I've written a pretty advanced application developed under
Excel 2002 that contains dozens of user forms and over
30,000 lines of VBA macro code. I've tested it extensively
to ensure it runs smoothly under any combination of Operating
System (98 Me/2000/XP) and Excel (2000/2002/2003). Nevertheless,
when distributed and run, it will bomb out for a certain percentage
of users with fatal compile-type errors for a variety of reasons during
loading and initialization that are often hard if not impossible to
identify from a distance. The code is protected, of course, so it's
not the result of users fiddling with it.

As an example of what I mean, a user might encounter a compiler
errorin loading the program that says some built-in VBA function
like CHR( ) or MID( ) or the like is unrecognized. I ask users to
go to Tools and select References, but typically everything's
checked that should be checked. So maybe some .DLL among
hundreds got corrupted or was inadvertently deleted, or maybe
there's a hardware or peripheral or environmental conflict. In some
cases a fresh install of the entire Windows operating system and
Office will cure the problem; this does not win me friends, however,
given the down time needed to perform the operation.

But what steps to take and in what order to pin-point the problem
without shutting down and reloading the entire network is quite
beyond my depth. Has anyone you know of set down a detailed
list of procedures that can be followed when such instances occur
to formalize the what and how of examining the operating environment
to help determine and alleviate such problems.

-- Dennis Eisen