"error in loading dll", references unchangable, code unviewable

kolmar

New Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
6
Background
I created a workbook with vba code to generate reports in Microsoft word and fill them with the appropriate data. The workbook is shared between multiple other users and computers. I use Windows 7 and Office 2007. The primary user uses Windows 10 and Office 2016. Because the project uses early binding, if I want to use the workbook after the other user has opened and saved it, I've had to manually change the reference from the missing Microsoft Word 15.0 Object Library back to Microsoft Word 12.0 Object Library.

Symptoms
I'm assuming Office 2016 for the primary user updated over the weekend, because now, after that user opened and saved the workbook this morning, I receive a "Error in loading DLL" message upon opening Visual Basic and I cannot see any of the code. The missing reference is now Microsoft Word 16.0 Object Library, but attempting to uncheck it or to add 12.0 back in results in the same DLL error. After the workbook has been open for about 10 minutes I get the additional error: "An unexpected error has occurred. AutoRecover has been disabled for this session of Excel."

Investigation
I reproduced the symptoms exactly on another computer running Windows 7/Office 2007.

I found an old thread from 2010 addressing a problem with nearly identical symptoms, http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel-questions/508232-error-loading-dll-how-stop-error.html, but there doesn't appear that there was a good solution. (That thread references another thread, but the forum appears to have eaten it: I receive a HTTP 504 error when I try to follow the link.)

Request
Does anyone have any advice on how I can bypass the error and get back into the code? (The presumed update to Office 2016 also appears to have changed the code's behavior at the user's end (particularly save and print behavior), but I can't explore why if I'm unable to get into the project.) Are there other possible causes other than the presumed update that might cause these symptoms?

(Since I still have access to the most up-to-date data in the damaged workbook, push-comes-to-shove I could make a new workbook with the data from the damaged one and a previous version of the code from a backup, and then recreate all the controls, but that seems like overkill.)

Additional Question
After this problem is resolved one way or another, would switching to late binding make the code truly version-agnostic? Or may I still run into compatibility problems when Office 2016 updates?
 

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