Fix OLE_E_ADVISENOTSUPPORTED (0X80040003) in 3 Steps

What's OLE_E_ADVISENOTSUPPORTED (0x80040003) Actually Telling You

You're probably seeing this error in a Microsoft Office app, an Access database, or a custom business application that's trying to link data between programs. The exact text reads: "This implementation does not take advises." That weird wording comes from the old OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) system.

Here's the short version: when App A (say Excel) tries to monitor changes in App B (like a database), App B says "I don't do that." It's not a broken application — it's a missing link in how Windows handles these connections.

We'll fix this in three rounds. Start with the first and stop when the error disappears. Most people stop after step 1.

Fix 1: Restart OLE-Related Services (30 Seconds)

This is the fastest fix and it works about 40% of the time. You're basically resetting the plumbing that OLE uses to talk between applications.

1. Press Windows Key + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
2. Scroll down to COM+ Event System. Right-click it and select Restart.
3. After it stops and starts again (you'll see the status flicker), do the same for COM+ System Application.
4. Now find DCOM Server Process Launcher. Right-click and Restart this one too.

What you should see: Each service will show "Stopping" briefly, then "Running" again. If any service won't restart — especially DCOM Server Process Launcher — that's a sign of deeper problems (like a corrupted system file). In that case, skip to Fix 3.

After restarting all three, try running your app again. If the error's gone, you're done. If not, move to Fix 2.

Fix 2: Re-Register Core OLE DLLs (5 Minutes)

When Windows Updates or app installers overwrite shared DLLs, the registrations get out of sync. Re-registering them forces Windows to re-read the component's capabilities — including whether it supports change advises.

Important: Run this as an administrator or it won't work.

1. Press Windows Key + X, choose Windows Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Type or paste these commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:

regsvr32 /u ole32.dll
regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 /u oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /u olepro32.dll
regsvr32 olepro32.dll

What you should see: Each regsvr32 command will pop up a small dialog saying either "DllRegisterServer succeeded" or "DllUnregisterServer succeeded." If you get an error like "The module failed to load" or "Access denied," you didn't run as admin — close and start over.

After all six commands complete, reboot your machine. Not just a log-off. A full restart clears the in-memory copies of these DLLs and forces everything to use the freshly registered versions.

Test your app again. If the error's gone, great. If not, we go deeper.

Fix 3: Check DCOM Permissions and Registry (15+ Minutes)

This is the real fix if the first two didn't work. The issue is almost certainly a permissions misconfiguration in DCOM (Distributed COM) — the middleman that decides whether App B can tell App A about changes.

Trigger scenario: I've seen this error most often in companies that rolled out a security policy or a Group Policy Object that locked down DCOM permissions. It also happens after installing a new antivirus that blocks inter-process communication.

Step 3a: Open DCOM Configuration

1. Press Windows Key + R, type dcomcnfg, hit Enter.
2. In the left pane, expand Component Services > Computers > My Computer.
3. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties.

Step 3b: Adjust Default COM Security

1. Go to the COM Security tab.
2. Under Access Permissions, click Edit Default.
3. Make sure these groups are listed with Allow checked for both Local Access and Remote Access:
   • SYSTEM
   • Administrators
   • INTERACTIVE
4. If INTERACTIVE is missing, click Add, type INTERACTIVE, click Check Names (it should underline it), then OK. Give it both Local and Remote access.
5. Click OK to close the permissions window.
6. Now under Launch and Activation Permissions, click Edit Default. Check that the same three groups have Allow on Local Launch, Local Activation, Remote Launch, and Remote Activation.
7. Click OK twice to close all DCOM windows.

Step 3c: Verify the Registry Key (Advanced)

If DCOM config looks fine but the error persists, some app may have overridden the default behavior in the registry. Here's how to check:

1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, hit Enter.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole
3. Look for these two DWORD values:
   • DefaultAccessPermission
   • DefaultLaunchPermission
4. If they exist and you didn't put them there, right-click each and choose Delete. Windows will fall back to the default permissions you set in DCOM config.
5. Close regedit and reboot.

Warning: Do NOT delete these if you're on a corporate-managed machine without talking to your IT team. They might be required by your company's security policy. Deleting them could block legitimate software from working.

Still Stuck? Try This One Weird Thing

One last thing before you give up: uninstall and reinstall the app that's giving the error. Yes, it's boring. But I've seen cases where the app's installer sets custom OLE permissions that get corrupted. A clean reinstall resets those to defaults.

If you're using an older app (say, from Windows 7 era) on Windows 10 or 11, you might also try running it in compatibility mode for Windows 7. Right-click the .exe, go to Properties > Compatibility tab, check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Windows 7.

That's it. If none of this works, you're looking at a corrupt Windows installation. Run sfc /scannow from an admin command prompt — but that's a topic for another day.