"run-time error 453" "can't find dll entry point solv in solver32.dll"

Just got off the phone with Sapphire support and then saw this response.  Several weeks ago I got desperate and called paid support!  After the folks at Microsoft were unable to solve the problem they transferred (?) the trouble ticket to Sapphire.  Within 10 minutes Sapphire discovered a version of solver32.dll in WINDOWS\system32.  It was renamed with an _old at the end.  I was told that this version of sikver32.dll appeared to be corrupt and that the system32 folder is the first place Excel will look for this .dll file.

 

The system32.dll that should have been used was in perfect shape but in Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\Library\SOLVER (where it belonged).  After the name change Solver ran perfectly.

 

Thanks to everyone for their responses.  I hope this solution is of benefit to others.

 

Chris 

 

 

I know this is an old thread, but just had the same problem and took 4 hours to fix. Thought I'd share what worked for me in hopes it helps someone else. Am running Excel 2010 32-bit on Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

1) Launch Excel and disable the Solver add-in (File|Options|Add-Ins click Go, deselect "Solver Add-In", click OK).
2) Quit Excel.
3) Navigate to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\Library\SOLVER. There will be 2 files: Solver.xlam and solver32.dll.
4) Create a new sub-folder: OLD in the folder above. Copy solver.xlam and solver32.dll to folder OLD.
5) Navigate to: C:\Windows\SysWOW64. Find the 2 files solver.xlam and solver32.dll in SysWOW64.
6) COPY (do NOT move) these 2 files into C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\Library\SOLVER.
7) Launch Excel and re-enable Solver add-in.
8) If this works you can delete the directory OLD.

In my case the problem was a third party add-in, which had replaced solver with a different (older??) version. The steps above just restore the newer version.