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Error: No script engine for extension .vbs ...

Submitted by Michael Burns on Tue, 04/26/2011 - 00:04
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So, I thought I would write a quick little script to open a VPN connection and perform some routine maintenance on a remote system. I created an empty .vbs file, edit it, put in some simple commands and then double-click it to test it. Then, up comes a dialog that says, "There is no script engine for extension .vbs." What?

What I found was that an application I installed to test, Bluefish Editor, had changed a lot of file type associations including VBS files. Unfortunately, they apparently do not "clean up" the associations after uninstalling which I had done. (Most applications that I have run across do not restore associations when they are uninstalled. So, Bluefish is not alone in this.)

Anyway, to restore the VBS association with WScript, the main change I had to make was to change the value for "(Default)" in the Registry as follows:

  • Run Regedit
  • Select .vbs under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
  • Change the value for (Default) to "VBSFile"

Once that change was in place, executing the VBS script worked as expected.

Bang-on Michael, solved

Submitted by Dave5 (not verified) on Tue, 07/02/2013 - 04:45.

Bang-on Michael, solved problem with minimal fuss!

God bless you Michael... you

Submitted by pcmachine (not verified) on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 04:10.

God bless you Michael... you solved me a big issue !

This was my exact problem.

Submitted by STM (not verified) on Mon, 10/08/2012 - 03:23.

This was my exact problem. And it is now solved. Thanks

You save my day, too!

Submitted by Sinuhe69 (not verified) on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 18:49.

Notepad++ change all text-based scripts default handle to it-self so script can not be executed anymore Thanks your tip now I know the root cause and can restore their default handle when needed so things run smoothly again.
Great job!

Thanks for posting--fixed the same problem with BlueFish for me

Submitted by Ross Martin (not verified) on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 13:44.

Saved me some grief... thanks!

That's it! You saved my day!

Submitted by Kaus Media (not verified) on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 03:42.

That's it! You saved my day!

Your welcome ...

Submitted by Michael Burns on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:00.

That's exactly why I posted it.

no script engine for .vbs

Submitted by David Wallace (not verified) on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 18:59.

I tried your Regedit fix but, alas, the problem continues on my Dell inspiron 530S running windows XP home edition.
There doesn't seem to be a file named wscript.exe anywhere on my computer, and that may be the problem. Is that a needed file? If so, where can I get it?

Thanks

Hello, David. It may be that

Submitted by Michael Burns on Sat, 07/12/2014 - 08:45.

Hello, David.

It may be that the Windows Script Host is disabled on your system. You can search on how to enable it using the following link.

enable script host windows xp