SharePoint Error: “The list cannot be displayed in Datasheet view for one or more of the following reasons…”

I recently updated my Windows XP SP3 machine with some recommended updates from Windows Update.  After I did so, I received the following error every time I tried to open a Datasheet view in SharePoint:

The list cannot be displayed in Datasheet view for one or more of the following reasons: A datasheet component compatible with Windows SharePoint Services is not installed, your browser does not support ActiveX controls, or support for ActiveX controls is disabled.

Poking around on the Web, I found many solutions for folks who were using Office 2003.  Here’s the most common solution I found:

  1. Close Internet Explorer
  2. Go to Start –> Run… –> “regedit”
  3. Delete the following folder in the registry:

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerActiveX Compatibility
Sub-Key: {65BCBEE4-7728-41A0-97BE-14E1CAE36AAE}

Unfortunately, I’m running Office 2007 and that registry key isn’t in the registry on my machine.  However, I do happen to have Access 2003 still loaded on the machine (my Office 2007 install didn’t include Access), so I tried to do a Detect and Repair in Access 2003 to see if that would solve the problem.  Nope.

I had one more idea: I ran Office Diagnostics in Outlook 2007 (any Office 2007 application has this option under Help or application options).  I closed all of my Internet Explorer windows and tried again.  Success!

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3 Comments

  1. Marc — This problem has persisted through SharePoint 2010. I’m going to run the diagnostic and reboot now. Thanks for the guidance.

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