Does the VB6 IDE run on Windows 7 / 8 / 10 64-bit?

Question

We're approaching a point of replacing several of our developer PCs and would like to move up to 64-bit to maximize the hardware/life of the PCs but we also need to support several legacy VB6 applications. That said, Microsoft says it's not supported, but that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't work. However, support's not important on a dead tool so long as it's functional.

Does it work?
Are there any pitfalls/workarounds needed to get it running?
Does the installation of Service Pack 6 require any special considerations? (SP6 is basically essential for VB6 use)

I've edited the title to broaden this to Windows 7, 8, and 10 - this should apply to all of them, and there are also many dupes of this question some of which are redirecting here already. — StayOnTarget, Aug 27 '18 at 11:48
I haven't tried using it on 8, but it works fine on 7 and 10. We have a legacy product written in VB6 that is still being sold and enhanced. — R.J. Dunnill, Mar 16 '19 at 21:00
Official answer: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-basic-6/visual-basic-6-support-policy — Mike Lowery, Dec 13 '22 at 19:05

score 22 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 23 '10 at 19:55

22

Speaking from experience (I run VB6 almost every day in Windows 7 - 64 bit), there is no problem getting it running, in fact you do not have to run it in any kind of compatability mode. There are a couple of Caveats though:

Use the installer from a recent (within 5 years) version of the MSDN.
Install VB6 before installing any other Visual Studio product.
Turn off UAC, VB6 will not run with UAC running.
I have not successfully gotten the old MSDN Help Installed, so I wouldn't bother wasting time trying to get that installed.

answered Mar 23 '10 at 19:55

Kris Erickson

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I installed the MSDN help without issues. Didn't do anything abnormal beyond turning off the UAC as listed above. Context sensitive help appears to be working normally. – jasonk Apr 29 '10 at 17:39
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I successfully installed both VB6 and MSDN without turning off UAC – Alfred Myers Sep 29 '10 at 18:14
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Just confirming what @AlfredMyers has indicated. UAC does not have to be turned off. You just have to remember to run the VB6 installer, and then VB6 itself (each time) As Administrator. – misha256 May 22 '15 at 03:26
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VB6 works will under UAC in Win 8.1 without even prompting anything. – Anixx May 07 '16 at 09:56
"before installing any other Visual Studio product.", is there a work around for doing this after, I already have VS 2005,2008,2013 and 2017 installed. I don't really want to have to uninstall and reinstall. – apc Jun 21 '17 at 13:31
I installed MSDN October 2001 on Windows 10 without issue. – R.J. Dunnill Dec 22 '19 at 20:14

score 16 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 29 '19 at 10:34

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Folks on the VB6 newsgroup report they have managed to get it working on Windows 7 64 bit.

There's this step-by-step guide on how to install the IDE on Windows 7 (including 64 bit).

If that doesn't work (scrapes barrel) try this old tip about persuading the install not to install the Java VM?

Or (scrapes hole in barrel) these tips from an article about getting the IDE working on Vista?

Footnote: if developing with ADO, be aware of this.

edited Apr 29 '19 at 10:34

Akkumulator

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answered Mar 23 '10 at 16:58

MarkJ

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MarkJ, you are a national treasure! – kjack Jul 19 '13 at 14:22
I'm going to demand a special StackOverflow badge for that :) – MarkJ Jul 19 '13 at 14:50

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 23 '10 at 15:22

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Not sure about 64 bit, but I recently had to install the VB 6 IDE on Windows 7 (32 bit) and couldn't get the installer to run. I ended up using Windows XP Compatibility Mode (essentially a virtual pc) and was able to install and use VB 6 on the virtual image. It was a bit of a pain to configure, but once I got it working it ran fine.

answered Mar 23 '10 at 15:22

Tim Lentine

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Try these step-by-step instructions http://www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp?artid=20502 – MarkJ Mar 23 '10 at 17:00
Why? I'm using VB6 IDE w/ SP6 natively on a Win7 x64 with vb6.exe.manifest as I'm typing this. – wqw Mar 23 '10 at 21:34
The fortypoundhead instructions worked for us. Windows 10 Enterprise and Professional. – R.J. Dunnill Dec 22 '19 at 20:16

