Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)-VBForums (2024)

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• Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

1. Apr 10th, 2024,08:04 AM#1

   Elroy

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   Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   I'm posting this summary here, as nobody seems to be able to find my Tutorial (in the Tutorials forum).

   I have installed the VB6 IDE at least half-a-dozen times over the last couple of years, and I just never have any of the problems that people discuss. These installations were on a combination of Windows 10 and Windows 11. A couple of years back, I wrote a tutorial for installing the IDE,

   found here, but I'm going to just outline it all here (as briefly as possible):

   1. Read all these bullet points before you begin, so you'll have an idea of what you're doing. Also, if you're confused about any of the bullet points, read the Additional Detailed Notes at the bottom.
   2. If you've previously borked an installation, I don't know what to tell you, as this can get wedged in your computer preventing a subsequent successful installation. There are some websites that talk about cleaning up a borked VB6 IDE installation, but you're on your own regarding those. Also, in many cases, I believe that just starting fresh and following these bullet-points will result in a successful installation.
   3. Get a copy of the VB6 IDE to install, with a valid registration key.
   4. Hopefully, this also has the MSDN, as I always install that as well.
   5. Get a copy of the VB60SP6-KB3096896-x86-ENU.msi VB6 SP6 rollup.
   6. Just completely turn off UAC while doing all of this. You can turn it back on when done.
   7. Execute all of the install files as an administrator.
   8. Ignore any/all of the compatibility errors that Windows reports while installing.
   9. Before doing ANYTHING, make a 0-byte file named MSJAVA.DLL, and copy it to your C:\Windows folder.
   10. Get the installation started by running Setup.exe (right-click, as administrator).
   11. Be SURE to click "custom" regarding what options to install.
   12. Under the "Data Access" section, select the "ADO, RDS, and OLE DB Providers" option. Once in there, be sure to UN-CHECK the "ADO and RDS" option, as those will cause major problems if installed from the VB6 IDE's installation. Personally, I uncheck all this "Data Access" stuff because it's all super old, and what we need is already installed (with Windows) of anything/everything we'll need for accessing MS-Access databases and/or SQL servers.
   13. Complete the installation, including the MSDN (again, ignoring any Windows errors about compatibility).
   14. Install the VB60SP6-KB3096896-x86-ENU.msi. Just make sure you're an administrator user for this one.
   15. And that's about it. Possibly set the colors for the editor that you like, set the editor's font to Consolas, and maybe install XMouse to fix the mouse's scroll wheel.
   16. As a note, occasionally, on a borked installation that was subsequently successful, the msdatsrc.tlb file found in C:\Windows\SysWOW64, can cause problems. To fix these, just go into this folder and re-register this TypeLib: regtlib msdatsrc.tlb
   17. As another note, you may get "Method '~' of object '~' failed" messages. They're harmless, and ignore them. There are fixes, but you're on your own regarding those.
   18. Further note, most of us install shims to get the IDE to quit acting sluggish. There's a discussion of those shims in my full tutorial, but an easy fix is to just set its compatibility to Windows XP (this has other side-effects that a minimal set of shims doesn't have, but they're quite esoteric).
   19. Another note, you will lose the drag-handles when selecting multiple controls. This is something we've just all learned to live with.
   20. Another note, you may see a strange sort-of-minimized form on the center of your screen. Also, just ignore this. Or, if you prefer, just minimize and then normalize the IDE, and it will go away. (Not everyone sees this, as it's dependent on how you setup the options in your IDE).

   ----------------------

   Per Request, Additional Detailed Notes (for some of the above steps):

   Administrator: To find out if you're an administrator: Right-click-start --> Settings --> Accounts. And then, it will tell you at the top whether or not you're an "Administrator" or a regular user. If you're not an admistrator, to make yourself one, you will need to login with an administrator's account, and then again go to Settings --> Accounts, and then click "Other Users", click your username, click "Change Account Type", and make yourself an administrator.

   Creation of MSJAVA.DLL: Before doing this one, you should probably turn on your ability to see file extensions. To do this, I typically fire up a copy of File Explorer (Win+E), then: View --> Show --> File Name Extensions ... making sure it's checked. To actually create a zero-byte file, I typically right-click my desktop, select "New", and then select "Text Document". Then, I rename it, making sure the new extension is "DLL", and not "TXT".

   User Account Control (UAC): First, I believe you have to be an administrator to change this. To do it, I right-click-start --> then "Run" --> then I type "Control" and Enter. That should pull up the Control Panel. From there, click "User Accounts" --> "Change User Account Control Settings". And then slide the slider all the way to the bottom. That turns it off. As a note, this isn't absolutely necessary, but you will be prompted for many more "Permission" requests during the installation process if you don't turn it off.

   Shims (i.e., Compatibility): If you want to take the "easy way out" regarding shims, and just use an overall compatibility setting, here's how to do that. Within File Explorer, navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98". Once there, locate and right-click the VB6.EXE file, then select "Properties". Select the "Compatibility" tab, check the "Run This Program in Compatibility Mode for:" checkbox. Then, I typically select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)". Click "Apply" then "OK".

