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How do I replace a Visual Basic 6 runtime file killed by a Windows security update?

bcwinters — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:47:48 -0800

A Visual Basic 6 (ugh) runtime file distributed with our internal Access database has been killed by a recent Windows security update. It's hard to gather support information (especially since VB6 is about 8.7 million years old) and so I was wondering if anyone out there can help me track down a more recent copy of the runtime file in question—msflxgrd.ocx—or otherwise fix the problem? It's my understanding from reading a couple of tech forums that there is a patched version of msflxgrd.ocx that was rolled out in a VB6 security update some time in the last few years. However, we don't have VB6 installed on any of our machines so I can't run the patch program to get this one updated file. I don't want to get a copy from one of those FREE OCX W00T! websites that come up when searching for the filename, for pretty obvious reasons. Can anyone recommend a better way to get a copy?

In the meantime we have been uninstalling KB960715 on our PCs as a temporary workaround. I believe I could rewrite a key in the registry to make the security update stop killing the OCX but I would prefer not to meddle on individual machines like that if possible.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. I am WELL aware that we should be moving onwards and upwards with more modern tech, but for the short-to-medium term the nonprofit using this system really doesn't have the time or resources to rewrite the front end to use something other than this control. (Honestly, I'm really hoping to get something out to them today so they can get some work done again!)

Why am I being prompted to install Windows XP SP3 when I already have it?

Rhaomi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:03:32 -0800

I just got a notification on my Windows XP laptop to install Service Pack 3. Thing is, I already have SP3 installed. Is this a necessary update? A redundant Microsoft goof? Or something more sinister? The notification looked like a standard Windows Update prompt, just a little bubble in the taskbar saying "updates are ready for your computer." So I clicked it and got this pop-up.

It struck me as odd, since

a) I thought service packs were major events in the Windows world, and that I would have heard something about this before now

and

2) I was pretty sure that said major event had already happened, and that I had SP3 installed

A check on Microsoft Word confirmed (2). Help -> About Microsoft Word, and the first line reads:

"Microsoft® Office Word 2003 (11.8227.8221) SP3"

So, why am I getting this prompt? Is it really asking me to reinstall all of Service Pack 3 (which I understand to be pretty large), or is it just an update for it? Is it merely a mistake on the part of Windows? Could it possibly be a virus or some other malicious program masquerading as a system update?

Basically, should I install the thing or just ignore it?

No files for you!

moonbird — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:30:04 -0800

Copying files from one folder to another in XP Home SP2, fairly routine, right? Well, when I try to open the subfolders or access the files, "access is denied." I've gone through the many pages of similar problems, but they all seem to be related to copying from one drive to another or over a network. This is just my plain old PC, copying files from My Documents to a new desktop folder for backing up purposes. I am the only user and thus the admin, and the files are not encrypted or read-only. The files are mostly mp3s and pictures, with some Word docs and PDFs (mp3s won't play, no preview for images). I'm fairly savvy in these weird MS glitches but since this isn't a shared resource or a different drive, I'm stumpified. Thanks as always in advance.

XP Processes

punishinglemur — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:06:58 -0800

Windows XP SP2 says: "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process." How can I find out what "another process" is?

Can you use tunneling to make two XP machines on the internet appear to be part of the same local network?

gummo — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:16:48 -0800

If I have two XP machines on the internet in different locations, and each machine is running a virtual PC version of Windows 98, is it possible through some use of a tunneling protocol or whatever, to make those two virtual 98 machines appear to be on the same local network? In other words ...(more inside) In other words, can I play Duke Nukem (and other old games from the windows 95/98 ipx netbui days) with my buddy across the internet, using virtual pc and tunneling whatever?

Advantages to partitioning Windows XP?

tranquileye — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 12:45:32 -0800

Are there any real advantages to running Windows XP on a partitioned hard drive, with a different partition each for Windows, programs, and files?

Security fits

caution live frogs — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 15:42:13 -0800

WindowsXP, 250 gig shared backup hard drive, and a lab full of people with sensitive information that needs to be backed up on said drive but shouldn't be accessible by anyone other than the user who put it there. Security is giving me fits and I'd appreciate some helpful advice. [more gory details inside] we have a lab full of computers. all of us need to back up our stuff but a lot of us have sensitive documents we'd rather not share with everyone else (student/co-worker evaluations, course material, test banks, etc.) we have only one spot to back up, a 250 gig USB hard drive attached to our lab server. we all have our own designated back-up folder on this drive. here's where it gets fun:

the drive is shared on the network to our lab computers only. we're not in a domain, just firewalls between us and the outside, access limited by IP range. there's probably not much i can do about this as we don't have control over the network, just our computers. so far anything i copy to this drive is openly shared with everyone else in our lab, and i can't seem to lock it down such that any one network user can only read/modify one folder. everyone in the lab is currently using Win2K Pro or WinXP Pro.

using my own stuff as a test case, i tried creating a user on the lab server, encrypting files, then logging off. when the system restarts the default account has access to all my encrypted files. i don't know why. if i do the reverse (encrypt then log on with my settings) i can't open the encrypted file.

i tried limiting access for that file to my user account only, ocking out the default lab account we normally run on the machine. no luck. if the default lab account is locked out, nobody can access the files through the network.

only thing i can think of is that the default lab account used to be the old Win2K administrator account before i renamed it while upgrading to XP.

so... anybody else actually get something like this to work? any third-party solution that will cost us as little as possible? oh, i ought to mention that my PI is very non-technical, so whatever solution i come up with will have to continue to work after i've left the lab. any help at all here is appreciated.

