Windows 10 - Go to start and type [...] Thread poster: Elma de Jong
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Elma de Jong 
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I've upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 and pretty much everything seems to be working fine at the moment. However, when I open Word or use the pdf converter (but that is converting to Word usually, so it probably comes down to the same thing) I keep getting an error message: 'Component 'comctl32.ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid'. When I click it away I can continue working normally, but it does worry me. Is it something serious, I mean ... See more I've upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 and pretty much everything seems to be working fine at the moment. However, when I open Word or use the pdf converter (but that is converting to Word usually, so it probably comes down to the same thing) I keep getting an error message: 'Component 'comctl32.ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid'. When I click it away I can continue working normally, but it does worry me. Is it something serious, I mean something that has to be sorted asap, for instance because otherwise my clients won't be able to see my documents properly? Error messages must be there for a reason I would think, not for just clicking them away and continuing as if nothing has happened. Anyway I decided to ask in the Microsoft community and got this answer:
Verify if comctl32.ocx is in C:\windows\system32 folder. If you, you may try re-registering the file.
1. Go to start and type cmd.
2. Right-Click on cmd and select “Run as Administrator”.
3. Type regsvr32 comctl32.ocx and press Enter.
If successful you should get a popup saying "DllregisterServer in
comscl32.ocx succeeded"
That doesn't sound too complicated. So I verified and it isn't there, but I have found two other files that might have something to do with it: comctl32.dll and comdlg32.dll. I'm not sure whether that is important or not. But more important is the fact that I can't possibly figure out to which 'start' I have to go, or how I get there for that matter, in order to be able to type this 'cmt' thing. The only thing I can think of is the start menu, but that obviously doesn't have anything in which to type something. I've got Windows in Spanish, just to complicate things a little bit further. But for as far as I'm aware 'start' is 'inicio' or 'iniciar', which brings me to the same conclusion. And that 'if you, you [...]' does that mean 'if yes, you' or 'if not, you'?
I've asked for an explanation of the above answer in the Microsoft community yesterday morning, but am not receiving an answer at the moment. As I explained before, I'm worried about things, so I don't want to have to wait a couple of days before sorting this. I hope somebody can give me advice on this 'start' thing. It may be an awfully silly problem, but I'm afraid that I'm not very good if it comes to understanding instructions about computer problem solving.
Any help will be greatly appreciated! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:54
English to Hebrew
+ ...
| Yes, the Start men | Sep 19, 2015 |
They do mean the Start menu. Just open it and start typing C-M-D and you will see the command promote app appears in the search results.
Registering the OCX should solve this problem.
| | | | Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 08:54
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Something you could try | Sep 19, 2015 |
Dear Elma,
If you haven't upgraded a paid version of Adobe to Windows 10, you could start with uninstalling Adobe Reader and other free PDF software and see what happens. Microsoft offers many PDF capabilities off-the-shelve and you could try to live without third-party PDF software for a while.
Baat het niet, dan schaadt het niet,
Gerard
| | | | Elma de Jong
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you very much for your quick reply. I should maybe have clarified that, even though working on a computer for years I can be considered computer illiterate if it comes to the technical part of problem solving. Which means that I haven't got a clue what you mean by 'command promote app'. I tried however what seemed most logical after typing cmd, right clicking on 'símbolo del sistema' and following the rest of the instructions. I now end up receiving this error message (sorry for having to... See more Thank you very much for your quick reply. I should maybe have clarified that, even though working on a computer for years I can be considered computer illiterate if it comes to the technical part of problem solving. Which means that I haven't got a clue what you mean by 'command promote app'. I tried however what seemed most logical after typing cmd, right clicking on 'símbolo del sistema' and following the rest of the instructions. I now end up receiving this error message (sorry for having to add it in Spanish, but I can't make much sense of it apart from the fact that this seems to indicate that it can't be registered here because something is missing):
No se pudo cargar el módulo "comctl32.ocx". Asegúrase de que el archivo binario esté almacenado en la ruta de acceso especificada o depúrelo para comprobar si hay problemas en el archivo binario o los archivos .DLL dependientes. No se puede encontrar el módulo especificado.
Did I do domething wrong and/or where do I go from here? ▲ Collapse
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Elma de Jong
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for that Gerard, entirely different from what I've so far found as possible solutions. I've somehow got the feeling though that the problem is mainly related to Word and for that reason I'm trying Shai's option, which for the moment only resulted in another error message. Hopefully he (or somebody else) will be able to clarify.
I may try looking into this pdf thing too. I've got Nuance PDF converter. It has so far been very useful, in fact I'm using it relatively often. Howe... See more Thanks for that Gerard, entirely different from what I've so far found as possible solutions. I've somehow got the feeling though that the problem is mainly related to Word and for that reason I'm trying Shai's option, which for the moment only resulted in another error message. Hopefully he (or somebody else) will be able to clarify.