   X-Mouse: To fix the scroll-wheel in the VB6 IDE, I use the

   X-Mouse utility found here. And, to set it up, I discuss that here.

   The Vs6sp6B.exe: Some have suggested that the Vs6sp6B.exe must be installed before the VB6 SP6 "Rollup" package is installed. I don't have verification of that, but this Vs6sp6B.exe can be found on the

   WayBack Machine here, if you think you need it. In no case, have I ever heard that any of the earlier service packs are needed, SP5, SP4, etc.). Also, installation of Vs6sp6B.exe is a bit tricky, as it unzips to some folder, and then you must execute (again, as administrator) the Setup.exe within that unzipped folder. (If you do this, do it after you've gotten the IDE installed, and just before you install the "Rollup" SP6 package.)

   Last edited by Elroy; Apr 11th, 2024 at 08:21 AM.

   Any software I post in these forums written by me is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, and permission is hereby granted, free of charge and without restriction, to any person obtaining a copy. To all, peace and happiness.

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2. Apr 10th, 2024,08:59 AM#2

   SamOscarBrown

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   Re: Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   Good Summary, Elroy. BUT....let me offer this (as there are some folks who have difficulty following those instructions (from your Tutorial):

   Under 4---Add a line add WHERE to obtain this file
   Under 5---Explain how one 'turns off UAC'
   (Don't include 6 and 7)--at least not yet in your list
   Under 8---Explain how one creates such a file (I KNOW, but there are some folks out there attempting to use VB6 with little to NO experience on a computer...a certain OP comes to mind immediately.)
   Under 9---Explain that Administrator rights must be used---explain HOW! :-)
   Under 13---(See Under 9) :-)
   Under 17---Explain how to set Compatibility to XP.

   I realize that what I just wrote will be understood (your instructions, that is) by most, however, the ones we get most questions from are less computer-literate and probably need those explanations.

   Just Saying! :-)

   Sam

   Sam I am (as well as Confused at times).

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3. Apr 10th, 2024,09:04 AM#3

   Elroy

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   Re: Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   Originally Posted by SamOscarBrown

   Good Summary, Elroy. BUT....let me offer this (as there are some folks who have difficulty following those instructions (from your Tutorial):

   Under 4---Add a line add WHERE to obtain this file
   Under 5---Explain how one 'turns off UAC'
   (Don't include 6 and 7)--at least not yet in your list
   Under 8---Explain how one creates such a file (I KNOW, but there are some folks out there attempting to use VB6 with little to NO experience on a computer...a certain OP comes to mind immediately.)
   Under 9---Explain that Administrator rights must be used---explain HOW! :-)
   Under 13---(See Under 9) :-)
   Under 17---Explain how to set Compatibility to XP.

   I realize that what I just wrote will be understood (your instructions, that is) by most, however, the ones we get most questions from are less computer-literate and probably need those explanations.

   Just Saying! :-)

   Sam

   Hi Sam, I fixed line #4. Regarding the rest, there's part of me that believes that, if they don't know how to do this stuff, maybe they shouldn't be using the VB6 IDE. However, this is an open thread. You, or others, are more than welcome to explain these things.

   p.s. I added some further "Detailed" notes to the OP.

   Last edited by Elroy; Apr 11th, 2024 at 08:30 AM.

   Any software I post in these forums written by me is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, and permission is hereby granted, free of charge and without restriction, to any person obtaining a copy. To all, peace and happiness.

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4. Apr 10th, 2024,09:11 AM#4

   OptionBase1

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   Re: Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   I would bet money that the "Create a 0 byte MSJAVA.dll file and copy it to C:\Windows" has and will continue to trip some people up because:

   - They right-click an empty area of their desktop and choose New->Text Document

   - They rename "New Text Document" to "MSJAVA.dll"

   - They copy this file to C:\Windows

   And...voila! They now have a file that looks like it is called "MSJAVA.dll" but is really called "MSJAVA.dll.txt" in their C:\Windows folder, which does them no good...and it is named this because Windows Explorer is set to hide known file extensions.

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5. Apr 10th, 2024,09:51 AM#5

   baka

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   Re: Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   one easy way is to open the dos prompt
   and write

   cd . > msjava.dll

   this will create an empty file. after that just copy it to destination

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6. Apr 10th, 2024,03:00 PM#6

   Tabi

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   Re: Installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)

   Hello Elroy!

   I don't want to contradict your advice, but I have other experience in this regard.
   This is probably due to the existence of different versions of VB6 IDE Installers.

   I reduce it to just 2 points:
   1) I never disabled UAC, and never had any problems
   2) I must install SP6 before KB3096896, otherwise an error occurs, and the latter, which is very necessary, I cannot install

   I made a tutorial of the steps to follow to Install VB6 IDE, aimed at people with less knowledge.
   I didn't dare to upload it as a new thread, because I'm new to the Forum. I would only do it if someone gives me the go-ahead.

   This tutorial was trapped in post #16 of the following thread:
   https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....-on-Windows-11

   Although it is extensive, here I detail everything, point by point, of how I managed to install the IDE in Win 11, I even leave a link to the installation disks, then each one will enter their password.

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