Microsoft Excel ActiveX Controls Disabled?

It was KB2553154. Microsoft needs to release a fix. As a developer of Excel applications we can't go to all our clients computers and delete files off them. We are getting blamed for something Microsoft caused.

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.

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

I'm an Excel developer, and I definitely felt the pain when this happened. Fortunately, I was able to find a workaround by renaming the MSForms.exd files in VBA even when Excel is running, which also can fix the issue. Excel developers who need to distribute their spreadsheets can add the following VBA code to their spreadsheets to make them immune to the MS update.

Place this code in any module.

Public Sub RenameMSFormsFiles() 
  Const tempFileName As String = "MSForms - Copy.exd"  
  Const msFormsFileName As String = "MSForms.exd"  
  On Error Resume Next 

  'Try to rename the C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\Excel8.0\MSForms.exd file  
  RenameFile Environ("TEMP") & "\Excel8.0\" & msFormsFileName, Environ("TEMP") & "\Excel8.0\" & tempFileName 
  'Try to rename the C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\VBE\MSForms.exd file  
  RenameFile Environ("TEMP") & "\VBE\" & msFormsFileName, Environ("TEMP") & "\VBE\" & tempFileName 
End Sub  

Private Sub RenameFile(fromFilePath As String, toFilePath As String) 
  If CheckFileExist(fromFilePath) Then 
      DeleteFile toFilePath  
      Name fromFilePath As toFilePath  
  End If  
End Sub

Private Function CheckFileExist(path As String) As Boolean 
  CheckFileExist = (Dir(path) <> "")  
End Function  

Private Sub DeleteFile(path As String) 
  If CheckFileExist(path) Then 
      SetAttr path, vbNormal  
      Kill path  
  End If  
End Sub    

The RenameMSFormsFiles subroutine tries to rename the MSForms.exd files in the C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\Excel8.0\ and C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Temp\VBE\ folders to MSForms - Copy.exd.

Then call the RenameMSFormsFiles subroutine at the very beginning of the Workbook_Open event.

Private Sub Workbook_Open() 
  RenameMSFormsFiles  
End Sub

The spreadsheet will try to rename the MSForms.exd files when it opens. Obviously, this is not a perfect fix:

1. The affected user will still experience the ActiveX control errors when running the VBA code the very first time opening the spreadsheet. Only after executing the VBA code once and restarting Excel, the issue is fixed. Normally when a user encounters a broken spreadsheet, the knee-jerk reaction is to close Excel and try to open the spreadsheet again. :)
2. The MSForms.exd files are renamed every time the spreadsheet opens, even when there's no issue with the MSForms.exd files. But the spreadsheet will work just fine.

At least for now, Excel developers can continue to distribute their work with this workaround until Microsoft releases a fix.

I've posted this solution here.