So, the long story short - I downgraded to Windows 8.1 because of many years struggling with Windows 10 (ended in black screen, not relevant right now) anyway, I started a fresh install of 8.1 yesterday and I'm trying to get my local server going again with Ampps (preferred) or Xampp but having a lot of trouble getting the "Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (x64) 14.29.30133" to install, both programs need this to connect properly. I have done all the updates I can and other suggestions (old) that I've found over the web with no luck. The install either hangs about halfway or I get an error. I tried the newest version with the same result.
Am I wasting my time or is this still achievable in 2022 on Windows 8.1? I really hope the answer isn't going back to the dreaded Windows 10.
Cheers.
I had an application written in VB on my laptop which was running Windows XP until I formatted it yesterday. A friend copied it over several years ago but it's not possible to contact him anymore. This project consists of .vbg, .vbp, .vbw, etc. files and a few .mdb files which store the databases. I also had a shortcut on my desktop which was referencing a .vbg file which used to open up a window and I was then supposed to press a "Play" button to launch the application.
I've copied the required folders over to my new laptop which now has Windows 7 Professional (32 bit) but I have no idea how to run this application and what is required. I also tried creating a VM using Windows XP just to check if the problem is with Windows 7 (or above) but still I am probably missing other required software (a debugger perhaps? visual studio or something?).
My questions are:
Is it possible to run this project on Windows 7 and what software is required to accomplish that?
What am I missing on the Windows XP VM? Do I have to install Visual Basic or some other debugging software?
Appreciate your help,
Kyriacos.
First of all, you need to have visual basics to run the .vbg or .vbp files. There is no other application that supports those formats. And Second, you can run the project on windows 7 as it is compatible all the way to windows 10.
I'm looking to get started on a pretty simple Windows Store app. It'll be distributed inside a business, not public (there's a more specific way to say that but...). It seems you can't get past the very first step of installing Visual Studio if you aren't on Windows 8.1. I have a Win8 device (a Surface Pro 3), but I'd be more comfortable developing on my Windows 7 Desktop. Long question to say, do I have to purchase a Windows 8 license to run a VM on my Desktop for development? Or is there an easier way to get Visual Studio installed and started? Windows Dev guidelines, just kinda jump over that little step...
Not sure why you would keep a 5 year old OS on your desktop, but you do need Windows 8 to do Windows 8 development. Not sure if there's any way to develop on Windows 7 and do remote debugging to a Windows 8 device - I doubt that, but that would be much more painful anyway than debugging on your dev box.
Yes, you need a license even for VM. However, Microsoft has the best support for developers and you can find some programm that will be suitable for you. BizSpark, DreamSpark, AzureCloud etc. Maybe you'll be able to get all the software for free.
Regarding the new system, Windows 8 is same as Windows 7 in desktop mode. Except start menu. So, you can install Pokki or Start8 to 'fix' it.
I've just recently finished doing the 2D XNA game tutorial at college. Now I have to do a screencast demonstrating changes I've made to the game at home on my windows 8 system. I have Visual studio 2010 installed and XNA 4.0. I can open the game project up in Visual C# and ammend any part of the project I need to but I can not run the game.
I have tried to Install the Windows Phone Developer Tools as suggested in the XNA tutorial by when I attempt the installation it says "Windows 7 or Windows Vista is required.
Is there a work around so I can get the game to run so I can screencast it running?
Thanks
I recently ran into the same problem. As far as I know Microsoft dropped XNA and stopped the support for it under Windows 8 (Someone may correct me if I'm wrong). But not all hope is lost MonoGame is the open source Mono port for the XNA framework which should work under Windows 8.
This link shows how to migrate the mentioned tutorial to MonoGame and run it under Windows 8:
http://solutions.devx.com/ms/msdn/windows-client/windows-8-xna-and-monogame-part-3-code-migration-and-windows-8-feature-support.html
As far as I'm aware MonoGame's content pipeline doesn't work and you still need to bake the content to xnb files.
I hope I could help
I realize your question is stale by now and hopefully figured it out, but in case others have similar issues, I thought I'd reply anyway. I just ran that tutorial's game on my Windows 8 PC with no problems using Visual Studio 2010 and XNA 4 - so it works fine on Windows 8 as Microsoft still supports XNA 4 on the Windows 8 desktop (just not for Windows Store apps). The question seems to be "how to install XNA 4 on Windows 8 and what to do about problems that might arise in attempting that?". For that question, see the responses here: How to install the XNA Game Studio 4.0 in Windows 8?
VS6 popped off a series of errors before bombing out completely during install on Windows 7. I specifically need to get VB6 functioning on Windows 7. Anyone having any luck?
Folks on the VB6 newsgroup report they have managed to get it working on Windows 7.
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? Link is now broken so here is the tip:
Before trying to install VB6. Create a new file, name it msjava.dll and place it in your windows directory. The file can be zero length. You can then happily install without the prompt to install an old version of Microsoft's flavour of Java. Once you have installed VB6, delete the msjava.dll otherwise windows update will prompt you to update it.
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.
The only way I've found that works is Windows XP mode (i.e. a virtual machine). Works fine there, but otherwise, not at all.
