PRB: MDAC Standalone Setup Dialog Overly Large on Windows 95

ID: Q183092

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Data Access Components, version 1.5

SYMPTOMS

On a computer with the original release of Windows 95 (version 4.00.950), if you run the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) standalone setup program, the dialog box for the setup program appears 10-20 times wider than the screen. If you slide the dialog box over to click the "NEXT" button, it crashes on the next step in the setup process.

CAUSE

This is because the MDAC Standalone Setup program requires versions of the OLE Automation Components and Comctl32.dll file that were shipped after the original version of Windows 95 was released.

Many products install later versions of both OLE Automation and the Comctl32.dll file, including Visual Basic 5.0, Internet Explorer 3.02, Visual C++ 5.0, and so forth. However, it is possible to have a Windows 95 computer without the later versions of one or both of these components.

RESOLUTION

Here are two resolutions:

Install the OLE Automation and Comctl32.dll file patches before running the MDAC Standalone Setup program. Both patches must be installed for the MDAC Standalone Setup program to work correctly. Please refer to the REFERENCES section for the articles that contain information on obtaining the patches.
-or-
As an alternative to the MDAC Standalone Setup program, you could use the MDAC Redistribution, which installs the same run-time components without any of the documents or samples. The MDAC Redistribution runs equally well on Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95 and does not require the OLE Automation and Comctl32.dll file patches to be installed. Please refer to article listed in the REFERENCES section for information on obtaining the MDAC Redistribution files.

REFERENCES

This article is one of a series dealing with redistribution of MDAC components; ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, RDS, the MDAC Standalone, MDAC Redistribution and the Data Access SDK. The whitepaper "Redistributing Microsoft Data Access Components" presents a comprehensive overview of this subject, including referencing the content of this Knowledge Base article. This whitepaper is available at the following Web address:

   http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/news/feature/datajul98/redistmdac.htm

For additional information on the OLE Automation component patch, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q180071
   TITLE     : FILE: Msvbvm50.exe Installs Visual Basic 5.0 Run-Time Files

For additional information on the Comctl32.dll patch, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q165487
   TITLE     : Incorrect or Garbled Text on Tab Labels in Properties

For more information on acquiring the MDAC 1.5 Redistribution files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q181126
   TITLE     : INFO: Redistribution for MDAC 1.5 Components Available

Keywords          : mdacSetup 
Version           : WINDOWS:1.5
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: August 18, 1998