ACC1x: "Outdated COMMDLG.DLL" Error Message During Setup

ID: Q93694

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you try to open a database, you receive the following error message:

Outdated "COMMDLG.DLL." Please reinstall Microsoft Access.


CAUSE

There are three possible causes of this problem:

  1. More than one version of COMMDLG.DLL on your computer.


  2. An outdated copy of the COMMDLG.DLL file.


  3. An incompatible copy of COMMDLG.DLL.



RESOLUTION

The three solutions below correspond with the three causes listed above:

  1. Rename the duplicate versions of COMMDLG.DLL.


  2. Make sure the COMMDLG.DLL file in the WINDOWS system subdirectory is newer than the following:
    
      3/10/92   (for Microsoft Windows version 3.1)
      10/01/92  (for Windows for Workgroups)
      10/25/92  (for Microsoft Access)


  3. If you have a third-party COMMDLG.DLL file, make sure that it is compatible with Microsoft Access.


The three sections under "More Information" describe these procedures.


MORE INFORMATION

Searching for Copies of COMMDLG.DLL File

To search for all occurrences of the COMMDLG.DLL file, follow these steps:
  1. Exit Windows.


  2. Search for any other copies of COMMDLG.DLL on the current drive by typing the following commands at the MS-DOS prompt:

    cd\
    dir commdlg.dll /s


Repeat these commands on all other drives and rename or delete any copies of the COMMDLG.DLL file that you find. When you finish, you should have a single copy of COMMDLG.DLL on your computer, located in the WINDOWS system subdirectory.

Installing a New COMMDLG.DLL File

If you delete or rename all duplicates of the COMMDLG.DLL file and continue to get the above error message in Microsoft Access, copy COMMDLG.DL_ from Disk 1 of Microsoft Access and EXPAND.EXE from Disk 3 of Windows version 3.1. Then use EXPAND.EXE to expand the COMMDLG.DL_ file as follows: 


   c:\<path>\EXPAND <path>\COMMDLG.DL_ c:\windows\system\COMMDLG.DLL


NOTE: Do not copy COMMDLG.DL$ from the Microsoft Access disks. Microsoft Access Setup is required to decompress COMMDLG.DL$.

Ensuring No Other Applications Are Open

When Microsoft Access Setup tries to update the COMMDLG.DLL file, you may receive an error message stating that Microsoft Access was unable to access the file. In most cases, another application is using the COMMDLG.DLL file.

To ensure that no other applications are open when you run Microsoft Access Setup, use the following steps:
  1. Add a new program group in Windows Program Manager called Temporary.


  2. Move all the icons from the Startup program group to the Temporary program group.


  3. Edit the [Windows] section of the WIN.INI file as follows:

    [Windows]
    RUN=
    LOAD=


  4. Restart Windows and run Microsoft Access Setup.


If you continue to encounter problems, edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to look for conflicting terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs.

Additional query words: tsr 


Keywords          : kberrmsg kbsetup StpOthr 
Version           : 1.0 1.1
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: March 12, 1999