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HomeTroubleshooting@RISK for Excel: Other Issues"Method 'Initialize' of object '_RiskOL' failed"

8.42. "Method 'Initialize' of object '_RiskOL' failed"

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Applies to: @RISK 6.x/7.x

When I launch @RISK, I get this error message:

"Method 'Initialize' of object '_RiskOL' failed"

This could have several causes. The procedure below runs roughly from fastest to slowest. If you try @RISK after a given step and it now works, you can ignore the others.

  1. Please check your Excel add-ins: File » Options » Add-Ins in Excel 2007 and newer, Tools » Options in Excel 2003. @RISK may or may not be listed as an active add-in; it will work fine either way. But if any other @RISK components, such as RISKOptimizer, are listed as active add-ins then please make them inactive. (In Excel 2007 or newer, click the round Go button at the bottom of the right-hand panel to bring up the list of add-ins and remove the appropriate check marks.) After making any add-ins inactive, close Excel and try @RISK again.

  2. In the Advanced section of Excel's options, verify that Use system separators is ticked. (More detailed directions, with a screen shot, are in "This add-in requires Excel to use the system separators.".)

  3. If you're running Excel 2013 or Excel 2016, click File » Options » General and remove the check mark from the last option, "Show the Start screen when this application starts." Click OK and close Excel.

  4. Temporarily deactivate all add-ins except those that come with Excel. Close Excel and re-launch @RISK to test it. If @RISK now works, you can add them add-ins back one at a time to find the culprit. There might even be more than one culprit, though this is not very likely.

    If @RISK still doesn't work, leave the other add-ins inactive while you continue with this procedure. It's possible that the problem is one or more add-ins plus one of the causes below. You can add them back when you have @RISK working again.

  5. Follow the procedure in Removing Outdated References to Office from the System Registry to check for outdated references, and remove them if they exist.

  6. Repair Microsoft Office.

  7. Repair @RISK, and if that doesn't work do a clean uninstall and reinstall. (You might wish to skip the repair and just do the clean install. We suggest a repair only because it's a lot simpler and a has a good chance of solving the problem.)

Last edited: 2020-01-08

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