US_STATE.DAT is considered a type of Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file. Dynamic Link Library files, like US_STATE.DAT, are essentially a "guide book" that stores information and instructions for executable (EXE) files - like PPTVIEW.EXE - to follow. These files were created so that multiple programs (eg. Office) could share the same US_STATE.DAT file, saving valuable memory allocation, therefore making your computer run more efficiently.
Unfortunately, what makes DLL files so convenient and efficient, also makes them extremely vulnerable to problems. If something happens to a shared DAT file, either it goes missing or gets corrupted in some way, it can generate a "runtime" error message. Runtime is pretty self-explanatory; it means that these errors are triggered when US_STATE.DAT is attempted to be loaded either when Office is starting up, or in some cases already running. Some of the most common US_STATE.DAT errors include:
- Access Violation at address - US_STATE.DAT.
- US_STATE.DAT could not be found.
- Cannot find C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Datamap\Data\US_STATE.DAT.
- Cannot register US_STATE.DAT.
- Cannot start Office. A required component is missing: US_STATE.DAT. Please install Office again.
- Failed to load US_STATE.DAT.
- The application has failed to start because US_STATE.DAT was not found.
- The file US_STATE.DAT is missing or corrupt.
- This application failed to start because US_STATE.DAT was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
Your US_STATE.DAT file could be missing due to accidental deletion, uninstalled as a shared file of another program (shared with Office), or deleted by a malware infection. Furthermore, US_STATE.DAT file corruption could be caused from a power outage when loading Office, system crash while loading US_STATE.DAT, bad sectors on your storage media (usually your primary hard drive), or quite commonly, a malware infection. Thus, it's critical to make sure your anti-virus is kept up-to-date and scanning regularly.