I found ALL the answers in a thread at vbmonster.com. As mentioned above, you CAN install Visual Studio 6 with Service Pack 6 under Windows 7 by following Derek's detailed instructions at fortypoundhead.com.
I had a problem because I needed to install Service Pack 5. I use a third party program that does not work with Service Pack 6. A really smart programmer (GuideX) came up with a great hack to get around the MDAC 2.5 error.
Win 7 64 bit service pack 5 & 6. Turn compatability off and it seems to work.
Recently I had to debug an ancient application written in Visual C++ 6.0 on Windows 8.1. Tried different solutions all of them failed, only this one worked.
This guys made a special installer that allows installing VC++6, VB6, and SP6 on Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10 without any errors whatsoever.
Hope it would be helpful to someone.
I installed VB6 on Windows 7 Pro without having to use compatibility settings or run as administrator.
Doesn't really help you, but does show that it can work.
Several people in my office have installed Visual Studio 6 (without VC++) on Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit with no problems. The one thing we have in common: we've all turned UAC down to it's lowest setting. Nothing else special required.
I am using vb6 on windows 7 32 bit system for a long time.
you will need to install your vb6 with compatibility of xp2.
Create a 0-byte file in the C:\Windows directory called msjava.dll.
Don't just install via the Autorun executable; instead browse the Visual Studio 6 CD (or folder), right-click Setup.exe and select Run As Administrator.
On any Program Compatibility Assistant warnings, click Run Program.
Step through the setup screens until you're able to choose Custom Setup, then click next.
On the setup options, install the following items and nothing else:
Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
ActiveX
Data Access
Graphics
Click continue and the process will start, and (hopefully) eventually complete.
Skip the installations of the MSDN CD, BackOffice, VSS and SNA Server, and clear the checkbox for "Register Now". Setup should be complete.
Download the VB6 Service Pack 6 from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?FamilyID=A8494EDB-2E89-4676-A16A-5C5477CB9713&displaylang=en and install.
Change the compatibility settings for Visual Basic (to get it to run a little more smoothly under Windows 7) by browsing to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98, right-clicking the VB6.exe file, and selecting properties.
On the Compatibility tab, check the following:
Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
Disable Visual Themes
Disable Desktop Composition
Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
When you start up the IDE, you may get a notification saying that the color scheme has been changed to Windows 7 Basic, but it will be changed back to Aero once you exit. Everything should be working fine at this point!
Note: when you first run your new install vb6 run it with admin rights and with xp2 compatibility so that your exe can run on any system.
The word "supported" is used loosely in this thread, potentially leading the unwary reader to the conclusion that Microsoft supports the VB6 IDE (that is, the integrated development environment) on operating systems beyond Windows XP. This fact clearly is stated in the table that appears on the page at this link:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/nikosan/2012/04/20/support-statement-for-visual-basic-6-0-on-windows-8-updated/
Note that executables developed using VB6 are in fact compatible with Windows OS's from Windows XP through Windows 10--32/64-bit versions:
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/06/22/getting-ready-for-windows-10-sdks-compatibility-bridges/
Anyone using non-standard methods to coax the IDE into working on OS's that Microsoft does not support is exposing themselves/their organizations/their employers to risk and is not suitable for risk-averse organizations.
Having said that, I think the purest solution is to install Windows XP onto a virtual machine and run that VM in a modern host OS, such as Windows 10. That works just fine, and you can install directly from the VB6 Setup disc without making any pre-install/post-install customizations.
I had a Vista x64 box with a working copy of the VB6 IDE (which was supported). I upgraded the OS to Windows 7 x64 and the VB6 IDE still works fine. You could try that. I know, a huge PITA and kludgy but still, it worked for me.
I run Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, installed Windows Virtual PC - XP Mode, and that solved my problem isince I can run MSDEV 6.0 in the XP Window.
Not esay to install XP Mode though, the MS site is buggy.
The VB6 programming language is supported on the Windows 10 Technical Preview.
Visual Vasic 6 applications run and the VB6 IDE installs and works too.
I have the VB6 IDE running OK on Win-XP-16, Win-7-32, Win-7-64, Win-8.1-32, Win-8.1-64, win-10-32 and win-10-64 by using the instructions above which basically say, turn off UAC, run the installer AS ADMIN, and then set the VB6.exe file to run in XP-SP3 Compatibility mode.
I have had some issues with it and have had to do a bit more googling to solve these but I don't remember any more what those issues or solutions were.
I've even got the VB3 IDE running on the 32-bit versions of XP, Win-7, Win 8.1 and Win-10 - without even installing them - just copied the C:\VB folder from another computer and copied the *.LIC license files and *.VBX etc files as well.
I have successfully installed vb6 on win 7 32 bit by installing xp first then installing new win 7, (not upgrade), and do not format. then it will install vb6 without a problem
It's depending on your build version of Windows 7.
If your Win7's version is lower or is not updated, it has MANY PROBLEMS with compatibility.
But mine is newer Win7 version and has NO COMPATIBILITY TROUBLE.
I am currently using VB6 , VS6 and they still work fine!
If Properties->Compatibility->Windows XP doesn't help, fix it with UPDATING your Win7.