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 17 '13 at 07:35

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Try following the advice here: http://sahilp.in/install-visual-basic-6-vb6-on-windows-7-windows-8/

I have Windows 7 64 bit and installed as per advice and no problems. The MSDN Help files also installed under win7X64.

answered Dec 17 '13 at 07:35

Tony W

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 09 '14 at 13:01

An alternative option for windows 7 or Windows 8 is to create a Virtual Machine using Hyper-V Manager, install Windows XP, Visual Studio 6, etc. Then remote desktop to your virtual machine and you're good to go.

Also, when Windows 9, 10 and 11 arrive, your virtual machine can be transferred over to them or to a new PC all without breaking your VB6 development environment.

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 22 '10 at 16:02

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I'm struggling to get it working on Windows 7 64 bit, so for an easier life, I run it in a VM Ware virtual XP machine - problem solved !

answered Dec 22 '10 at 16:02

Rab_

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 18 '13 at 06:59

To install the old MSDN for VB6, just run setupX86.exe (in the root of MSDN disc 1), instead of setup.exe. First finish the VB6 setup without installing MSDN, then install MSDN separately. Once it's installed, VB6 will automatically recognize and use it.

Disclaimer: I've been using the January 2000 MSDN 3-disc set with VB6 since ... January 2000, and my original 1998 MSDN disc for VB6 is long gone. But I believe the issue and solution are the same.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 23 '10 at 15:53

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I'm told that 64 bit is not a problem but it doesn't like Windows Vista and up.

If you really need it on 64 bit Windows Server 2003 x64 should work.

answered Mar 23 '10 at 15:53

Joshua

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 10 '14 at 08:09

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The VB6 programming language is still supported by Microsoft

VB6 programming support

There is an installer to install the VB6 IDE on Windows 7, 8 and 10 Installing VB6 programming

answered Nov 10 '14 at 08:09

VB6 programming

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The language (i.e. the runtime) is supported but the IDE (i.e. Visual Studio 6) is not – Matt Wilko Jul 13 '15 at 20:30
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Even the IDE is supported in 64-bit Windows 7, but can VB6 compile programs to be run as 64-bit programs without running in WOW mode. – AllSolutions Oct 06 '16 at 12:19
The VB6 support statement has been updated to include Windows Server 2019 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-basic-6/visual-basic-6-support-policy – VB6 programming Dec 18 '18 at 08:16
@AllSolutions no it cannot create 64 bit programs – StayOnTarget Jan 10 '19 at 14:04

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited Apr 08 '15 at 15:39

I installed VB in Windows Seven 64bits a few minutes ago. I try to describe the steps that I found in a spanish site:

1 - Copy entire CD of Visual Studio 6/ Visual Basic 6 to a new folder (Ex. C:\VSInst) in a hard drive.

2 - Copy the contents of C:\VSInst\Setup\ to C:\VSInst\

3 - Rename file vs98pro.stf or vs98ent.stf or similar to "acmsetup.stf". The "vs" in the file name is for "Visual Studio", "vb" is for "Visual Basic", "pro" for "Proffesional Edition", "ent" for "Enterprise Edition". Look for a file similar to the examples and rename it to "acmsetup.stf"

4 - Execute as an administrator account the "acmsetup.exe" file.

The short explanation is that the setup.exe is compiled as 16bits and is not possible to execute. The acmsetup.exe is compiled in 32bits and this can be executed.

This steps and explanation was taken from (in spanish): http://www.jorgeoyhenard.com/instalar-visual-basic-6-en-windows-7/2241/

score -1 · Answer 11 · edited Jul 14 '23 at 21:47

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Microsoft have updated the VB6 programming support statement Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0

Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 are now supported.

Edit: Later version of Windows is still support VB6.

edited Jul 14 '23 at 21:47

winapiadmin

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answered Dec 10 '17 at 18:08

VB6 programming

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Does the VB6 IDE run on Windows 7 / 8 / 10 64-bit?

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