I may try looking into this pdf thing too. I've got Nuance PDF converter. It has so far been very useful, in fact I'm using it relatively often. However, in case it turns out it isn't compatible, I may indeed have to choose for something else here, you're right.
Update: it's actually Nuance Power PDF Advanced and is Windows 10 compatible.
[Edited at 2015-09-19 18:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Platary (X)
Local time: 08:54
German to French
+ ...
| OCX problems | Sep 19, 2015 |
It is quite normal that you cannot load the comctl32.ocx because it is not present in your system (System32 (32 bits) or SysWOW64 (64 bits)) as is.
OCX related problems are ActiveX problems and are linked to corrupted (or missing) entries in the Registry most of the time.
My solution were to clean the Registry with dedicat... See more It is quite normal that you cannot load the comctl32.ocx because it is not present in your system (System32 (32 bits) or SysWOW64 (64 bits)) as is.
OCX related problems are ActiveX problems and are linked to corrupted (or missing) entries in the Registry most of the time.
My solution were to clean the Registry with dedicated tools like CCleaner :
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
It should help. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elma de Jong
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Adrien Esparron wrote: It is quite normal that you cannot load the comctl32.ocx because it is not present in your system (System32 (32 bits) or SysWOW64 (64 bits)) as is. OCX related problems are ActiveX problems and are linked to corrupted (or missing) entries in the Registry most of the time. My solution were to clean the Registry with dedicated tools like CCleaner : https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download It should help.
Thanks for that Adrien. I actually ran my Bitdefender registry cleaner and it doesn't find anything wrong. I've tried CCleaner, but it wanted to delete all kind of things, even Office, Google Earth etc. I think that's a bit too much, so I've stopped it and deleted it again as in fact I've already got a good registry cleaner.
| | | | ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 09:54
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
| Fresh Download | Sep 19, 2015 |
Adrien Esparron wrote:
OCX related problems are ActiveX problems and are linked to corrupted (or missing) entries in the Registry most of the time.
I do not get it. If Elma has just downloaded Windows 10 from scratch (in place of her Windows 8), then why does she have issues with her registry? I assume that her registry should be clean with a fresh OS download. Am I missing something?
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
| And the moral of this story is... | Sep 20, 2015 |
don't upgrade to W10 just because it's "free" (there is no such thing as a free lunch).
| | | | Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:54
English to Hebrew
+ ...
| Let's try something different | Sep 20, 2015 |
If the comctl32.ocx file is not on your system (have you tried looking in the C:\Windows\sysWOW64 folder? This is relevant if you are using an 64-bit system), try to start Word in safe mode:
1) Close Word and make sure there are no ghost instances in the Task Manager. If unsure, the best way to go about it is to reboot the system.
2) Type Run in the Start menu (or press WinKey + R)
3) In the Run command line type: winword /safe
If Word has started without th... See more If the comctl32.ocx file is not on your system (have you tried looking in the C:\Windows\sysWOW64 folder? This is relevant if you are using an 64-bit system), try to start Word in safe mode:
1) Close Word and make sure there are no ghost instances in the Task Manager. If unsure, the best way to go about it is to reboot the system.
2) Type Run in the Start menu (or press WinKey + R)
3) In the Run command line type: winword /safe
If Word has started without the error, the problem is with one of the Add-ins.
There are several ways to go about it:
1. Return to the command line window (Start menu > type cmd > Right click and select run as a administrator) and type sfc /scannow. The system will run a check and try to repair any missing or corrupt files. This is unlikely to solve this problem, but worth a try.
2. Launch Word (by the way, which version are you using?) > Options > Add-Ins > COM Add-ins (from the dropdown menu at the bottom) > Go (the button next to the dropdown menu) > deselect all active add-ins > Confirm, close Word, and try opening it again.
3. If the above didn't help, try to remove the Normal template:
1) Close Word and make sure there are no ghost instances in the Task Manager. If unsure, the best way to go about it is to reboot the system.
2) Type Run in the Start menu (or press WinKey + R)
3) In the Run command line type: %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\
4) Copy everything to a backup location (a folder on your Desktop for example), and re-launch Word.
If none of that helped, try repairing Office:
Right-click the Start menu icon > Program and Features > Right-click Office from the list > Change > Follow the on-screen instructions.
Oh, and do yourself a favor and don't use registry cleaners. The registry doesn't need cleaning (this is what I would call a technical myth), and the potential risks outweigh the theoretical benefit.
[Edited at 2015-09-20 09:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elma de Jong
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
... for your elaborate reply Shai, really appreciated! 'm going to give it another try. For as far the version of Word is concerned, I'm working with Office 2013.
After your suggestion about checking the other folder I found the comctl32.ocx file in there. Does that mean that the other possible solutions aren't applicable now? Apologies for my ongoing questions!
