going mad for an entire day, trying all the solutions proposed here, I began suspecting the problem was in my application.

Fortunately, I had a backup version of that form: I compared their codes, and discovered that inadvertently I had set UseSafeSubset property of my ScriptControl object to True.

It was the only difference in the form, and after restoring the backup copy it worked like a charm.

Hope this can be useful to someone. Up with VB6! :-)

Max - Italy

Answer 10

I had the same issue with Excel, I was trying to use a 32 COM DLL with an Excel 64 bits version and I got this error. I rebuild the COM dll to a 64 bits version and the error disappears. So be sure that your COM dll has the same architecture (x86 vs x64) than your application.

Answer 11

I had this problem too. I was trying to run an old 32-bit dll in a 64 bit system. I got it working by copying the .dll to the C:\Windows\SysWoW64\ directory and running this:

%systemroot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32 "C:\Windows\SysWoW64\thenameofyourdll.dll"

And also enabling IIS to run 32 bit apps