VB6 and VB.Net

[Siddharth Rout]

This question is aimed at you if you have actually tried it....

I am open to your views as well if you haven't tried it...

I have a laptop with dualboot...

XP/MsOffice03/vb6 AND
Vista/MsOffice07/vb2008

Now my question is...

Can vb6 and vb2008 coexist in Vista without any problems?

Thanks for Reading

Sidz

[DavidNels]

Yes.

[Dark Anima]

Yes, they can.

[Bountyhuntr]

Yes. And I know the rules about double posting Did you see what I mentioned there?

I've had VB6 and 2008 for a while and not had no problems also, on vista.

[Siddharth Rout]

@Dark Anima/Bounty: Thank you. Anything special I need to take care while installing vb6 in Vista?

Edit: Tried installing it. Says This program has compatibility issues...

[Hack]

Moved To General Developer (as this is not a programming question)

[Shaggy Hiker]

I would suggest that to properly install these two, the first step is to uninstall Vista, install Windows 7, install VB6, and finally, install 2008.

[Siddharth Rout]

Shaggy, I don't have Win 7 at the moment and I cannot afford it for the next 1 month...

Any other way to install vb6 without any prompts like "compatibility issues"

[Shaggy Hiker]

My whole point was that joke. I have installed VB6 and various flavors of .NET, but only onto XP and earlier. I do remember hearing some mention at some point that VB6 had to be installed before .NET, but that has not been my experience. Of course, Vista is a different animal, but if you haven't tried VB6 then .NET, it might be worth a try.

[Siddharth Rout]

My whole point was that joke.

Coming from you.. I had taken it very seriously...

But anyways... let me search the net if I can install vb6 in Vista without any problems...

[RobDog888]

VB6 can install on Vista without compatibility issues. They arise from installing VC++ under the VS6.
There are threads on this already back when Vista came out.

Just install as Administrator, install VB6 SP-6 and make sure you are running the 32 bit version of Vista or Windows 7. If you are running Vista 64 bit then you need to create a VM and install VB6 in there.

[Siddharth Rout]

If you are running Vista 64 bit then you need to create a VM and install VB6 in there.

Thanks Rob, I'll check it out...

[RobDog888]

FYI - VB6 doesnt install on 64 bit operating systems.

[dilettante]

FYI - VB6 doesnt install on 64 bit operating systems.

It isn't quite that bad. I've been using VB6 on a Vista64 machine now for several months.

There are a few tricks to getting it working right though. Besides the usual (install VB6 and then SP6 elevated, afterward set Run as Admin and Disable Desktop Composition via Compatibility in VB6.EXE's Properties) you might have to fiddle with SP6.

Most of the versions of the package I've seen use a 16-bit "bootstrap stub" that won't run on 64-bit Windows. You'll need to run the package in "extract to folder" mode on a 32-bit system first, then move that folder to the 64-bit system and start the SP6 setup from inside that folder.


I haven't noticed any particular glitches, though you have the usual issues that exist when developing VB6 programs to run under WOW64. People can't run roughshod using regsvr32 as they may be used to either, since they risk running the 64-bit version if they aren't careful - and that doesn't work for 32-bit component registration.

But there is no question that a 32-bit Windows will be a bit "friendlier" to the casual user of VB6.

I make no claims regarding VB6 on Windows 7, either 32-bit or 64-bit. I simply haven't tried it yet and only run Win7 in a VM for testing programs.

[RobDog888]

It isn't quite that bad. I've been using VB6 on a Vista64 machine now for several months.

There are a few tricks to getting it working right though. Besides the usual (install VB6 and then SP6 elevated, afterward set Run as Admin and Disable Desktop Composition via Compatibility in VB6.EXE's Properties) you might have to fiddle with SP6.

Most of the versions of the package I've seen use a 16-bit "bootstrap stub" that won't run on 64-bit Windows. You'll need to run the package in "extract to folder" mode on a 32-bit system first, then move that folder to the 64-bit system and start the SP6 setup from inside that folder.


I haven't noticed any particular glitches, though you have the usual issues that exist when developing VB6 programs to run under WOW64. People can't run roughshod using regsvr32 as they may be used to either, since they risk running the 64-bit version if they aren't careful - and that doesn't work for 32-bit component registration.

But there is no question that a 32-bit Windows will be a bit "friendlier" to the casual user of VB6.

I make no claims regarding VB6 on Windows 7, either 32-bit or 64-bit. I simply haven't tried it yet and only run Win7 in a VM for testing programs.

Too late. You posted that it works so you have to honor your guarentee and unlimited warrenty

It just sounds like more trouble and risk then its worth.

Probably XP mode would be best

[dilettante]

Too late. You posted that it works so you have to honor your guarentee and unlimited warrenty

Oh man!


Using 32-bit Windows will be less bother, no doubt. But even if you develop on 32 bits you can't ignore the WOW64 issues any longer. Too many new systems have been shipping with 64-bit Vista, and probably 64-bit Win7 by now.

VB.Net users will find the same issues (even VS 2010 is 32-bit itself and you still have to support both sets of users). At least they shouldn't run into Service Packs that "don't install" out of the box though.

[Max Peck]

If it helps any, I have VS6, VS2005 and VS2008 installed on W7 (32-bit). No issues.

-Max

[techgnome]

At one point I've had VB6, 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2010 all installed....
Now I'm down to 2005, 2008 on one machine and 2008 and 2010 on another...
XP on both.

-tg

[Dave Sell]

That's weird, I once tried to install VB6 on a Vista box and I remember it refused to even install... This was when Vista 1st came out, which SP of Vista can you install VB6-IDE onto?

[dilettante]

That's weird, I once tried to install VB6 on a Vista box and I remember it refused to even install... This was when Vista 1st came out, which SP of Vista can you install VB6-IDE onto?

Any of them, seriously.

You need to be sure to start the install elevated, and go ahead and tell it to ignore anything it says about incompatibilities (like the Microsoft JVM issue).

People often get into trouble trying to install all of VS 6.0, be sure to select only the VB6 portion. Visual InterDev can be installed and made to work as well, but that takes a little more fiddling.

[RobDog888]

That's weird, I once tried to install VB6 on a Vista box and I remember it refused to even install... This was when Vista 1st came out, which SP of Vista can you install VB6-IDE onto?

No service packs needed to install VB6 on Vista. You only get the compatiblity issue notification about VC++ but just dont select that option. Turn the UAC off before the install to make it go faster and uninterrupted and as always run as Admin. Oh and dont install SP-5 as it wont run as you should install SP-6 anyways.

[allycol93]

i run windows 7 currently, but i had windows vista and i had some problems.

[Dave Sell]

Problems installing?

[allycol93]

No, generally just crashes when i run my app in IDE and other incompatibility issues. I also get a lot of errors when i try to add a component e.g. internet controls, this does not load, automation errors and others. i am just currently installing XP as a virtual PC, hopefully i can use all of VB6 that way.

[dilettante]

Worth watching: What is Microsoft's Visual Basic 6 Support Strategy?

Favorite quote:

VB6 is still the product to beat.