Fix for RICHTX32.OCX Component Error when running a Program

When you run an application built using (classic) Visual Basic 6.0, the following error message may occur, and the program terminates.

richtx32.ocx error

Component 'RICHTX32.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid.

(or)

Failed to load control 'RichTextBox' from RICHTX32.OCX

This happens if the program uses Rich TextBox ActiveX Control (RichTx32.ocx), but does not include the ActiveX file in the setup package. This runtime is not included in Windows and is supposed to be distributed along with the program. And, RichTx32.ocx ActiveX Control is not included in VB6 run-time distribution package from Microsoft either.

Download RichTx32.ocx

You may download it here: RichTx32.zip. Unzip the archive and extract the file RichTx32.ocx to one of these folders:

  • On Windows 32-bit systems, copy RichTx32.ocx to C:\Windows\System32
  • On Windows 64-bit systems, copy RichTx32.ocx to C:\Windows\SysWOW64

RICHTX32.OCX – File Information

  • Signing date: 7:57 PM 11/25/2013
  • Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
  • Company: Microsoft Corporation
  • Description: RichTx32.OCX
  • Product: RichText
  • Prod version: 6.01.9839
  • File version: 6.01.9839
  • MachineType: 32-bit

Hash Checksum

  • MD5: 14bb5cf93c7d69d019423c73c60aa856
  • SHA1: 6454bb10992eefc59563a73729a8927c6383669b
  • SHA256: 221b54ad16161b8ce71807b07559ab49f59dfff4cdf695e808d90bf8beaafcf5

(DLL Source: Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Service Pack 6 Security Rollup Update January 2016.)

This file is also available from IBM’s servers. The link is provided below:

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/system/files/support/swg/rattech.nsf/0/d4e3feebe5a143ab85256e91003d256f/$FILE/richtx32.ocx

Register the OCX

You may also need to register the RichTx32.ocx module using the following command from Command Prompt (admin).

For Windows 32-bit OS

regsvr32.exe  %systemroot%\system32\RICHTX32.OCX

For Windows 64-bit OS

%system32\syswow64\regsvr32.exe  %systemroot%\syswow64\RICHTX32.OCX

You should see the message DllRegisterServer in C:\WINDOWS\system32\RICHTX32.OCX succeeded. after running the above command.

(Last updated on Jan 14, 2022.)

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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7 thoughts on “Fix for RICHTX32.OCX Component Error when running a Program”

  2. Windows 7 x64 solution (COMPILED):

    Instead of extracting to system32, extract to syswow64.

    Instead of using the run window, go to accessories -> cmd.exe and right click on it. Run as administrator. Put in the following command:

    regsvr32.exe %systemroot%\syswow64\RICHTX32.OCX

    and you should get the success message.

    Reply

  3. I have RICHTX32.OCX registered and MSCOMCT2.OCX registered as well using a batch file initiated by Computer Group Policy.

    [RegOcx.cmd]
    cd %systemroot%\SysWoW64
    copy \\2012fs01\software\ocx\*.* C:\Windows\SysWoW64 /y
    %systemroot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe RichTx32.ocx /s
    %systemroot%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe MSCOMCT2.ocx /s

    When I test this on the Windows 2012 R2 64 bit server with my own username, which is an admin..The VB6 program runs ok.
    When a non admin user runs it, they claim to get this:

    Component ‘RICHTX32.OCX’ or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid.

    All users can read/execute this RICHTX32.OCX file. Why is this happening I can’t find anything about this anywhere

    Thanks

    Reply

    • @Bruce: In Windows 64-bit systems, extract the file to C:\Windows\SysWOW64
      Also, make sure you’re using an admin Command Prompt window.

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