Microsoft Excel ActiveX Controls Disabled?

Question

I have some Excel worksheets that use ActiveX checkboxes to control certain activity. They worked recently but today started to give errors. I was alerted to this by a colleague, but it was still working on my computer. I checked his version of Excel against mine and his was newer. I noticed there were new Windows updates, so I did the update. After I applied pending updates, it now no longer works on my computer. I cannot check the ActiveX checkboxes any longer, and, as a part of trying to debug, it appears I cannot even add an ActiveX control to any worksheet, even a new worksheet, any more. I get an error dialog that says, "Cannot insert object." (I can still add form controls, just not ActiveX.) Anyone else experiencing this after a recent update? Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

Answer 1

I want to provide an answer that worked as the only thing for me (I realize that I might be the only one ever). I had in one macro that I was calling using the ribbon. It had the following code:

colStore = new Collection

I wasn't aware that it throws an error so I was baffled and tried everything in here. The button just stopped working and I couldn't get it to work. When I noticed the error and corrected it to:

Set colStore = new Collection

It started working again. Absolutely strange if you ask me but maybe it helps someone out there who was as desperate as me.

Answer 2

With Windows 8.1 I couldn't find any .exd files using windows search. On the other hand, a cmd command dir *.exd /S found the one file on my system.

Answer 3

The best source of information and updates on this issue I could find is in the TechNet Blogs » The Microsoft Excel Support Team Blog (as mentioned):

Form Controls stop working after December 2014 Updates (Updated March 10, 2015)

On March 2015 a hotfix was released in addition to the automated fix-it and manual instructions, and it's available on Windows Update as well.

The latest update and fix from Microsoft: 3025036 "Cannot insert object" error in an ActiveX custom Office solution after you install the MS14-082 security update

STATUS: Update March 10, 2015:

Hotfixes for this issue have been released in the March 2015 Updates for Office 2007, 2010 & 2013.

General info about the problem:

For some users, Form Controls (FM20.dll) are no longer working as expected after installing MS14-082 Microsoft Office Security Updates for December 2014. Issues are experienced at times such as when they open files with existing VBA projects using forms controls, try to insert a forms control in to a new worksheet or run third party software that may use these components.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms14-082.aspx

You may receive errors such as: "Cannot insert object"; "Object library invalid or contains references to object definitions that could not be found"; "The program used to create this object is Forms. That program is either not installed on your computer or it is not responding. To edit this object, install Forms or ensure that any dialog boxes in Forms are closed." [...] Additionally, you may be unable to use or change properties of an ActiveX control on a worksheet or receive an error when trying to refer to an ActiveX control as a member of a worksheet via code.

Manual and additional solutions:

Scripting solution:

Because this problem may affect more than one machine, it is also possible to create a scripting solution to delete the EXD files and run the script as part of the logon process using a policy. The script you would need should contain the following lines and would need to be run for each USER as the .exd files are USER specific.

del %temp%\vbe\*.exd
del %temp%\excel8.0\*.exd
del %appdata%\microsoft\forms\*.exd
del %appdata%\microsoft\local\*.exd
del %temp%\word8.0\*.exd
del %temp%\PPT11.0\*.exd

Additional step:

If the steps above do not resolve your issue, another step that can be tested (see warning below):

1. On a fully updated machine and after removing the .exd files, open the file in Excel with edit permissions.

2. Open Visual Basic for Applications > modify the project by adding a comment or edit of some kind to any code module > Debug > Compile VBAProject.

3. Save and reopen the file. Test for resolution.

If resolved, provide this updated project to additional users.

Warning: If this step resolves your issue, be aware that after deploying this updated project to the other users, these users will also need to have the updates applied on their systems and .exd files removed as well.

Answer 4

From other forums, I have learned that it is due to the MS Update and that a good fix is to simply delete the file MSForms.exd from any Temp subfolder in the user's profile. For instance:

C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\Excel8.0\MSForms.exd

C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\VBE\MSForms.exd

C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\Word8.0\MSForms.exd

Of course the application (Excel, Word...) must be closed in order to delete this file.

Answer 5

I did finally find this answer on the official Microsoft KB:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3025036/EN-US

No new information here than what we have in previous answers, but at least it acknowledges that Microsoft is aware of the issue.

Answer 6

Here is the best answer that I have found on the Microsoft Excel Support Team Blog

For some users, Forms Controls (FM20.dll) are no longer working as expected after installing December 2014 updates. Issues are experienced at times such as when they open files with existing VBA projects using forms controls, try to insert a forms control in to a new worksheet or run third party software that may use these components.

You may received errors such as:

"Cannot insert object" "Object library invalid or contains references to object definitions that could not be found"

Additionally, you may be unable to use or change properties of an ActiveX control on a worksheet or receive an error when trying to refer to an ActiveX control as a member of a worksheet via code. Steps to follow after the update:

To resolve this issue, you must delete the cached versions of the control type libraries (extender files) on the client computer. To do this, you must search your hard disk for files that have the ".exd" file name extension and delete all the .exd files that you find. These .exd files will be re-created automatically when you use the new controls the next time that you use VBA. These extender files will be under the user's profile and may also be in other locations, such as the following:

%appdata%\Microsoft\forms

%temp%\Excel8.0

%temp%\VBE

Scripting solution:

Because this problem may affect more than one machine, it is also possible to create a scripting solution to delete the EXD files and run the script as part of the logon process using a policy. The script you would need should contain the following lines and would need to be run for each USER as the .exd files are USER specific.

del %temp%\vbe\*.exd

del %temp%\excel8.0\*.exd

del %appdata%\microsoft\forms\*.exd

del %appdata%\microsoft\local\*.exd

del %appdata%\Roaming\microsoft\forms\*.exd

del %temp%\word8.0\*.exd

del %temp%\PPT11.0\*.exd

Additional step:

If the steps above do not resolve your issue, another step that can be tested (see warning below):

1. On a fully updated machine and after removing the .exd files, open the file in Excel with edit permissions.

   Open Visual Basic for Applications > modify the project by adding a comment or edit of some kind to any code module > Debug > Compile VBAProject.

   Save and reopen the file. Test for resolution. If resolved, provide this updated project to additional users.

   Warning: If this step resolves your issue, be aware that after deploying this updated project to the other users, these users will also need to have the updates applied on their systems and .exd files removed as well.

If this does not resolve your issue, it may be a different issue and further troubleshooting may be necessary.

Microsoft is currently working on this issue. Watch the blog for updates.

Source