VB6 and WIN 11

[AccessShell]

I really don't know where to post this. I remember the angst when trying to load VB6 onto WIN10. With LOTS of sweat and help, from the forum, I finally got it installed and working.

But now, I am getting bombarded by MSFT to upgrade my WIN 10 Home to WIN 11.
I don't know to prevent this.
I don't know if VB6 will continue to work.
I don't know if I can prevent WIN 11 and for how long.
I don't know if I really need WIN 11.

I would appreciate any help I can get. Just so you know, I write VB6 for fun, for myself. I am retired and do not wish to work anymore. I do not sell or share these programs. But, writing VB6, for me, is a way of keeping the cobwebs away.

Thanks

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Install Win7 on a decent PC, install VB6, leave it that way and enjoy an Windows-upgrade-free life with the classic shell as well.

No-one needs Win 11, in any case Win 11 is Win 10, just with a new name and another change in GUI. Do the rest of your stuff on a tablet/phone and use the Win7 machine for development.

I bought an i7 multicore Dell E6410 for £125 two years ago (NOS) and it is my preferred development machine running Win7. So much more familiar and easy to use.

None of the continuous bug-ridden upgrades on a continuous basis.

[AccessShell]

Well, I still have a WIN 7 PC that is not connected to the internet. The problem is that the majority of my VB6 programs access information on the internet.

[dilettante]

I understand the anxiety this can produce. You can never be sure what features or programs will be hidden, broken, moved, or altered... and then on top of that the update gets pushed very hard even though it won't be required for years.

It's like the many traps they lay in Windows Update trying to get you to link your PC to a "Microsoft Account" even though that buys you nothing but additional personal tracking and dependency on an Internet connection. The sort of thing Apple customers just quietly bend over for as they take the Soma.

Ideally Microsoft would just settle for a Windows 11 advertisement providing an optional path to install it once ready. At least for the first couple of years.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I think this thread should put your mind at ease:

https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....Windows-11-YES

I'm not sure that the FUD about change is helpful. There is a point to Win 11, and it's security. It will fail, too, sooner or later, because security is an ever moving target. Dropping back to a version of Windows that has known security holes that will never be patched is not a viable option for most people. All the visible changes to updates are nothing more than cosmetic nonsense. Some are kind of useful, most are totally forgettable. That doesn't mean that updates are bad, because they are also patching holes that have been discovered over time. Those holes will always be there, and patching will always be necessary. So, the ideal would be to have the software you need run on a computer that is as up to date as possible. That thread shows that VB6 does appear to run the same on Win11 as on Win10.

[dilettante]

I'd probably start moving to Windows 11 today if any of my hardware was eligible. I'm not interested in forcing it for hardware that isn't though.

[jdc2000]

https://www.howtogeek.com/765377/how...on-windows-10/

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm waiting for MS to bug me about it. Hasn't happened yet, though. It might be that I have Win10 Pro rather than Win10 Home. It might also have to do with hardware, though I would think my Surface Pro 7 would be compliant, even if my desktop isn't....and the desktop either probably is, or probably could be really easily, I just haven't bothered looking, yet.

That's part of the whole security picture, though: It has to be easy, or we likely won't do it, even if we care about it.

[wes4dbt]

and the desktop either probably is, or probably could be really easily, I just haven't bothered looking, yet.

All I had to do was, Settings->Updates & Security , in a large font it say my hardware doesn't meet the requirements for the update. I'm not worried, I'll just wait till I get a new machine, not creating software for clients anymore.

[Shaggy Hiker]

See? How many clicks is that, two, three? What a chore!

Actually, for my desktop, I think I might have a TPM chip, but it was optional, and I didn't add it when I built the computer. I have the chip, though, so what I really need to do is find out whether or not it actually IS a TPM chip, as I suspect it is. If so, then I'd have to get my computer out of the location it is in...which I always find tedious, open it up, plug in the chip, then put it all back together. With that, I should pass the requirements...but that first step has been holding me back. Figuring out what I did with the documentation to tell me whether that chip is a TPM chip could easily take more time than actually installing it.

[AccessShell]

My WIN 10 Home just wants me to click "Check Hardware Requirements". When I do that, it just sits and checks. I turned it off after 10 minutes.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Well, it IS doing what you told it to do. You didn't instruct it to ever finish, just to check.

[AccessShell]

One of the previous posts referenced the article “How to Block the Windows 11 Update From Installing on Windows 10” by Mahesh Makvana. This article in turn referenced “What Is the Latest Version of Windows 10?” found at https://www.howtogeek.com/343979/wha...of-windows-10/

This article states

“The latest version of Windows 10 is the May 2021 Update. which was released on May 18, 2021. This update was codenamed “21H1” during its development process, as it was released in the first half of 2021. Its final build number is 19043.”

Up until I started this thread, I have not prevented any Microsoft update. Then why does my computer display

Edition Windows 10 Home

Version 20H2

Installed on 6/23/20

OS Build 19042.1288

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

Maybe, this is why:

“When Microsoft provides the update to your PC, it automatically installs itself. But Microsoft doesn’t offer new Windows updates to all PCs at once. Instead, Microsoft rolls them out slowly over time, after both Microsoft and the various PC manufacturers check to see if they cause problems with different hardware configurations. If your PC doesn’t get the update, Microsoft isn’t entirely confident it will work on your hardware just yet.”

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm not even sure that last statement covers it completely. I work generally on four different computers, all pretty similar, and all somewhat different. Two are Surface Pros, one is a laptop, and the last is a desktop. There are times when all four are running, and most weeks all four are at running for at least a few hours, which is plenty of time to get an update. I see updates come through, but it is very rare for two of the systems to get updated on the same day, or even in the same month. In fact, they can be so far apart I'm not even sure which update is where.

It may well be that there is sufficient difference between the four systems that they all get updates at different times. After all, the two Surface Pros are not the same model, one is a 2 and the other a 7, and the other two systems are fairly different, as well. Still, the pattern of updates seems more spread out than even that statement about MS checking different hardware can account for.

[AccessShell]

I have check with the manufacturer's web site for my computer to see if it is upgradable to Win 11. UNFORTUNATELLY it is. I was hoping it was not.

One of the previous post detailed how to go into the registry and prevent it. Never liked going in the registry and have always avoided it. Of course, with this method, I need to continually update the registry to the latest available WIN 10 upgrades so I can get them. However the upgrade number (20H2, 21H1) does not describe if is is for Win 10 Home or Win 11.

[jdc2000]

20H2 and 21H1 will be Windows 10 versions.