VB6 program on Vista

I finished a program in VisualBasic 6.0, works fine on mine Windows XP (this one and on my father computer too).
But it will work on Windows Vista?!

You have to try to be sure, right? ;) So, build distribution package, install it on Vista and try to run it - see what happens.

For some general advice on things that won't work (and how to fix some of them), see the thread about Vista in our Classic VB FAQs (in the FAQ forum, which is shown near the top of our home page)

You can do a partial test in XP, by creating a new Windows user (via Control Panel) with restricted permissions (called a Limited user), and run the program as that user (note that they probably won't be able to use VB, it is likely to crash when you open a project).

You will still need to test on Vista to be sure, but at least you can sort out any obvious issues.

There are basic rules to follow when developing for Vista.

Dont use file locations for storing data in locations other then appdata and the common data locations as any other location will produce File Virtualization.

Dont use the Registry for storing settings or even just reading it as it takes adminostrator permissions to read/write to maost locations. Use a xml config file stored in the appropriate location.

Follow these two basic rules and you wil bypass most issues.


Without knowing or seeing your code we can not guess if it will run on Vista.

Ok, thanks guys... but Vista has this registry key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ??

No? If not my program will not run on startup :\

It is not a good idea to write to HKLM from your program (as only Admin users can do it), you should use the HKCU version (which applies to just the current user) instead.

Correct, anything outside of HKCU will require Administrator permissions to access. If you are writting to the Run key that should be done during installation. Not program startup.