220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A user reports that a legacy line-of-business application on a Windows 10 workstation displays 'Runtime error 429: ActiveX component can't create object' upon launch. The technician has already reinstalled the application and confirmed it works on other workstations. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse runtime errors with missing Visual C++ redistributables or memory issues, but error 429 is a COM/ActiveX registration error, not a C++ runtime or memory allocation problem.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Register the required OCX or DLL files using regsvr32.
Error 429 'ActiveX component can't create object' indicates that a required ActiveX control (typically an OCX or DLL file) is either missing or not properly registered in the Windows Registry. Since the application works on other workstations, the issue is isolated to this machine's component registration. Running regsvr32.exe to manually register the specific OCX or DLL files resolves the problem by adding the necessary registry entries for the ActiveX component.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Register the required OCX or DLL files using regsvr32.
Why this is correct
This is the correct repair because the 'can't create object' error is a classic COM/ActiveX failure: the OCX or DLL file exists on disk but is not registered under the required CLSID and ProgID registry keys. regsvr32 invokes the component's DllRegisterServer export, writing those registry entries so the legacy app's CreateObject call can locate and instantiate it. You must run regsvr32 from an elevated Command Prompt, and for 32-bit components on 64-bit Windows use the 32-bit version at C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr32.exe to register against the 32-bit registry view the app actually queries.
- ✗
Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflicts.
Why it's wrong here
A clean boot is a diagnostic technique that temporarily disables third-party services and startup programs to determine whether a conflict or startup service is interfering with an application. However, it does not modify the Windows Registry nor restore missing ActiveX registrations, so it cannot fix the underlying 'can't create object' condition. Even if the app launches after a clean boot, the error will recur because the OCX/DLL remains unregistered; the boot merely masks the symptom by changing the environment, not by correcting the missing COM metadata.
- ✗
Increase the application's virtual memory allocation.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing virtual memory changes the size of the system paging file, which affects the amount of addressable memory available to processes. The 'can't create object' error is raised by the COM runtime when CoCreateInstance cannot find or instantiate the requested class, not when the system is low on memory. Adjusting the paging file has no effect on registry-based COM registration, so this action targets a completely different failure domain and leaves the required OCX/DLL component unregistered and unusable.
- ✗
Reinstall the Visual C++ Redistributable packages.
Why it's wrong here
Reinstalling the Visual C++ Redistributable packages supplies the shared C and C++ runtime libraries (such as msvcr140.dll and msvcp140.dll) that many applications depend on for standard library functions. The OCX/DLL files causing the ActiveX error are distinct components that, while they may themselves be compiled against those runtimes, must be individually registered with the Windows Registry via regsvr32. Reinstalling the redistributables can repair a broken runtime DLL, but it cannot write the COM class registration entries for the specific OCX/DLL referenced in the error, so the application still cannot instantiate that object.
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Key term
Object
In IT and cloud computing, an object is a discrete unit of data stored in a structure that pairs the data with its metadata and a unique identifier, enabling scalable access without a traditional folder hierarchy.
Key term
Registry
The Windows Registry is a central hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options for the operating system, hardware, software, and user preferences.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1102 exam.