Installing ActiveX Components on Windows Vista

Applies To:

ActiveX

Author:

Jeff King

Published On:

2/20/2007

Windows Vista has a security system called User Account Control (UAC). UAC prevents users from making system changes without Administrator approval. One of the systems that it controls is regsvr32.exe. This can cause problems when installing ActiveX components since they must be registered with regsvr32.exe.

There will not be an error during the install if the components are not registered. This problem will manifest itself when the ActiveX component is used. At that time, the user will receive an error from regsvr32.exe.

The simplest way to get around this is to run the installer as Administrator. To do this, right click on the installer executable and select “Run as administrator.” You will be prompted to grant permission for this action and possibly asked for a password. Once access is granted the installer will run and all ActiveX components used in the application will be registered normally.

Problems with HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Using “Run as Administrator” does create a possible problem if the installer uses HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry keys during the installation process. This is because when the program is executed with “Run as administrator” the current user is different from what it would be if it was run normally.

This problem only occurs with the installer. Since the application will be executed normally there is no problem using HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the application.