When you use a Microsoft Excel worksheet as a Data Access Object (DAO) data source for Microsoft Access, you may receive an error message similar to the following:

NOTE: You may receive this error message may when you attempt to use Microsoft Visual Basic code to access the Data Base Engine version.

This issue can occur when DAO dynamic-link library (DLL) files are mismatched or when there are incorrect registry entries. This issue can also occur when there is a missing DAO design-time licensing key. This key is required by Microsoft Excel, but is not required by applications created with Visual Basic.

To resolve this problem, use the appropriate method.

Method 1

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regsvr.exe.
3. Re-register DAO350.dll.
   
   NOTE: You can obtain a copy of DAO350.dll at the following FTP address:
   ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/
   To register DAO350.dll, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open box, type Regsvr32.exe C:\progra~1\common~1\micros~1\dao\dao350.dll
   3. Click OK.
4. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
5. Click Add/Remove Programs.
6. Insert your Microsoft Office 97 CD, and then click Uninstall.
7. Delete the DAO folder from the hard drive.
8. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
9. Click Add/Remove Programs.
10. Insert your Office 97 CD, and then click Install.
11. Repeat steps 4 through 6 to uninstall Office 97.
12. Click Start, and then click Run.
13. In the Open box, type eraser97.exe. (This file is also available at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/.)
14. Repeat steps 4 through 6.
15. Repeat steps 8 through 10 to reinstall Office 97.

Method 2

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LICENSES.
4. Click New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
5. Type F4FC596D-DFFE-11CF-9551-00AA00A3DC45 to name the new key.
6. In the right pane, double-click Default for the key that you created.
7. Type mbmabptebkjcdlgtjmskjwtsdhjbmkmwtrak as the Value Data, and then press ENTER.
8. On the Registry menu, click Exit to quit the Registry Editor.

Method 3

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Add/Remove Programs.
3. Insert your Microsoft Office 97 CD, and then click Uninstall.
4. Click Start, and then click Run.
5. In the Open box, type eraser97.exe.
6. Rename the DAO folder in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared4.
7. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
8. Click Add/Remove Programs.
9. Insert your Office 97 CD, and then click Install.
10. Click Custom to add the Data Access Objects for Visual Basic.

NOTE: Eraser does not run on operating systems later than Microsoft Windows 2000.