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Install VB6 on Windows 10


So if you don't know it, the technical preview version of Windows 10 is available. Being the good maintenance guy, you'll want to know about installing VB6 on Windows 10. This article shows how I got it running on Microsofts latest OS.

I won't run down the list of getting Windows 10 installed. If you're able to grab the ISO, you should be able to get it running, I think. It's pretty straightforward, as far as OS installs go. For this session, I'll be using the Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition setup media.

Test System Configuration

The test system is a Hyper-V virtual machine, containing 2 processors, 8 GB RAM, and a 50 GB system drive. The OS is Windows 10 Technical Preview for Enterprise, Build 9841.

Stop the Reboot

As in my previous tutorials for installing VB6 on Windows 7 and Windows 8, you'll want to create a zero byte file called MSJAVA.DLL. Creating this file in C:\Windows will prevent the need for a reboot at the end of the installation. If you're not familiar with how to create a zero-byte file, just click that link back there.

Let's Get Started

The first thing that you'll notice after inserting your installation media is the Program Compatibility Assistant popping up with a warning of known compatibility issues. Close it - we need to run setup manually. If you have autorun turned off, you'll get this pop up when you run setup.

Navigate to the installation media, and find the setup program. Right click setup.exe, and select Run As Administrator. Very important! Setup needs to do some registry twiddling and register some items with Windows, and won't be able to do it without the necessary permissions.

Simply click the option that reads Run the program without getting help, and the main setup wizard will start.

The first few screens are the usual stuff, things you've seen before:

Main Installation

On the first screen of the ACM Setup, leave the installation folder at the default, and click the Custom option for setup. The next screen will be the options list.

I don't use SourceSafe, so I cleared the checkbox. If you use SourceSafe, then by all means leave it checked for installation.

Very important - Clear the checkbox for Data Access. If you don't, set up will hang at the end of the installation. Not sure for the real reason, but the theory is that setup is trying to register with Windows on a non-existent service. Clearing the Data Access checkbox stops this registration attempt.

Click Continue to carry on with the installation process. At this point, if you didn't create the empty MSJAVA.DLL file in C:\Windows, you'll get a restart Windows prompt. Go ahead and restart if you need to, I'll wait.

In any event, you'll get an MSDN installation wizard. I decline this, since much more information is available online anyway.

Now you'll get an option Server Setups dialog. If you want to install BackOffice, Visual SourceSafe Server, or SNA server, you have the opportunity at this point. I don't use these items, so I just click Next to blow by it.

Finally, we get to the last screen of the wizard. Un-check the Register Now checkbox, and click Finish.

Getting VB6 Running for the First Time

You can find the new shortcuts in your start menu, under the usual Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 program group. You might be tempted to just fire it up straight away, and you can. But, you'll receive a nasty error about Automation, Error accessing the registry. You can blow by the error, but you'll just keep getting it every time you fire up VB6, and some data-access related items won't work correctly.

So, to get past this behavior, right-click the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 program icon in the start menu group, and select Run As Administrator. Click Yes in the resulting UAC dialog, and VB6 will start normally, presenting the new project wizard.

Ok, the first post-setup task is complete. Now on to the final piece.

Fixing the IDE Chug

Now before you start building a new project or editing an existing one, there is one more bit of configuration you might need to do. In running the IDE in a Windows 10 virtual machine, I've found that the IDE is somewhat sluggish when sizing and/or placing controls on a form, as well as sizing the form itself. This problem also presented itself in Windows 7 and Windows 8. We need to configure a couple things about the run properties of the IDE to fix this.

Be sure the IDE is closed, then right-click the start menu icon again. This time select Open file location.

In the explorer window that appears, right click the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 icon, and select properties. In the Properties window, select the Compatibility tab. On the Compatibility tab, click the Change settings for all users button.

In the new VB6 Properties window, place a tick mark in the Run this program in compatibility mode for: checkbox, and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3) from the drop down.

Under Settings, check the Reduced color mode checkbox, and change the dropdown to 16-bit (65536) color.

Put a check mark in the Disable display scaling on high DPI settings.

Click Ok, then Ok again.

Aaaand .... Done!

Okey dokey. You should be all set.

Now you should be able to run the IDE with no problem. On my screen, a red border appears when moving or sizing a control or form, but may appear differently on your monitor depending on your video driver.

