Upgraded to Windows 8.1, CRXI RDC crashes VB6

[Former Member]

Hello,

We have a number of Visual Basic 6 projects that utilize Crystal Reports XI.  We maintain these reports within Visual Basic 6 itself using the Report Designer Component (RDC).  This has always worked for us and allows us to continue with further enhancements and updates of these programs.

Upon upgrading to Windows 8.1 (32-bit), I've found that I can no longer maintain reports built with CRXI via the RDC within Visual Basic 6.  The VB6 IDE opens fine and displays all components within the Project Explorer as expected.  I can even open a CRXI report within the RDC in VB6 and it displays on-screen.  However, shortly after it opens I get a hard crash of the program, displaying the following error:

Visual Basic has stopped working.

Windows then attempts to find a solution to the problem and can't.

Some additional information:

1.  Everything was working fine when the system was running Windows 8.0.  It was only after the upgrade to Windows 8.1 that this issue started occurring.  Likewise, other workstations running Windows 8.0 (even those that are 64-bit) do not exhibit the problem described above.

2.  I have uninstalled and re-installed/re-registered/re-patched Crystal Reports XI on the problematic workstation and the issue still persists.

3.  To rule out permission / read-only access issues, I have disconnected the project from our internal source control system and made it stand-alone, giving myself "Full Control" to all associated files.  Problem still occurs.

4.  I have UAC disabled, local admin rights on the workstation, and have attempted to run Visual Basic 6 "as administrator" (i.e.; elevated mode) and the issue continues to persist.

Are there any known issues / incompatibilities with Crystal Reports XI and Windows 8.1?  Any ideas or suggestions to get things working again?  Any and all help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Only one issue; CR XI is not supported on WIN 8.x. Actually, CR XI was not even supported on WIN 7...

As cruel and flip (but honest) as this will sound; Time to update the app to .NET or Java. No other option.

For supported OS by each CR version see this wiki.

- Ludek

Senior Support Engineer AGS Product Support, Global Support Center Canada

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[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the information Ludek.  That's good to know.

After a bit more research, I was able to find a resolution and get things working as they did before Windows 8.1 was installed.

The VB6.EXE application crash produced an Application event in the Event Viewer.  The content of this message tipped me off to the problem.  In this case, it was of the "windows cannot access the file" variety.  Unfortunately, the actual file that is having the problem appears blank in the event.

From there, I did a little bit of homework regarding Visual Basic 6 and Windows 7/8 in general and found that most issues can be resolved by running the VB6.EXE in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode.  I then completed the following:

1.  Found the VB6.EXE in my file system.

2.  Right clicked, went to Properties, clicked the Compatibility tab.

3.  Located the section labeled Compatibility mode, clicked the checkbox to run in compatibility mode and selected Windows XP SP2 from the dropdown.

I then re-loaded the project and open the CRXI report in the RDC.  No app crash... problem solved 🙂

As mentioned, unfortunately I don't know exactly what CRXI related file Windows 8.1 is having an issue with.  I originally thought it was something related to a mapped network drive, but all associated files seem to be pointing to the local C drive.  I know that Windows Security has certain issues with read/write access to the C drive as well, so it could be a more "local" issue after all.  Moving the project to a local drive other than C: might've resolved the issue as well.

In any case, this gets us back up and running under Windows 8.1.  Hope this helps somebody else running into a similar issue.  We have *many* programs that began life as VB6 projects quite a number of years ago.  We are migrating these over to VB.NET successfully and at a consistent pace... it just takes time to do it right.  This workaround effectively grants us some more time.

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Oh my gosh - you are my hero of the day

I really appreciate you posting the solution here. I am sure it will  help many following in your footsteps.

I love these forums when sharing like this happens.

And just to circumvent a question that I suspect may be in some minds that will read this in the future; Since both VB 6 and CR XI are out of support, we do not keep any images of these so no way for us to support it and often, not even an idea where to start to help.

Again, many, many thanks for sharing,

- Ludek

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

its very nice to c u sir, I too have some what similar problem and I am very sad I am not finding solution for my problem...

I was using winxp and vb6 and crystal report 9 before I format my pc and reinstalled everything on winxp and win7 but I get the error "visual basic has stopped working" with Fault module name has  craxddrt9.dll and  crheapalloc.dll...but one thing my old project works fine in both windows box but new modified project gives the above message ....I tried running as administrator,in compatibility mode,uac offf,installedvb sp6  ........lots of hope from U for solution and also I am running out of time for project completion....

Thanks in advance ... waiting for ur reply......

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Hi Ramesh

If this is happening on WIN 7, you are out of luck as CR 9 did not support WIN 7. Best you'd be able to do is upgrade the app to CR XI R2 (11.5) - which is out of support, but should work on WIN 7. I am not sure if you can obtain CR XI R2 from SAP sales, but give them a dingle and see. NA Ph for sales is: 866-681-3435

Worldwide office listing is here: SAP Office Locations | Headquarters, Labs, and Training Centers

- Ludek

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello sir thank for ur reply....

Sir ,I tried on win 7 but no success and but later dicided to go back and start from basic , so installed winxp and vb 6, cr 9 where my project was running fine.now  Sir , my old project is running on win xp Prof(sp2) ,vb6, and cr9....but new updated project end up with error "visual basic has stopped working" fault module name craxddrt9.dlll and crheapalloc.dll ,might be I am missing some dependencies or version or service pack ..... can I know what I am missing  from your huge experience....I am almost end of my project and stuck with above error from last 15 days..... and caught in time bond

Thank you in advance for your help and time

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks you sir, I installed cr11 r2 and it solved much waiting 15 days long problem I am vry happy....now I don't get any error like visual basic has stopped working craxddrt9.dll (fault module) now my project working on win8 vb6 and cr11. thank you again