Microsoft KB Archive/109459

PUB2: Cannot Find CTL3DV2.DLL in WordArt or System Info

= PUB2: Cannot Find CTL3DV2.DLL in WordArt or System Info =

Q109459
-- The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Publisher for Windows, version 2.0 - Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0 --

SYMPTOMS

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If you try to run WordArt version 2.0 or if you choose the System Info button from within the Help menu of Publisher 2.0, you may receive the error

File Error: Cannot find CTL3DV2.DLL

followed by:

Unable to launch or communicate with server application.

This problem usually occurs on systems that can run Windows either from the network or locally from the hard drive and that store their shared Microsoft applications in a separate MSAPPS directory instead of in a subdirectory of Windows.

CAUSE

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The CTL3DV2.DLL file is not installed by Publisher 2.0. The file may have been installed when you installed Microsoft Word version 6.0 for Windows or some other application that includes WordArt and/or System Info. Word 6.0 ships with updated versions of WordArt version 2.0 and System Info. Both updates use the CTL3DV2.DLL file. Word 6.0 Setup copies the .DLL file to the Windows directory that is in use during Setup (for example, the shared network Windows directory). If, later, you switch to a different copy of Windows (for example, your local C:\WINDOWS directory) but you're still calling the updated copy of WordArt and System Info, these applications can't find the CTL3DV2.DLL file they need.

The date of the files that shipped with Publisher version 2.0 is 6/28/93. If your copies of WordArt (WORDART2.EXE) or System Info (MSINFO.EXE) have dates later than 6/28/93, they came from some other application or a later version of Publisher.

STATUS

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Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Publisher version 2.0. This problem was corrected in Publisher version 2.0a.

RESOLUTIONS

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Method 1: Move the CTL3DV2.DLL File to the Current Directory

Copy the CTL3DV2.DLL file from the Windows directory where it was installed, to the Windows directory from which you are currently running Windows.

Method 2: Decompress the CTL3DV2.DLL File to \Windows -

Decompress the CTL3DV2.DLL file from the Word for Windows version 6.0 Setup disks (or from whichever application it came) and place the file in the Windows directory.

For example, to decompress the file from drive A to the Windows directory on drive C, do the following:

1. In Windows, run File Manager.

2. Place the Word Setup Disk 1 in drive A.

3. Switch to drive A.

4. From the File menu, choose Run.

5. In the Command Line box, type:

decomp ctl3dv2.dl_ c:\windows\ctl3dv2.dll

6. Choose OK. The file should appear in the Windows directory.

Additional query words: 2.00 6.00 msinfo ms info winword word art word6 mspub