I hope this tutorial proves useful. I know it's a bit wordy, and for that I apologize. I do try to paint a clear picture, though. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me through private message (logged in users only), or you can leave a comment below.

Have a great day!

About this post

Posted: 2014-10-30
By: dwirch
Viewed: 281,780 times

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AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2014-11-07:

Good to see VB6 programming running on the Windows 10 technical preview

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2014-11-12:

Do you intend testing your VB6 programming installer on newer Windows 10 builds ?

dwirch posted this comment on 2014-11-12:

Which installer do you speak of? If you're talking about the Package and Deployment Wizard, I haven't use that since I first started with VB6 about a million years ago. I've been using Inno, which is an order of magnitude better than the P&D wizard. And Inno works fine with Windows 10, btw.

Other folks use things like Installshield, which is a commercial product. I wouldn't look for Windows 10 support for that until Win10 gets RTM'd, at the soonest.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2014-11-12:

Sorry, I didn't make my question clear. I meant to ask if you will test your procedure for installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 on newer Windows 10 builds.

dwirch posted this comment on 2014-11-12:

Yes; as I get new builds, I'll revert the snapshot of the VM and re-try the install. Annotations will be made as I discover them.

As I understand it, a new build will be hitting the ground soon, if it hasn't already.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2014-11-18:

Ok, just to add to the fire.

On any new machine, i have to install the following;

VB4, VB5, VB6, then VB5 SP 3, VB6 SP 5

And then many, many additional OCX's, the software written ranges from simple automation tasks to full epos systems using touch screens, barcode scanner, cash drawers, RF id readers, Swipe card units, Biometric finger print readers, blah blah blah.

And no i cant just replace all the coding from years and years ago thats installed on hundreads of computers. Some of these apps still use the good old Shredain Threed control !

So anyone been brave enough to try and install VB4 ?

dave@hestor.com

I do have this process working on Windows 7, 64 Bit.

Thanks

Dave

dwirch posted this comment on 2014-11-18:

Wow! VB4 ?! I don't know if I even have a copy of that, but I will check my library. If I do have a copy, I'll give it a shot!

Also, I am currently updating my preview build, so I hope to get VB6 installation tested on it later today.

dwirch posted this comment on 2014-11-19:

Just an FYI, I built a fresh machine and updated it to build 9879. I then followed the above process to install VB6, and it worked like a champ. No problems during installation, no problems running the IDE, and no problems compiling and running programs.

dwirch posted this comment on 2014-11-19:

I've started a thread in the forums for any discussions on this topic, if anyone is interested. The direct link to the thread is:

http://www.fortypoundhead.com/forum_viewpost.asp?pid=218

and the forum link is:

http://www.fortypoundhead.com/forum_view.asp?fid=14

Enjoy!

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-01-01:

Microsoft knows that there are many vb6 legacy Apps out there....And also that there are some millions of VB6 that sitill use Vb6...Good move Billy...

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-01-23:

Build 9926 is now available

 

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-01-23:

I installed it this morning, and am prepping to to test the VB6 procedure this weekend.  Have you tested yet?

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-01-26:

FYI - installed the latest build (9926), and the VB6 setup process described above still works.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-02-23:

A note about security:

At work (for business) we are not allowed to program in any ".net" language because the complete uncompiled code ALWAYS is available to the end user. These use a JIT (Just In Time) compiling process whereas the raw code is compiled on the user's computer, and is then run on that computer EVERY time that the target program is run. Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2013 are ".net" therefore severely insecure.

Visual Studio 6, specifically Visual Basic 6 compiles and supplies an executable which does NOT include the complete uncompiled code. At work we still use VB6.

 

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-03-24:

@dwirch

I installed Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview Build 9926 into Oracle VirtualBox 4.3.26 without any problems.

Then i tried to install Visual Basic 6.0 following your instructions. But i could install it only without the datacomponents!
Trying do do it with them, the installation never ends!
Now it works, but without Data Environments, but with data access (Microsoft Access 2013).
Now nearly all works, exept the flexgrid and his components. (Maybe because there is only Office 2013 installed?)

Viktor

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-03-24:

Hey Viktor -

If you open the IDE, and click on Project -> References, scroll down the list and see if you see Microsoft Data Access Components, or any of the DAO components.

