visual basicwindows 7
I need to run an old application written in Visual Basic 6 under Windows 7 x64. When I open it I obtain a message complaining that the library msstdfmt.dllcannot be found.
I've tried to install the latest VB 6 runtime available here but I still get the error.
How can I overcome this error message? I'd like to obtain the missing dll from a reliable and possibly durable source.
The main (only?) problem is compatibility between different versions of Msvcr71.dll. Let's say 7.10.0 is slightly incompatible with 7.10.1 and an application App1 depends on the old behavior and an application App2 depends on the new behavior. Additionally both applications do not ship this C++ runtime itself. In this case one of the two applications will fail.
How often are those cases? I don't really know, but I'd say they are seldom.
Depending on the differences between msvcr71.dll versions an application would fail to start or a particular feature would not work.
Another good solution: own PATH for each application. For example, you could write a batch like this:
PATH=c:\PathToMSVCR71.DLL_Version_7.10.0
myapp1.exe
This way you can reuse the same DLL in multiple applications and update it easier.
EDIT
It is almost impossible to estimate the danger of a version collision especially as you have not mentioned the applications you use. That is why I have searched for all the different versions on my PC (Windows 7/x64). I have found the following files:
All the files are just copies of these two: 7.10.3052.4 and 7.10.6030.0. 7.10.3052.4 is also what dll-files.com offers.
I have also compared the output of dumpbin /imports /exports msvcr71.dll for these versions and neither exports nor imports have changed (as expected).
api-ms-win-core* files are virtual dlls used by Windows7. This looks like your program is running in compatability mode (e.g. compatabilitity for Windows XP) but is actually compiled for Windows 7.
If this is a new application, try changing the output EXE file name to reset the compatability state for the program.
If this is an application that you got from the Internet or a friend, uninstall it and then reinstall it.
Best Answer
I've resolved this problem using the procedure described in this blog post, in which the DLL is extracted from a tool built and distributed by Microsoft.
For the sake of convenience, I repeat the procedure here:
msstdfmt.dllmsstdfmt.dlltoc:\windows\system32if running on 32 bit OS or toc:\windows\syswow64if running on a 64 bit OScmd.exe) with administrator privilegesin the prompt type on 32 bit OS
or on 64 bit OS
now your VB6 program should start successfully