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Unable to remove my own duplicate DLL items from REFERENCES list (VB6 SP5)

I am having a difficult time removing my own ACTIVEX DLL REFERENCES within my VB 6.0 SP5 IDE.

These DLLs represent interfaces which I have changed during my development process AND have moved into different
folders where they were then registered and unregistered using COM Explorer 2.0. COM Explorer 2.0 does not list the files (at least I can't seem to find them). Symantec System Works doesnt complain about them however Visual Basic STILL lists them even though they dont exist. No matter how hard I try to remove them, they simply won't go away. I have even uninstalled visual basic, reinstalled it and those pesky references are still there. In some cases the items are duplicated several times as well which is a headache since I dont know which one to check off initially as the names are identical. The bogus references always give ERROR LOADING DLL so I keep trying until I find one that works. Anyone know what I need to do to fix this. I may have deleted the original folder where these DLLS were first compiled and recompiled them in a totally new folder. I have had these references for quite a long time and can't get rid of them.

Help!!!

jayeshshah

close the project and then open the vbp file in notepad you shall find an entry like below

Reference=*\G{00000201-0000-0010-8000-00AA006D2EA4}#2.1#0#C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\ADO\msado21.tlb#Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.1 Library.

remove hte entry which you donot want and save it.

it shoudl work for u.

const71

ASKER

No, you don't understand....this has nothing to do with any particular vbp file. If i open a brand new project and go to references it will still be there. It seems theres somthing in my registry that Visual Basic is picking up that COM Explorer 2.0 and Symantec SystemWorks can't find. Both these applications should point out DLLs that are behaving badly but neither one does. Is Visual Basic getting its DLL listing from somewhere else? How do i fix up my DLL references in Visual Basic IDE

thanx

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lmckenzie

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const71

ASKER

I am somewhat concerned about fiddling with the registry as I don't usually go in there to fix problems. I'll find the entries if i can and get back to you ....

thanks

const71

ASKER

OK it worked

under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{ class id number here} i found some other sub entries so i deleted the classid root and it worked!

I need to get a better understanding of how the registry impacts programs (specifically what the various sections mean and how I can use them programmatically for example to perform smart updates and patches)

thanks for the help

lmckenzie

Glad it worked. I understand your reluctance to monkey with the registry but sometimes it's necessary. Try the AR Registry Access Library from: http://www.sevillaonline.com/ActiveX/
It's free and gives you more options for dealing with the registry from VB than the standard routines. They also have a very nice library for working with ini files as well. Though Microsoft encourages the use of the registry for just about everything, an ini file is often all you need, especially if your application is the only one that needs to access the information.

I don't have a reference of the top of my head but I'm sure a quick Google search will turn up several good sources of information on using the registry.

const71

ASKER

Thanks for the great advice. I actually have used Google and there are some great articles on the registry. Once I get some free time I'll go over them in greater detail

Thanks again