If you do, you should be fine.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-03-24:

Thank you for this thread.  Helped me a lot.  I am an independent programmer.  VB6 System Development is my job and will be happy if it will stay for more decades.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-03-30:

What build of Windows 10 has this been tested with ?

 

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-03-30:

I've tested through build 9926.  Build 10040 dropped about 10 days ago, and I haven't got a chance to testwith that build yet.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-05-06:

Build 10074 here. Installation method above seems to have worked for me. I haven't tried writing any code or compiling yet but I drug a few contolls onto a form. No problems.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-06-02:

I've just installed 10130 TP and it won't jump over msjava installation. It just reboot in endless loop.
Any idea?
 

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-06-02:

Haven't tried it on that build.  You're sure you have the zero-byte file in place, in the proper location, with the proper filename (no .txt extension) ?

Since RTM is happening on July 29, I might just hold off any further testing with pre-release builds.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-06-02:

About 10130 TP
I'm sure for file, copied also on system 32 and SysWOW64. That was not solution.   Further, I installed proposed MS-JAVA update and found 22 files on SysWOW64 all dated 1998! Copied them on C:\Windows and installation continued. Hope this helps someone.
 

rpg1999 posted this comment on 2015-06-03:

I had a similar problem with 10026 - the blank file wouldn't work. I even created an MSJAVA.DLL file with the same filesize but no joy. I tried this in c:\windows\, c:\windows\system32\ and c:\windows\syswow64 but no luck.

In the end I copied the proper MSJAVA.DLL (on its own) from a working machine to c:\windows\syswow64\ only and this solved the problem. Hope this helps anyone out there.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-06-12:

I can confirm rpg1999's problem/solution. On Windows 10 (build 10130) the zero byte msjava.dll trick doesn't seem to work anymore.

You can copy a valid file from another installation, as suggested, or simply go to the installation folder, there in the IE4 folder is a file called MSJACVX86.EXE. Open MSJAVX86.EXE file with WinRar, and then open the file JAVABASE.CAB. Within that file is the msjava.dll. Extract msjava.dll to the desktop (simple but crucial step to make sure it won't go to the virtual store) and then move the file to the C:\WINDOWS folder. After that, I was able to install VB6 without getting the Java nag-screen.

Sten posted this comment on 2015-06-27:

Nice comment from Microsoft in a blog about getting ready for Windows 10....

"And yes, everyone’s favorite VB6 Runtime will continue to work, too."

Read it here... 
http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/06/22/getting-ready-for-windows-10-sdks-compatibility-bridges/

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-07-02:

This is awsome to see VB6 runnig on Windows 10! Thanks Bill we all love you...

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-07-08:

excellent article

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-07-30:

So I did the upgrade yesterday, from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, and the process went super smooth.

Testing with the VB6 IDE and compiling applications proved no problem.  Further, testing with apps compiled on Win7 and Win8.1 showed no problems, either.

Anyone else?

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-05:

Did you have to disable Visual Studio Analyzer. I had to do this for my install to work on windows 10.

 

Enterprise Tools -> Change Options -> Visual Studio Analyzer, Uncheck and click OK.

Read more: http://www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp?artid=23916#ixzz3i0orRQH3

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

Isn't that part of Visual Studio .Net ?  It's not on my system, so I didn't run in to any problems.

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

No. it is part of the Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Setup.

Enterprise Tools -> Change Options-> Visual Studio Analyzer.

I had to uncheck this for the install to work correctly.

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

Ahh, my mistake - I don't make use of Enterprise Tools, so I unchecked the option.

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

This is the error you get if you leave Visual Studio Analyzer

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

I have also tried both the create 0 byte MSJAVA.DLL and copy MSJAVA.DLL from the IE4 cab file.

"copy a valid file from another installation, as suggested, or simply go to the installation folder, there in the IE4 folder is a file called MSJACVX86.EXE. Open MSJAVX86.EXE file with WinRar, and then open the file JAVABASE.CAB"

The followig issues occured

a) Create 0 Byte file -> Still prompted to install Java Virtual Machine.

b) Use the real msjava.dll  -> Error message "javasign.dll was unable to register it self in the system registry".

 

 

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-06:

For reference here is my step by step installation process that worked for me.

Visual Studio 6 + SP6 installation on Windows 10 Release Build 10240

Part 1 - Visual Studio 6 Installation
1. Ensure UAC has been turned off.
2. Ensure your user has administrative rights on the computer.
3. Right click the Setup.exe file in the Visual Studio Installer and "Run As Administrator"
4. Click Next, Accept the Agreement and Click Next.
5. Enter your software key, aname and company name. Click Next.
6. Update Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java.
7. "An app on your PC needs the following Windows Feature DirectPlay". Click "Install this feature".
8. "The following feature was successfully installed: DirectPlay". Click Close.
9. "The installation wizard will now reboot the system". Click OK.
10. On startup the installation continues to run.
11. Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition shown with options “Custom, Products or Server Application”.
12. Select Custom and click Next.
13. Installation folder click Next.
14. Click Continue.
15. Product ID click Ok.
16. Data Access -> Change Options -> ADO, RDS and OLE DB Providers, Uncheck and click OK.
17. At this point it warns saying the component is essential. Click OK. (As of Windows 8 Remote Data Services are no longer included in windows https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms676188(v=vs.85).aspx)
18. Enterprise Tools -> Change Options -> Visual Studio Analyzer, Uncheck and click OK.
19. Click Continue.
20. Check register environment variables and click OK.
21. Say Yes to VSS DB format.
22. "Setup has installed an icon in the Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 Tools..." Click OK.
23. Click "Restart Windows" to complete the installation
24. On start up it will ask to install MSDN. Untick Install MSDN and click Next.
25. Confirm "Yes" to not install the MSDN.
26. Other Client Tools. Select Nothing and click Next.
27. Server Setups. Select Nothing and click Next.
28. Untick Register Now and click Finish.


Part 2 - SP6 Installation
1. Run setupsp6.exe
2. Click Continue.
3. Click I Agree.
4. Setup Successful click Ok.

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-08-07:

Thanks, adrianhalid! Good update!

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-11:

You mentioned using VB6 - do know if VC6 works as well and are there any changes needed after the install to make it work?

Great information - thanks.

 

 

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-13:

Just installed Vb6 on WIndows 10, thanks to your notes, all went well, so a BIG thanks.

Just wanted to see if I have put in all the patches for Vb6. What is the latest build.

I get Version 8176

VBA: retial 6.0.8169

Forms3: 12.0.6723.500

i.e from Help, about in Vb6

thanks
Sean

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-14:

I have version 6.0.9782

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-16:

With many saying to uncheck Data Access during the install, does this mean that my project using Data Access components won't work on Windows 10?  My project references...

Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 Library
Microsoft Data Bindiong Collection VB6 SP4
Microsoft Data Report Designer 6 SP4
Microsoft Data Formatiing Object Library 6 SP6

It uses these Designer compnents...

Data Environment
Data Report
DHTML Page
Webclass

 

 

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-08-16:

Shouldn't be a problem.  When installing on Windows 10, I unchecked those items, and am still able to use ADO with no problem.

vbcorner posted this comment on 2015-08-17:

I've updated my Visual Studio 6.0 Installer wizard to v4.1, which solve any problem with Windows 10 Pro (final build 10240) too. wink
See the complete video tutorial on YouTube

No XP Mode, no UAC, no RunAs, Portable (no setup need), Free!

Donwload page: Visual Studio 6 Installer

For any problem, visit the VS6 Installer 4.x FORUM
 

Visual Studio 6.0 Installer wizard v4.1 - VBCorner

god work,

gibra yes

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-17:

I have the VB5 disk with the upgrade disk to VB6.  Normally, I would run the setup with the VB6 disk and during the install I had to put in the VB5 disk to prove upgrade eligibilty.  Would your Visual Studio 6.0 installer work with these disks?  Also, it portable or does it need to be installed on the system?

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-18:

@adrianhalid: I followd the steps mentioned.

Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise + SP6 installation on Windows 10 Release Build 10240

1. Ensure UAC has been turned off.
2. Ensure your user has administrative rights on the computer.
3. Right click the Setup.exe file in the Visual Studio Installer and "Run As Administrator"
4. Click Next, Accept the Agreement and Click Next.
5. Enter your software key, aname and company name. Click Next.
6. Update Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java. Went into endless loop, then copied MSJAVA.DLL from cab file in C:\Windows
7. "An app on your PC needs the following Windows Feature DirectPlay". Click "Install this feature".
8. "The following feature was successfully installed: DirectPlay". Click Close.
9. "The installation wizard will now reboot the system". Click OK.
10. On startup the installation continues to run.
11. Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition shown with options “Custom, Products or Server Application”.
12. Select Custom and click Next.
13. Installation folder click Next.
14. Click Continue.
15. Product ID click Ok.
16. Data Access -> Change Options -> ADO, RDS and OLE DB Providers, Uncheck and click OK.
17. At this point it warns saying the component is essential. Click OK.
18. Enterprise Tools -> Change Options -> Visual Studio Analyzer, Uncheck and click OK.
19. Click Continue.
20. Shows copying file, updating system screen
21. Error: Setup was not completed successfully.

I do not know what and where is wrong in my case?

Below are the screens:

 

 

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-22:

Other solution to msjava.dll

In the Installation folder find the file "SETUPWIZ.INI", open the file and find the key "VmPath",
clear the value and save.

regards!!

ndsky

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-08-22:

Converting VB6 to VS is tedious, so I suggest still using VB6 for maintenanceThanks so much for this thread everyone.

 

I installed successfully VB6 Professional from original disk after waiting HOURS for it to install "normally".
The unchecking of the "Data Components" was the key (although the system warned that in doing so the
program would not run correctly!) It is good that Microsoft allowed you to uncheck it anyway! LOL

I am a very keen Visual Studio 2015 programmer may I say. It is just that I have VB6 programs hanging around and
I don't have the time to re-write them in VS.

If you are still using VB6, take a leap aand change to the free VS 2015 version. Using the web for help, it soon became easy toprogram in the far more powerful Visual Studio IDE and the coding is SO much easier once everything "clicks". It may takeawhile, but you will never go back to VB6 once 
you become "au fait with VS. 

Converting VB6 programs to VS is tedious so I suggest keeping VB6 for maintenance, and write any new programs in Visual Studio.

Cheers

Chris (Australia)

 

 

 

adrianhalid posted this comment on 2015-08-24:

@AnonymousCoward

Maybe try unticking all Enterprise Tools.

It was a trial and error process for me. First I had all features selected. Then I would untick option until I found a solution that worked.

In the end my installation was just to disable.

Data Access -> Change Options -> ADO, RDS and OLE DB Providers

Enterprise Tools -> Change Options -> Visual Studio Analyzer

Maybe try unticking other features until you get the installation to work.

Maybe try Visual Studio 6.0 Installer wizard to v4.1 in a previous comment

I have never used this installer but see it popping up everywhere now.

davidd posted this comment on 2015-08-31:

VB6 in Windows 10 "Tablet Mode"

I've just installed the VB6 IDE on a Windows 10 7-inch tablet (upgraded from 8.1). The main problem was that it rebooted due to the Java issue then couldn't find the VB6 media on restart. I got round this by following ndsky's tip above that says "In the Installation folder find the file "SETUPWIZ.INI", open the file and find the key "VmPath", clear the value and save" - thanks for that, it worked well.

The VB6 IDE also runs OK when in Windows 10 "Tablet Mode". This allows VB6 applications to be more easily converted to also operate in Tablet Mode. However Tablet Mode requires applications to run maximized (not windowed) so may require adding checks to your code. (New 7-inch tablets are apparently only available with Tablet Mode, not Desktop.)

One way to detect tablet mode is to read registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell and if value TabletMode is 1 then it's in Tablet Mode (0 if not). If a user switches to Tablet Mode when a VB6 EXE is running with the form in an unmaximized/windowed state then Windows 10 seems to maximize the form automatically (and restore it back after returning to Desktop mode) - this seems to be a feature of Windows 10. The form Resize event is triggered when this happens.

davidd posted this comment on 2015-09-05:

A bit more on VB6 in Windows 10 "Tablet Mode"...

After a VB6 app starts in Windows 10 "Tablet Mode", after presenting the first form, it seems that you need to keep a "current form" visible at all times - if at any point there isn't a "current form", then Start reappears, and the user has to switch back to their app. For example the following VB6 code causes Start to appear (and so the user needs to click on the app in the taskbar to get back to Form2):-

Form1.Show 'Form1 appears.
'(Do something.)
Form1.Hide 'No "current form" after this line.
'(Do something for a second or so - Start will appear.)
Form2.Show 'Too late! - Start has already appeared.

However the following code leaves Form2 visible, with no Start appearing:-
Form1.Show
'(Do something.)
Form2.Show 'Get the new "current form" Form2 in place before hiding Form1.
Form1.Hide
i.e. make sure you have another form visible before you close the current form or make it invisible. (I don't know the technical details of Tablet Mode, but that seems how it works in practice.)

Or just stick to Desktop Mode!

David

P.S. Anyone know a method of programmatically bringing your app forward (with focus) once the Tablet Mode Start has appeared i.e. without the user having to switch back to it?

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-09-06:

Do you consider these are instructions for "Install VB6 on Windows 10 Preview" or can "Preview" be dropped from the title now ?

 

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-09-06:

Yep - I believe the same instructions to be valid.  I'll drop the "preview" from the post.

acedashdog posted this comment on 2015-09-16:

Hi - I followed this, and it worked, which relieved my sinking heart; VB6 works. The only problem I have is that all the DAO components are missing - figures, as I unchecked Data Access. 

 

All my VB6 stuff uses access databases on fairlyold DAO. 

Any way I can get that back?

dwirch posted this comment on 2015-09-16:

You can download MDAC 2.8 from the Microsoft Download Center, here.  Just in case, instructions for redistributing DAO can be found here.

Hope that helps!

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-09-20:

Magnificent Article. You save my day Sir.

God Bless...

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-09-23:

In Windows 7+8 you could not run VB6 IIS (webclass) application from the VB6 IDE.

Has anyone tried this on Windows 10?

thanks

 

vbcorner posted this comment on 2015-09-27:

2015/09/27 - Visual Studio 6.0 Installer wizard updated to 4.4

What's new in 4.4:

- Add detection and support for the MSDN Library 'Subscription' October 2001.

 

For info, image and video tutorial, see my post on date: 2015/08/17

smiley

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-10-08:

hanksfor this web page.  I still do a lot of VB8 programming, along with VB.Net.   VB6 is running fine on both of my Windows 10 machines - the only remaining issue is that I haven't been able to get the mouswheel to work.  I used to use the MouseWhell add-in, but doesn't seem to work in Windows 10.  ANyone get this working?    

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-10-24:

WOW!  It's not often that I find a solution that actually works.  THANKS BIG TIME from an old XP user.  All my instrumentation uses VB6 and I was really getting worried that I would have to keep an old XP machine running to maintain them.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-10-31:

my remote control software is designed in Vb6 have worked in Window 10 and now i'm able to install the visual studio on windows 10 too by your post. Thank you so much!

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-11-11:

Can you help an oldie?

When distributing old VB6 applications to Windows 10 users, which files do I deselect? Is the following below correct or do I deselect more?

 

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-11-16:

Thank you -- I was stuck installing VB 6 Enterprise (so that I could dig through some old code I'm porting to, of all things, iOS) -- and your remark about Data Access solved my problem.

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-12-13:

Hello - I'm Ralf from Germany. I did all the things installing my VB6-IDE and the installation worked well. Also all other ocx and so on I need. But: the conflict with "mscomctl.ocx" is still alive. Unregister and register, alls the other things are done - the conflict is alive. I search at the registry - this ocx points to syswow64. Has anyone any idea to solve this problem?!? Thanks...

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-12-19:

I was unable to install VB6 SP6 until I set the compatibility mode to Windows XP (Service Pack 2). XP SP3 did not work.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-12-22:

Give this inno script a try:

http://www.planetsourcecode.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=74428&lngWId=1

It works remarkably well. I used my Enterprise CD and it popped out a 33~MB EXE that installed easily and quickly.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-12-24:

Hello Ralf.  Mscomctl.ocx is a 32-bit file.  It should be in the Syswow64 folder as this folder is where all the 32-bit files go on a 64-bit system.  Make sure you don't have a copy of this file in the System32 folder and re-register it using regsvr32.exe from the %SystemRoot%\Syswow64 folder.   To do this open an administrator command-prompt and type...

cd \windows\syswow64
regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2015-12-27:

Somebody mentioned the msjava.dll trick and I installed VB6 on Windows 10 just using that. It did work but hung up at the end and I had to reboot to finish it. I want to try again, but there is no way to uninstall it now (vi6 does not show up in the Progams in any way). . I also have 2 service packs for my VB6 which don't want to run either because they are 32 bit. How can I uninstall & sp I can reinstall using these instructions then get the service packs to run?

pawwriter posted this comment on 2015-12-27:

The comment involving reinstall was from pawwriter.

joebananas posted this comment on 2016-01-02:

To those having difficulties, try disabling your antivirus first. I followed adrianhalid's post of 2015-08-06, but I could not get past the DirectPlay installation; it would fail with a cryptic error message. Googling around, I found my Avast antivirus to be the culprit. Temporarily disabling it would get me past that point, but I found the successful installation of service pack 6 also required the disabling of Avast. But the most surprising is the fact that Avast actually stopped the successfully installed vb6 from running at all; I would just get the spinning circle continuously. I had to add the path of the program (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\* ) to Avast's Exclusion list (found under Settings section). So my recommendation would be to disable your antivirus for the duration of the total installation, including service pack, and try adding the above path to the Exclusion List of your antivirus.

dabineri posted this comment on 2016-01-28:

Everything went well for me until I ran by app and got "Couldn't find installable ISAM". I am using DAO.  Anyone know what I am missing?  Many thanks!

dwirch posted this comment on 2016-01-28:

@dabineri - have you tried downloading and installing MDAC 2.8?  You can grab it from Microsoft at the link below:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5793

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2016-01-31:

Man, you are a saver! I would have never guessed all I needed to do was to run my program in the compatibility 16bit Reduced Color Mode! Without this setting all forms fail to load their Icons and crush abruptly with an "Unexpected Error" with no error code or any further explanation.

Well, I wish you a nice programming!

Jhack

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2016-03-29:

One bothersome issue I've had since XP is that moving a group of controls together is problematic. The first selected control ouutlines in red, but additional controls (using Shift) clear the visual selection of the first control and you are flying blind after that.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2016-04-22:

Hi Everyone,

I was succesfully able to install Visual Studio 6 Professional on windows 10 Pro 64bit WITH Data Access.  It is very simple, just install VS6 as you normally would with Data Access enabled, it will freeze when you try to finalize the install.  Allow it to freeze, then end the installation task.  You will still have all the install files and will be able to run the program.  Now, you will need to install the VB6 service pack 6, but it won't allow you to since visual studio did not install correctly.  To fix this, install VS6 over again, this time uncheck data access components, install as normal.  Afterward, run the service pack and you should be good to go.  Enjoy!

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2016-10-05:

First of all, big thanks for the maintainer of this site, this has been extremely helpful already for Windows 7 x64. Now I'm on Windows 10 x64, new system, I could also confirm that the zero-byte MSJAVA.DLL did not work for me. But this one did:

Date: 2015-06-12: You can copy a valid file from another installation, as suggested, or simply go to the installation folder, there in the IE4 folder is a file called MSJACVX86.EXE....

 

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2017-07-06:

DUDE! You are AWSOME!!! I've got a client who has some legacy VB6 apps that are essential and non-migratable. And they were written by a COBOL programmer. Yes, a COBOL programmer. It's excruciatingly painful to deal with the code already. compound the need to keep a legacy machine going just tomaintain the apps, and it's like I'd rather sit next to Hillary Clinton on a plane than work on that stuff. BRAVO! you have saved me at least 50% ofthe PITA that I normally suffer when working  on this ancient stuff.

Now, what can you help me doabout this GOTO COBOL programmer logic ;-)

dwirch posted this comment on 2017-07-06:

Lola yes, I did some COBOL dev back in the days of yore myself. I feel your pain.  Might be easier to toss most of the old stuff.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2017-11-24:

Thank you for sharing this knowledge. We have used this many times to set up our developer machines.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2018-02-23:

Many thanks,great post!

Dayrelton posted this comment on 2018-03-22:

I followed you instructions and all went well - after reboot when it hung at end.

Then I applied the following:

Applied SP6 3/25/2004 -VB6SP6.exe

Ran registration Fix 3/25/2004 - VB6.0-KB290887-86.exe

Applied SP6 cumulative update rollup 8/16/2012 - VB60SP6-KB2708437-x86-ENU.msi

Then install CodeBase - and put c4dll.dll in Windows\System32 but VB cannot find - will try other "obvious" locations

or, please tell me where, thanks

dwirch posted this comment on 2018-03-22:

@Dayrelton:

Did you remember to create the zero-byte file? You shouldn't have to reboot at all if you created that file.

Dayrelton posted this comment on 2018-03-22:

I followed you instructions and all went well - after reboot when it hung at end.

Then I applied the following:

Applied SP6 3/25/2004 -VB6SP6.exe

Ran registration Fix 3/25/2004 - VB6.0-KB290887-86.exe

Applied SP6 cumulative update rollup 8/16/2012 - VB60SP6-KB2708437-x86-ENU.msi

Then install CodeBase - and put c4dll.dll in Windows\System32 but VB cannot find - will try other "obvious" 

or, please tell me where, thanks - I moved the codebase dll to the c:windows directory and it was recognized !

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2018-11-08:

@DWIRCH

in latest versions of Windows 10 zero-byte file no longer work. You need extract it from original zip file.

My VS6Installer 5.0 does this automatically.

dwirch posted this comment on 2018-11-08:

@Anonymous Coward:

I just grabbed the latest insiders build, as well as a version prior, and the zero-byte-file method seems to be still working fine.  What your saying makes no sense, since there is no zero-byte MSJava on the original installation media. 

But hey, thanks for trying to slip your link in the comments here. Why not login and put your link in the links section, like everyone else?

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2020-01-16:

Kudos to you bruh 🥰🥰❤️❤️

Best guide to installing VB6 on Windows10

 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2020-06-17:

I'm really impressed along with youur writing talents and also wwith the layout for your blog. Is this a paid topic or did youu customize it yourself? Either way stay up the excellent high quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one today.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2020-07-28:

The number of sources you experienced to write this specific piece must have got been sky-high. Honestly, that is so unusual today, to have someone research the matter well and provide it in a good understandable way.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2021-08-13:

Thank you very much for sharing this knowledge. 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-04-07:

Thank you
 

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-05-20:

I have a standard version of VB6 and the sp6 and the power pack3 updates.  is there any problems installing these updates after the VB6 install?

Vince

dwirch posted this comment on 2022-05-24:

@Vince - There should be no problem installing SP6 or PP3. Just remembe to run as administrator when installing the updates.

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-06-05:

Thanks

Vince

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-07-18:

I’m having a problem unloading a form in VB6.

Form1 loads From2 and Form1 unloads

               Unload me

               Form2.show vbmodal

Form2  unloads and loads Form1

               Unload me

               Form1.show vbmodal

Form2 does not unload.  If I try to cause Form2 to load again, I get an error message that the Form2 is already loaded

Do you have any suggestions?

thanks

Vince

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-07-19:

I’m having a problem unloading a form in VB6 - FIXED

If found the problem

I was unloading Form2 in the Form_Unload procedure

This caused VB6 not to unload Form2 until Form1 unloaded

So . . . never mind

Thanks

Vince

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-08-11:

will VB6 install on windows 11?

dwirch posted this comment on 2022-08-12:

Works fine on Windows 11, using the same process as Windows 10.

senesa posted this comment on 2022-10-15:

thank

AnonymousCoward posted this comment on 2022-11-17:

is there any one have problame to install vb6 sp6 ?

dwirch posted this comment on 2022-11-17:

No problem here on Windows 10 or 11.  Care to explain any issues or errors you might be having?  We might be able to help more if you provide more info.

Bruce1952 posted this comment on 2024-03-05:

A year ago I installed VB6 on a Windows 11 machine using this procedure and it works great. A few days ago I did the same thing on a Windows 10 machine and have run into a problem. VB6 boots up and runs fine, but when trying to load a vbp I wrote and use regularly on the Win 11 machine, I get an error stating that MSCOMCTL.OCX can't load. The only difference in the two machines other than one being 10 and the other 11 is that the Win 10 machine has an AMD processor while the Win 11 machine has an Intel processor. The offending vbp program uses a connection to an Access database, but again it works fine on Windows 11. I have had success running VB6 on a Windows 10 machine using an Intel processor, so I think there may be an issue with AMD. I have never used one before. Unfortunately I am away from home for the next three months and don't have access to my main computer, and the Windows 10 rig I am using won't even load the vbp file or else I'd check it further. I am using VS6 Enterprise Edition installation media, so that much is the same as in this article.If I am able to work through this I will comment on the solution.

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