CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator
and Federal Retirement Planner Software
Federal Employees - Postal Employees - Air Traffic Controllers - Firefighters - Law Enforcement
 
Technical Support
We have received a few emails from our customers that have experienced the following error messages when starting the Benefits Calculator:

Illegal Function Call

Error 429 when trying to activate the Benefits Calculator

Component ComDlg32.ocx or one of its dependencies... error when trying to activate the Benefits Calculator

Help File - Can't Display Error (Acrobat Reader)

System File is not Suitable for Running MS-DOS and MS Windows Applications

File not found: 'CHART2FX.VBX'

- For questions regarding installation and activation of the  
   software, click here.
- Benefits Calculator Help Guides:
   - For Benefits Calculator Version 8 (2008) click here    
   - For Benefits Calculator 2007,  click here.
- To contact us, click here
Illegal Function Call

Problem: Email from a customer, "The Benefits Calculator stops working after I installed Windows XP service pack 2 (SP2). All I get is an "Illegal Function Call" error message when I try to run the Benefits Calculator."

Solution: Click here read instructions on how to fix this problem. Instructions are in an Adobe Acrobat Reader file. If you don't have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader then click here to install the Free Reader.

Activate - Run-time error '429'

Problem: When you first start the calculator and you answer YES to this message
You get this error message:
Solution:
1. Click on the Windows START button and click on RUN
2. Enter regsvr32 vbSendMail.dll in the Open: window. then click on OK,
3. You should see the following, succeeded, message
4. Restart the Benefits Calculator and answer YES to the Welcome message
Component ComDlg32.ocx missing

Problem: When you first start the calculator and you answer YES to this message
You get this error message:
Solution:
1. ComDlg32.ocx is a Windows program that is used by the CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator and Retirement Planner 2007. ComDlg32.ocx is missing from your computer. Click here to download and install the missing program.
2. Select Open or Run when the download message appears.
3. Follow the on-screen directions to install ComDlg32.ocx
4. After installing ComDlg32.ocx, restart the Benefits Calculator and answer YES to the Welcome message
Help File Error

Problem: When I run the Benefits Calculator help file, I get an error message regarding the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Solution: Install the appropriate help file display program:
1. Click on either the updated 2006 or 2007 version of the Benefits Calculator help file formatted for the Adobe Acrobat Reader newer versions 7 and 8:
2006 CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator, or
2007 CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator and Retirement Planner
2. Select Open or Run to the pop-up messages,
3. When the help file installer starts, click on the Install button.

System File is not Suitable for Running MS-DOS and MS Windows Applications
Problem: Email from a customer, "The Benefits Calculator is having a conflict with Windows XP. When I try to start the software I get an error message, "The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and MS Windows applications." Then I am forced to close the box, and the Benefits Calculator software will not run."

Duplicating the Error:
1. We were able to duplicate the problem by removing Autoexec.nt file ( c:\windows\system32\Autoexec.nt ) from one of our XP computers. Next we attempted to run the Benefits Calculator. This is what we saw:
Solution: You are missing a Windows operating system file called Autoexec.nt. This is usually caused by a spyware program* that maliciously deletes Autoexec.nt from the Windows folder. Please, read the following information and instructions for replacing the missing Autoexec.nt file in the Windows folder.

2. The CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator requires the Windows XP Autoexec.nt program in order to run.

Fix the Problem:
3. Follow these steps to reinstall Autoexec.nt:
a. Click Start, click Run, type c:\windows\repair, and then click OK,
b. Right-click autoexec.nt, and then click Copy,
c. Click Start, click Run, type c:\windows\system32, and then click OK,
d. Right-click anywhere in that folder, and then click Paste,
e. Right-click the Autoexect.nt file that you just copied, and then click Properties,
f. Click to select Read-Only, and then click OK,
g. The Windows Config.nt file may also be missing. Repeat steps 3.a. through 3.f. to re-install the Config.nt file,
4. If this does not solve the problem, then click here to read Microsoft's instructions for reinstalling Autoexec.NT.
5. * After fixing the autoexec.nt problem, you may have a malicious program in your computer that could delete your autoexec.nt file again. A good spy-ware program will detect and delete these types of programs. We use Spyware Doctor and have had no problems since it was installed a few years ago. You may download, install, and run the detection section of Spyware Doctor free from the above website.
File not found: 'CHART2FX.VBX'

In the initial release of the 2006 version of the CSRS and FERS Benefits Calculator, Chart2fx.vbx, a support file, was not included in the installation program.

After installing the Benefits Calculator you may see the following pop-up error message:
After clicking on the OK button above, you will see the following pop-up message:
An installation file is available to solve this problem.
In order to remedy this problem, download and install this installation file, Chart2fx.vbx installation file (click here to download)
Follow this steps:
1. Click on Run when the File Download - Security Warning message appears,
2. Click on Run when the Internet Explorer - Security Warning message appears,
3. Click on the OK button when this message appears,
4. Click on UNZIP (install) when this message appears. Do not change the "Unzip to folder:" contents.
5. After the file is unzipped (installed), the following message will appear. Click OK on this message,
6. Finally, click on the Close button and run the Benefits Calculator.