WD97: Errors Initializing Visual Basic Editor

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to initialize the Word Visual Basic for Applications Editor in a low disk space or low memory situation, you may receive one or more of the following error messages:

   Could not open macro storage.

   The Visual Basic Environment could not be initialized. Please run
   Setup to install it correctly.

   Word could not fire event.

CAUSE

The possible causes for these errors are:

• Insufficient disk space or low memory. (This is the most common cause.)
• A corrupt Normal.dot file
• A wrong version for the VBE.dll file.
• A network rights(permissions) issue, if Temp directory is on a server.

RESOLUTION

To prevent these errors from occurring, do any of the following:

• Close Word and rename your Normal.dot file
• For a wrong version of the VBE.dll file, do the following steps:

       1. Exit all currently open applications.
  

       2. Start a MS-DOS Prompt in a Window by doing the following:
  

           a. Click Start, point to Programs, click the mouse
              on MS-DOS Prompt, and then click Properties.
  
           b. Click the Screen tab, under Usage, click Window, and then
              click OK.
  
           c. Cick Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS
              Prompt. You may have to enlarge the window.
  
       2. Change the directory to the location of the VBE.dll file
          by typing the following and then pressing Enter:
  
             CD C:\progra~1\common~1\micros~1\vba
   
          Note: This is the default directory for the VBE.dll file.
          If you have installed Microsoft Office into another
          Drive or Directory, you will need to type its path.
  
       3. Unregister the VBE.dll by typing the following:
  
             C:\Windows\System\REGSVR32 /U VBE.DLL
  
          Note: This is the default directory for the Windows System
          directory. If you have installed Windows into another
          Directory, you will need to type its path.
  
       4. Minimize the MS-DOS Prompt window.
  
       5. Start Microsoft Explorer and rename VBE.dll to VBE.old
          
          Note: The default installation folder for VBE.dll is:
  
             C:\Program Files\Common files\Microsoft Shared\VBA
  
       6. In Microsoft Explorer copy the file, VBE.dll, from the
          Microsoft Office CD, found in the folder of:
  
             <CDROM drive:>\OS\System\VBE.dll
  
          to the following folder on your hard drive:
  
             C:\Program Files\Common files\Microsoft Shared\VBA
  
          Note: This is the default directory for the VBE.dll file.
          If you have installed Microsoft Office into another
          Drive or Directory, you will need to copy to that path.
  
       7. Maximize the MS-DOS Prompt window.
  
       8. In the MS-DOS Prompt window, make sure the current
          directory is
  
             C:\Program Files\Common files\Microsoft Shared\VBA
  
          or change the directory to the location of the VBE.dll
          file by typing the following and then pressing Enter:
  
             CD C:\progra~1\common~1\micros~1\vba
  
             Note: This is the default directory for the VBE.dll
             file. If you have installed Microsoft Office into
             another Drive or Directory, you will need to type
             its path.
  
          then re-register the VBE.DLL by typing the following
          and then pressing Enter:
  
            C:\Windows\System\REGSVR32 VBE.DLL
  
       9. Exit the MS-DOS Prompt window.
  
  
  

• Network permissions of Create is necessary; the Visual Basic Editor(VBE) creates a folder in the Temp directory to store files.
• Add more RAM to your computer
• Acquire more hard disk space (either by adding a larger disk drive or by using a disk compression utility).
• As a short term solution, you can free RAM by shutting down unneeded programs or you can free disk space by deleting unneeded files.
• Restart Windows.
• Uninstall and Reinstall Microsoft Office 97.

REFERENCE

For more information about the folder the VBE creates, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    ARTICLE-ID:  Q158875
    TITLE     :  .Exd Files Are Created When You Insert Controls