[Edited at 2015-09-20 10:14 GMT]
| | | | Platary (X)
Local time: 08:54
German to French
+ ...
| Who's missing what | Sep 20, 2015 |
ATIL KAYHAN a écrit :
I do not get it. If Elma has just downloaded Windows 10 from scratch (in place of her Windows 8), then why does she have issues with her registry? I assume that her registry should be clean with a fresh OS download. Am I missing something?
If you are right, I'm wrong and Bitdefender registry cleaner strengthens your conclusion against CCleaner. So you are not missing anything, and I do.
I'm however astonished that CCleaner "wanted to delete all kind of things, even Office, Google Earth etc. " as reported by Elma.
To be honest, it's the first time that I hear that CCleaner suggests such things, but I'm ready to learn about it.
The moral of this story is is certainly not to not upgrade to Win 10 as suggested by neilmac, but to see "how" to upgrade to Win 10.
This said, the Shai's suggestions are good ones even if I can't agree with the conclusion : Oh, and do yourself a favor and don't use registry cleaners. The registry doesn't need cleaning (this is what I would call a technical myth), and the potential risks outweigh the theoretical benefit.
With regards and good luck!
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Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:54
English to Hebrew
+ ...
| Registry doesn't need cleaning, but accidental deletion could result in issues | Sep 20, 2015 |
Adrien Esparron wrote:
This said, the Shai's suggestions are good ones even if I can't agree with the conclusion : Oh, and do yourself a favor and don't use registry cleaners. The registry doesn't need cleaning (this is what I would call a technical myth), and the potential risks outweigh the theoretical benefit.
The registry is just a big database. When a program or service needs to read the settings from the registry, it already "knows" the exact path the values are stored in. It is not like the registry gets scanned every time from start to finish until the relevant path is found. Therefore, removing orphan entries won't improve performance.
Then there is the argument about performance gain through reducing memory consumption, because in modern Windows versions the entire registry is loaded into the RAM on startup. The tenths of Bytes to Kilobytes that are usually removed from an average registry of a SOHO user don't make any difference. I've worked with large registries of about 2GB in size, and even a very aggressive clean-up only removed about 2-5MB (when I added crap intentionally). Insignificant, even if it was 20MB.
The risks, however, are very real. Trusting a software to decide which entries should be removed, when you are dealing with more than obvious orphan entries, is unwise in my opinion. The average user, in turn, isn't equipped to make this decision either -- and sooner or later some functionality will break.
Just my opinion.
[Edited at 2015-09-20 10:58 GMT]
| | | | Shai Navé
Israel
Local time: 09:54
English to Hebrew
+ ...
| Run the command from the \windows\syswow64 folder | Sep 20, 2015 |
If you have found the comctl32.ocx file, first try to register it again -- only this time from the \Windows\syswow64 folder.
1. Open the command prompt (Start menu > type CMD > right-click and Run as administrator).
2. Type 'cd c:\windows\syswow64' (without the quotes).
3. Type 'regsvr32 comctl32.ocx' (without the quotes).
If this didn't work either, continue with my other suggestions about troubleshooting the problem in Word.
[Edited at 2015-09-20 10... See more If you have found the comctl32.ocx file, first try to register it again -- only this time from the \Windows\syswow64 folder.
1. Open the command prompt (Start menu > type CMD > right-click and Run as administrator).
2. Type 'cd c:\windows\syswow64' (without the quotes).
3. Type 'regsvr32 comctl32.ocx' (without the quotes).
If this didn't work either, continue with my other suggestions about troubleshooting the problem in Word.
[Edited at 2015-09-20 10:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elma de Jong
Spain
Local time: 08:54
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@ Shai: Thank you so much for that Shai. The solution indeed was running the command from the 64 folder. It all seems to be fine now, no more error messages when opening Word. Perfect, I can't thank you enough for your patience with my everlasting questions!
@ neilmac: My decision to upgrade to Windows 10 was triggered by a couple of annoying features in Windows 8.1. And yes, of course, the fact that upgrading is free at the moment made the decision to do so quite easy.
... See more @ Shai: Thank you so much for that Shai. The solution indeed was running the command from the 64 folder. It all seems to be fine now, no more error messages when opening Word. Perfect, I can't thank you enough for your patience with my everlasting questions!
@ neilmac: My decision to upgrade to Windows 10 was triggered by a couple of annoying features in Windows 8.1. And yes, of course, the fact that upgrading is free at the moment made the decision to do so quite easy.
@ Adrien: I have to admit I was quite astonished by the list with results of the analysis by Ccleaner. Fortunately all were only 'items to be deleted, but haven't been deleted yet', so I could easily opt out. But you are right, I should have informed myself more properly about the 'how' of upgrading and what to do in case of problems. ▲ Collapse
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