Userform controls disappearing in Word 2013/Windows 8.1 with High-Res display - DLL error?

Question

I have a .dotm file with a large number of modules and userforms. Creating new documents from the template works fine on almost every computer I've tested it on (hundreds), but I've run into a setup that fails consistently.
Two different Samsung ATIV 9's with a high res display and Windows 8 (64bit)/Office 2013 show the same problem:
When opening a new document based on the template for the first time, it works fine. If I open the VB editor, everything looks normal, userforms are intact.
On the second and all consecutive attempts, it throws a "Type Mismatch" error. Opening the VB Editor, I get a compile error on lines of code referencing components of the first userform (alphabetically). Opening that userform, it shows only a blank
multi-page control, and all the other controls are missing - hence the new compile errors on controls that used to exist. If I remove that userform and save the file, the project compiles, but opening a new document from the template will result in "Word
has stopped working..."
I can actually reproduce this behavior starting from scratch - new blank document, save as a .dotm. Create a new userform and add a multipage control. Clicking any control in the toolbox to add it to the form will result in a "Type Mismatch" error,
even though there's no VBA code. I can then successfully add the control to the form. But, once I save and reopen the template, the multi-page control is blank, and the other controls I put on it disappear.
I at one point got an error from the VB Editor that it "could not open macro storage" and the included help suggested that might be due to an incorrect version of vbe7.dll.
The only copy of vbe7.dll I could find was at:
c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX86\Microsoft Shared\VBA\VBA7.1
The dll version was 7.1.10.44
I tried replacing that file with a vbe7.dll file from a working computer (version 7.0.15.89 from c:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\VBA\VBA7), but that just resulted in the VB editor not loading at all.
I have tried both a 32bit Click-to-run version of Office 2013, and installing off a CD with 64bit Office 2013, both had exactly the same error.
The reason I'm wondering if it's a high-DPI display related error is that googling about vbe7.dll errors, I came across this hotfix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2880496/en-us
which claims it "Fixes various Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) issues with displays on high-DPI devices."
Neither the 32bit or 64bit installer for that hotfix would run, they said there was no affected programs installed.
My reasoning for suspecting a hardware/DLL incompatibility is this:
1) It's not the template or the VBA code, since those work elsewhere and the same behavior happens with any file with a userform
2) It's not the Office version, since both 32/64 bit, MSI and Click-to-run didn't work
3) It's not Windows 8.1, since this same template works fine on other machines
4) The first time I open the template on the affected machines, it works fine - but the template is shipped compacted and decompiled. After I open it once and then close, Word has compiled the code and corrupted it somehow, because whatever the first userform
was in the list shows up as blank.
5) It feels hardware-specific, since out of hundreds of machines, I've only seen this behavior on two of the same laptop model - seems like too much of a coincidence.
Is there any chance the VBE in Office 2013 is somehow incompatible with this hardware? If that might be the case, does anyone have any idea how I'd go about testing and/or fixing it?
Any thoughts are much appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Chris,
Try the following.
Download the IDT Audio installer on the link below and save it to your Downloads folder.
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp59501-60000/sp59861.exe
When done, open windows Control Panel, open Device Manager and open up Sound, Video and Game Controllers.  If you see an entry for IDT HD Audio ( or very similar IDT entry ), right click the device and select Uninstall - you should also get a prompt to remove the current driver, tick the box to allow this and then proceed with the uninstall.  If there was no IDT entry, just proceed below.
When complete, shut down the notebook, unplug the AC Adapter and then remove the battery.  Hold down the Power button for 30 seconds.  Re-insert the battery and plug in the AC Adapter.
Tap away at the esc key as you start the notebook to launch the Start-up Menu and then select f10 to enter the bios menu.  Press f5 to load the defaults ( this is sometimes f9, but the menu at the bottom will show the correct key ), use the arrow keys to select 'Yes' and hit enter.  Press f10 to save the setting and again use the arrow keys to select 'Yes' and hit enter.
Let Windows fully load - it will automatically load an audio driver, but just let this complete.  Then open your Downloads folder, right click on the IDT installer and select 'Run as Administrator' to start the installation.  When this has completed, right click the speaker icon in the Taskbar and select Playback Devices.  Left click 'Speakers and Headphones' once to highlight it and then click the Set Default button - check if you now have audio.
Regards,
DP-K
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Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience