Why did my VB6 editor suddenly quit working

[Rubiconlwb]

I have been using VB6 with Windows 10 for a couple years with no issues whatsoever. Tonight, I tried to run the editor and it would not run and quit responding. I did everything I could think of, including changing the compatibility settings and nothing helped. I tried to restore to a previous state thinking maybe a recent update to Win 10 messed things up but the restore locked up twice and I was worried I was not going to be able to use my computer again. Does anybody know what could have changed? This is very frustrating and I have no solution how I can continue to edit my programs using VB6

[Bobbles]

I use XP Pro, and have for a very long time.
My VB6 IDE started deteriorating over a period of months, and eventually was so irritating that I determined to fix it.
I tried rollbacks etc, but to no avail.
Had to do a fresh install of XP, and start from scratch. I was not a happy man.
I never allowed MS to do any further updates to my XP.
This was a few years ago, and I still aint allowing MS updates. (I still use XP for all my VB6 development).
No doubt most will say my info is useless to you, as most will say (with W10) everyone should allow updates.

The only info that I can provide that might help you in the future (once you have a working VB6 IDE again) is - Get in the habit of creating regular images of your whole OS.
If MS stuffs your IDE in the future, you can always restore to an image when the IDE was OK.
I use the free Seagate DiskWizard (free if it can 'see' a Seagate drive), and save images to an external Seagate 3.5" drive.
I use the bootable version of the DiskWizard (as I do not want Windows running whilst I create an image).
After creation, I verify/validate the image.
If you are a WD man, they too have a version of the DiskWizard.

[DataMiser]

There have not been any updates for XP in quite a few years now.

As for the issue the OP has I would be curious to know how the IDE is being started, is it started directly from the shortcut with no project being loaded or is it being started by opening a vbp or vbg file and is it being ran as admin.

Personally I have been using VB6 for about 20 years now, have used it extensively under every OS from 98/Nt4 up thru Windows 7 and a little on Windows 10. I've never ran into any issues with it on any OS even on systems where it was running for years without an OS change or any type of re-install. I can't say much about 10 as my main development machine is still running Windows 7. I can only say that my Windows 10 system has all of the latest updates on it and VB6 still works just fine on it as far as I can tell.

If you have not already done so I would suggest trying to load the IDE with out a project loading and if it loads try starting a new project and see what happens and of course if you have not restarted the PC I would try that also.

From what I gather from the OP and the restore hanging I would suspect there may be a problem with the drive or ram but not really enough info to say for sure. It may be worthwhile to run some tests on the drive and the memory and see if any problems are identified. Re-install of VB6 may also be an option but I think I would try the other things first.

[LaVolpe]

Last week, my PC downloaded/installed Windows update to move to Win10 version 1903 -- no problems. However, there was one update, thinking to version 1703?, that totally killed my VB and and another app. I simply had to reinstall those apps. Reinstalling VB is easy enough and worth a try.

P.S. When reinstalling VB, ensure you execute the VB & SP6 setups as administrator

[DataMiser]

I've been running 1903 for a good while now. I run a couple of games from MS that generally require the latest version to run so am forced to update right away when a major update is released.

I think the oldest version I have used was 1709.

[Zvoni]

The only info that I can provide that might help you in the future (once you have a working VB6 IDE again) is - Get in the habit of creating regular images of your whole OS.
If MS stuffs your IDE in the future, you can always restore to an image when the IDE was OK.
I use the free Seagate DiskWizard (free if it can 'see' a Seagate drive), and save images to an external Seagate 3.5" drive.
I use the bootable version of the DiskWizard (as I do not want Windows running whilst I create an image).
After creation, I verify/validate the image.
If you are a WD man, they too have a version of the DiskWizard.

In general: sound advice!
But instead of those "Wizards" i would use (and i do use it!) CloneZilla!
CloneZilla reads/writes a plethora of filesystems up to complete Partition layouts of a complete disk.
and it doesn't care if you're on Windows, Linux, Mac or whatever as long as it understands the filesystem.

[Elroy]

I just came in this morning (after letting Windows 10 install 1909 over the weekend) and fired up the VB6 IDE. As it's done before, it started trying to update Microsoft Office 2010 (which I do have installed along with Office 2016).

I'm not sure what VB6 has to do with MS-Office, but I've seen this several times in the past. I think it has something to do with the VB6 Data View Window (which I never use, and which I believe uses DAO350, not DAO360).

I've gotten to where I don't have patience with this stuff, and just immediately started clicking "Cancel" on the Office 2010 Update windows. Finally, after a Ctrl-Alt-Del to get a stuck copy of the VB6 IDE out of memory, everything started working fine. I've been coding this morning (in VB6) and haven't seen any more problems (nor attempts to update Office 2010).

I wish someone would outline how to completely detach the VB6 IDE from anything to do with MS-Office.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I wish someone would outline how to completely detach the VB6 IDE from anything to do with MS-Office.

If they do, I hope they don't stop there. MS has a lot of hidden interdependencies that usually work well, but occasionally don't work well at all. For example, I have SQL Server Management Studio 17.9.x running on four different computers. On three of them, I never have an issue. On the fourth, I usually don't have an issue, but when I do, it's demanding that I update VS2005, which is not on the computer and probably has never been on that particular computer. I assume that SSMS has some dependency on some component of VS2005, but I don't know, and the issue is infrequent enough that I've never bothered looking for it.

MS likes to tie people into the ecosystem.

[dilettante]

I think the problem came about when MS Office Developer died and they rolled it all into normal editions in order to try to get VSTA/VSTO to work.

The broken mechanism has to do with Office seizing ownership of VB6 component libraries in terms of the registry entries used for servicing (patching) MS Office.

Over the years there were a number of "Office registry cleanup" tools for fixing this. Not sure whether they exist any more. See Description of the Patch Registration Cleanup Tool which may or may not be a recent one.


One more monster we can blame on Bathless Anders.

[Rubiconlwb]

I appreciate all the comments and will take them all to heart. As I said, I have been using VB6 editor with Win 10 for quite a while with no issues so I have to assume it is not now because of an update and there should be some way to solve the issue. Somebody asked how I am running the editor by clicking on an icon on the desktop. The editor is then loaded with no code. I have to load either an existing or recent .vbp. It starts to load by then locks up at some point. I tried creating a test program which was just a command box to exit and it worked fine. I saved it and when I went through the process to load it, that worked fine so it appears only already written code (probably the .vbp file ) is the culprit. Any solutions using this new info?

[vb6forever]

Got an update last night.
Now running VB5 under Win-10 (32 bit) version 1909 (18363.535).
No problems my end so far.

[Bobbles]

I appreciate all the comments and will take them all to heart. As I said, I have been using VB6 editor with Win 10 for quite a while with no issues so I have to assume it is not now because of an update and there should be some way to solve the issue. Somebody asked how I am running the editor by clicking on an icon on the desktop. The editor is then loaded with no code. I have to load either an existing or recent .vbp. It starts to load by then locks up at some point. I tried creating a test program which was just a command box to exit and it worked fine. I saved it and when I went through the process to load it, that worked fine so it appears only already written code (probably the .vbp file ) is the culprit. Any solutions using this new info?

Where do you store your programs (VBP files etc) ?
I have this folder C:\VB\
And then individual folders under that for each of my projects.
I never start the IDE directly, except when starting a new project.
When doing that (new project), I first would have used my file manager (Directory Opus) and PRE created a sub folder under C:\VB\
For a new project, I do start the IDE directly, and immediately save the form and the project into that pre-created folder, and immediately close the IDE.
I then open that project (and every other project that I ever open), by navigating to the VBP file (navigating in Directory Opus), and double clicking the VBP file.

[Rubiconlwb]

I tried the above method by using File Explorer to find the .vbp file and double clicking it to run it. It brought up the editor and tried to load the file but locked up just like it did by running the editor first. It was worth a try but I couldn't imagine why it would make a difference when I have been loading the .vbp from the editor for many years with no problems. Does anybody else think there is some incompatibility with the .vbp file now for some reason. Anybody have a work around? I tried to begin a new program an then load the various forms but that did not work either.

[vb6forever]

You might try rolling back your system to the last restore point and see what happens.

[Bobbles]

I tried the above method by using File Explorer to find the .vbp file and double clicking it to run it. It brought up the editor and tried to load the file but locked up just like it did by running the editor first. It was worth a try but I couldn't imagine why it would make a difference when I have been loading the .vbp from the editor for many years with no problems. Does anybody else think there is some incompatibility with the .vbp file now for some reason. Anybody have a work around? I tried to begin a new program an then load the various forms but that did not work either.

Where do you store your VBP files ?
Do you store all of the related files in that same folder ?

[tubus]

You might try rolling back your system to the last restore point and see what happens.

This!

I had exactly the same problem out of the blue a while ago (W8.1).
Rolling back to the last restore point fortunatly solved it, but I have no idea what happened.
No Updates done, no installs, no whatsoever????

[Rubiconlwb]

I use Msflxgrd.ocx control extensively in the programs I have written. I seems that perhaps this control is at least part of the issue. Is this control still valid? Is there an alternative which I can try out. I open the .vbp file and remove the reference to msflxgrd.ocx and after several error messages, the forms seem to load and the editor does not lock up. The program still won't run but the error messages are related to those forms that have grid controls in them. Does this mean anything to anyone or does anybody have a suggestion as to how I escape the situation I find myself in. I have to get my VB6 editor working again, no matter what I have to do. Does anybody think I can set up another laptop with Win 7 or 8 and have success running the editor?

[Bobbles]

Locate a small program (vbp) that works, or create a new project.
Once you are satisfied that it runs OK, make a copy (in another folder), and ensure it runs.
Then add the flexgrid to it, and see if that then causes problems.

I do know that I have had troubles with the flexgrid in W10, in others computers.
It takes more effort than normal for me to get the flexgrid installed into others W10 computers.
HOWEVER you say yours used to work, so you would think that rules out an install problem

[Rubiconlwb]

Locate a small program (vbp) that works, or create a new project.
Once you are satisfied that it runs OK, make a copy (in another folder), and ensure it runs.
Then add the flexgrid to it, and see if that then causes problems.

I do know that I have had troubles with the flexgrid in W10, in others computers.
It takes more effort than normal for me to get the flexgrid installed into others W10 computers.
HOWEVER you say yours used to work, so you would think that rules out an install problem

I did a similar thing as you describe. I created a single form program that only has and 'End' button on it. It ran and loaded with no problems so I tried to add the msflxgrd.ocx control to the editor and it locked the computer up just like the other efforts to load a program. Do you think I could download a new version of this control and see it that would help? I am getting a little panicked that short of creating a completely different laptop just to work on my program, I am in trouble.

[Rubiconlwb]

Locate a small program (vbp) that works, or create a new project.
Once you are satisfied that it runs OK, make a copy (in another folder), and ensure it runs.
Then add the flexgrid to it, and see if that then causes problems.

I do know that I have had troubles with the flexgrid in W10, in others computers.
It takes more effort than normal for me to get the flexgrid installed into others W10 computers.
HOWEVER you say yours used to work, so you would think that rules out an install problem

I did a similar thing as you describe. I created a single form program that only has and 'End' button on it. It ran and loaded with no problems so I tried to add the msflxgrd.ocx control to the editor and it locked the computer up just like the other efforts to load a program. Do you think I could download a new version of this control and see it that would help? I am getting a little panicked that short of creating a completely different laptop just to work on my program, I am in trouble.

[Bobbles]

What Service Pack is your VB6 using ?
I have a suggestion
Do as described in posts 18 and 19
But don't use the msflexgrid, use the MshFlexgrid instead.
There is a chance that will work for you.
I suggest this for 2 reasons -
1) Might shed a bit more light on your problem
2) If it does not help us solve the problem, you could migrate to that control instead.
Should not be a major change, as the code (for using it) is nearly identical.
Rob
PS The double posting problem has been around for many months.
You can avoid it by doing either of these -
!) Go to Advanced when starting a new posting
OR
2) Ignore the flawed message telling you to wait 30 seconds, and just jump back to the main forum, where you will see that your response has been posted,

[Rubiconlwb]

What Service Pack is your VB6 using ?
I have a suggestion
Do as described in posts 18 and 19
But don't use the msflexgrid, use the MshFlexgrid instead.
There is a chance that will work for you.
I suggest this for 2 reasons -
1) Might shed a bit more light on your problem
2) If it does not help us solve the problem, you could migrate to that control instead.
Should not be a major change, as the code (for using it) is nearly identical.
Rob
PS The double posting problem has been around for many months.
You can avoid it by doing either of these -
!) Go to Advanced when starting a new posting
OR
2) Ignore the flawed message telling you to wait 30 seconds, and just jump back to the main forum, where you will see that your response has been posted,

I do not know what Service Pack my VB6 is running under, how do I determine that? Where can I download Mshflexgrid control and implement it? I have been using VB6 for a very long time but am not into the technical aspects of it's operation so I need all the help I can get. It is just such a mystery to me how I was using this program with no issues until a week ago and now it does not work at all and nobody has any definitive solutions. I will continue to work on this issue but am not very hopeful that this will work out. I also don't understand why everybody using a similar configuration to mine is not experiencing this same issue.

[Rubiconlwb]

What Service Pack is your VB6 using ?
I have a suggestion
Do as described in posts 18 and 19
But don't use the msflexgrid, use the MshFlexgrid instead.
There is a chance that will work for you.
I suggest this for 2 reasons -
1) Might shed a bit more light on your problem
2) If it does not help us solve the problem, you could migrate to that control instead.
Should not be a major change, as the code (for using it) is nearly identical.
Rob
PS The double posting problem has been around for many months.
You can avoid it by doing either of these -
!) Go to Advanced when starting a new posting
OR
2) Ignore the flawed message telling you to wait 30 seconds, and just jump back to the main forum, where you will see that your response has been posted,

I do not know what Service Pack my VB6 is running under, how do I determine that? Where can I download Mshflexgrid control and implement it? I have been using VB6 for a very long time but am not into the technical aspects of it's operation so I need all the help I can get. It is just such a mystery to me how I was using this program with no issues until a week ago and now it does not work at all and nobody has any definitive solutions. I will continue to work on this issue but am not very hopeful that this will work out. I also don't understand why everybody using a similar configuration to mine is not experiencing this same issue.

[Bobbles]

If you go to the Help menu in the VB6 IDE, and click About Microsoft Visual Basic, at the top you will see the sp in brackets.

If you go to this link and download the project, I think you will find that you already have the MSHFlexgrid on your PC -
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ht=mshflexgrid

Rob

[Rubiconlwb]

If you go to the Help menu in the VB6 IDE, and click About Microsoft Visual Basic, at the top you will see the sp in brackets.

If you go to this link and download the project, I think you will find that you already have the MSHFlexgrid on your PC -
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ht=mshflexgrid

Rob

This mess just seems to get deeper and deeper. I do not have a help file in my IDE (that's another issue I tried to resolve some time ago) so don't guess I can check the SP. I downloaded the project and loaded into the IDE but got multiple errors and nothing would run. I might just be to uninformed to solve this issue. Nothing I try to do works because I am not as technically advanced as I probably should be.

[Rubiconlwb]

If you go to the Help menu in the VB6 IDE, and click About Microsoft Visual Basic, at the top you will see the sp in brackets.

If you go to this link and download the project, I think you will find that you already have the MSHFlexgrid on your PC -
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ht=mshflexgrid

Rob

This mess just seems to get deeper and deeper. I do not have a help file in my IDE (that's another issue I tried to resolve some time ago) so don't guess I can check the SP. I downloaded the project and loaded into the IDE but got multiple errors and nothing would run. I might just be too uninformed to solve this issue. Nothing I try to do works because I am not as technically advanced as I probably should be.

[Bobbles]

You do not need the Help file to check the service Pack.
When in the Vb6 IDE there are a few menus along the top
File Edit View Project Format ......... Help
It is the Help menu you need to click.
That does not call the Help thingy, all it does is drop down to show some options(choices) that you can click.
If you click the bottom choice, it shows a small dialog 'about' your VB6 program. Including the sp in brackets on the top line, on the right.

[Bobbles]

You are still getting double postings.
See my post 21 on how to avoid it.
The simplest way when you get that flawed 'wait 30 secs' message, is to NOT submit again.
Instead just navigate to the VB6 forum, and then go back into this thread.
You will find that your post is present, and there is only one of them.

[Bobbles]

I am about to have a wee nap (I am 77), and then walk down to the supermarket.
If you wish, I can Teamviewer into your PC later.
When someone is in your PC (via teamviewer) you can tell they are in, by the change to your desktop color, and you can see all they are doing.
And you can set it so that it does not start with Windows, thus avoiding someone else hacking in later.
I have a license to version 10, so get that version if you are installing Teamviewer.
It will be free of charge for the type of use you will be making
Teamviewer has a dirty trick where they nag people to upgrade their free Teamviewer.
When they do that, the people holding a purchased version, can no longer access their PC (because their version is more recent). Thus virtually forcing them to purchase another license (and they ain't cheap)
Here is the official download to version 10 -
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/downlo...ious-versions/
There are choices along the top, so you may have to click the one on the far right to get ver 10

If you search back in vbforums, you will see I have been a member for a very loooong time.
And in fact even longer as 'Rob C'

[Rubiconlwb]

I'm sorry about the double posts. When I post a quick reply, I get another screen that says I cannot resubmit for 30 seconds. From now on, I will just assume it was posted properly. I downloaded, purchased and installed a program called Tweakbit PCRepairKit (it was not cheap either and I thought I was purchasing a $30 version but somehow got charge for a $70 version. I ran the program and it said there was an issue with msflxgrd.ocx so I thought maybe I would be in business. I did the repair but that did not help. I then downloaded and placed the msflxgrd.ocx control and the mshflxgrd.ocx control in the SYSWOW64 directory, hoping the new file would repair whatever might be wrong with my current version. That did not help either. I will install the teamviewer ver 10 and maybe we could make an appointment for you to check things out for me tomorrow night?

[Rubiconlwb]

I'm so sorry about my misunderstanding of how to check which SP I am using. I did as you instructed and there is nothing in brackets. I have tried to add a clipped screen shot of the window. I also tried to install SP6 for VB6 but had no success doing that either. I really am getting a little desperate with this whole process because I have no idea what I will do if I am unable to edit my programs that I have in the process. Thanks for holding my hand through this. I am 68 so don't learn new things as easily as I once did.

[Rubiconlwb]

I did get Teamviewer installed but when I checked out the version number it is version 15. Will that be compatible with your version? I will be available any time after 6:00 pm MST tomorrow night so let me know what will work for you.

[Bobbles]

I did get Teamviewer installed but when I checked out the version number it is version 15. Will that be compatible with your version? I will be available any time after 6:00 pm MST tomorrow night so let me know what will work for you.

No, Teamviewer won't let me connect to your ver 15. can you uninstall that, and download and install ver 10
People can use Teamviewer free, but only for limited usage.
I help a lot of people with PC related issues, so I could not install 15 for free (as I have more than the allowed free limited usage)

I suspect that if you can get VB6 SP 6 installed, that may go a long way towards solving your problems.
Here is a link on our forum where someone had problems installing it into W10 -
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ils-to-Install
Rob
PS Don't rush with Teamviewer, as your first priority should be to get VB6 SP6 installed.
I did a quick browse of that thread, and I am sure that contributions from some of those members (Sam and Dilenttante ETC) will be the best and quickest way to get past the SP6 hurdle.

[Rubiconlwb]

I downloaded and attempted to install the SP6d version but it did not install properly either. When I have time later, I will try to uninstall version 15 of the software and attempt to install ver 10. Thanks for your continued help. Do you think I need to reinstall VB6 and MSDN (I never did install MSDN since my installation of VB6 seemed to work fine except I didn't have Help)?

[Bobbles]

I have not attempted to install a VB6 SP into W10
In fact I decided long ago to keep using XP Pro for my VB6 development.
I don't mention that, as a suggestion for you.
I mention it to clarify that I have zero experience solving that exact problem.
I would have thought that Sam and dilettante, would have chipped in to assist with that specific problem.
I think if you asked all the experienced members of our forum, they ALL would agree that updating your VB6 with the service pack is vital.
I suspect that the members that could help you install SP6, have decided to stop reading the thread, as the earlier posts gave no(little) indication that you have a service pack problem.
You have two choices -
!) Start a new thread, with that specific title
or
2) Post to that previous thread
Choice'2' has side effects - there are some that think posting to an old thread, should prompt God (or even worse, a Moderator) to strike them down (I ain't one of those)

So assuming you go for a new thread, how about this for a Title - "Help installing SP6 into W10"