(and yes i do realize that "secure" in this instance ain't really so secure - we're not trying to keep out hard-core hackers here, we're just trying to make sure we have a simple data backup solution while also keeping the people in our lab from having one-click access to their own employee reviews.)

Bulk-renaming Folders

fletchmuy — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 07:37:17 -0800

Is there a way to bulk rename a bunch of folders in Windows XP by just removing any white space? I want to upload these to a web server and would prefer avoiding the %20 madness.

Can I rename my new partition?

keswick — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 20:36:27 -0800

I have a new 160 gig HD that I partitioned into two drives. One of the partitions is exclusively for mp3s. Unfortunately, when I open the drive, XP treats it as a "My Pictures" folder. How do I change it to a "My Music" folder? Ordinarily, I'd go Properties>Customize, but when I go Properties on the root folder, I get hard drive properties. (General / Tools / Hardware / etc.)

How do I tell what program inserted a registry entry?

twine42 — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 07:05:52 -0800

PCFilter : Is there any way to tell what program inserted something into the registry?
I've been attacked by four seperate virii that sophos claims don't exist in the wild. One of them (netclnc.exe) keeps reappearing in my registry and the system32, and I want to know what's putting it there so I can kill it. Ideas?

Windows XP questions

Termite — Mon, 07 Jun 2004 23:43:07 -0800

Windows XP firewall + Zone Alarm = problem?
I've just upgraded to Windows XP and I have three questions (so far...). 1. After installing the Zone Alarm firewall I can't get online. Is this because of a conflict between the Windows firewall and ZA? How good is the Windows firewall – maybe I don't need ZA anymore? Should I disable the Windows firewall instead?

2. On top of the file tree in Windows Explorer is the "My documents" folder on my C drive. I've got all my documents stored in a "My documents" folder on my D drive (the D drive is bigger). I want to get the D drive folder on top of the file tree instead or, if this isn't possible, to delete the "My documents" folder from the file tree and start with the D drive expanded.

3. Any chance of getting the pie charts back in the "My computer" folder somehow? To view the used/free space on all hard drives at a glance was mighty handy, says me.

They keep making Windows uglier for every version...

Can I make iTunes recognize an RCA device?

nprigoda — Sat, 05 Jun 2004 08:47:51 -0800

I'd like to change the way Windows XP handles an external device (mp3 player). My RCA Lyra is dealt with as an external hard drive, so that I can only add files to it by copy-pasting (or drag and dropping) but not through the iTunes "export" feature. How do I change how Windows treats this device? I've tried to see if there's anything I can change in the Device Manager, but there don't appear to be any options. Uninstalling and then re-installing the device doesn't help. I am the administrator on the computer, and I have the most recent drivers. Help!

My laptop has developed a serious issue during startup, and I have no idea how to fix it.

Yelling At Nothing — Sun, 23 May 2004 17:32:24 -0800

My laptop has developed a serious issue during startup, and I have no idea how to fix it. [MI] In a nutshell, the problem is that the thing locks up during the boot process. It starts, brings up the (WinXP) loading screen, seems to load BIOS, then the screen goes blank (black) and it hangs.

I am able to access BIOS setup and boot options, but nothing I can do there seems to help. I was able to get windows to load properly once in safe mode (using F8), after which I ran adaware, spybot, and norton and disabled most of the non-critical startup programs. When I restarted the computer, same problem.

At this point I'm at a loss, and the computer is now refusing to boot in safe mode (hitting F8 during startup produces no effect.)

I don't think I've acquired a virus, or that I am the victim of anything else malicious: I'm the only one that uses the computer, and I haven't done anything recently that might get me infected (no suspicious email attachments, no suspicious file downloads, etc.) The problem started this morning.

I'm running a Gateway laptop with a P4M 2.0; it's about two years old. WinXP is all updated and everything. Don't have the motherboard and HD make and model in front of me at the moment, but I'll track them down and post them in a couple minutes here.

Can't switch users in XP

Keyser Soze — Thu, 18 Mar 2004 22:39:54 -0800

Double question: My XP Pro OS wont let me switch users anymore (5 account system), it will only let me log off. Second my brother got kicked from the computer and I forgot to get a password for administrator. Hes got his own password now. How do I reset the admin pass without using a linux boot disk?

Slow XP

taz — Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:02:58 -0800

Help me! I'm naked! With my new computer I finally got Win XP (instead of win 98, which I had been using with the older computer), but after downloading and installing all the security patches, the system slowed down to the speed of molasses, taking forever to open any folder... So, I uninstalled the updates, after which everything was working fine again. Then I went to the Microsoft site and installed one "roll-up" containing a number of updates, after which the system slowed to a crawl again. So, I've again uninstalled. In addition to this, I haven't been able to get the firewall to work yet (possible issues with the fact that I'm networked to my husband's computer?). And thus, except for my antivirus program, I'm surfing all exposed and feeling mighty insecure. Has anyone else had experiences with patches creating problems with the system? And what did you do about it?