Firstly and before any "you are breaking the warez rule" crap shows up, I'm pointing out the VB6 IDE as abandonware. Therefore, while still illegal, it is HIGHLY unlikely that Microsoft will give two shits about this. They have bigger things to worry about.
Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons. Abandonware may be computer software or physical devices which are usually computerised in some fashion, such as personal computer games, productivity applications, utility software, or mobile phones.
Definitions of "abandoned" vary; generally it refers to a product that is no longer available for legal purchase, over the age where the product creator feels an obligation to continue to support it, or where Operating Systems or hardware platforms have evolved to such a degree that the creator feels continued support cannot be financially justified. Software companies and manufacturers may change their names, go bankrupt, enter into mergers, or cease to exist for a variety of reasons. When this happens, product rights are usually transferred to another company that may elect not to sell or support products acquired.
VB6 was released in 1998, and discontinued in 2005, with extended support ended in 2008. At this point in time, VB6 isn't available for purchase from Microsoft or have any support being offered (excluding the runtimes, which were also discontinued in 2005), the only ways to get it are used eBay boxes and downloads.
Rarely has any abandonware case gone to court. In November 2006 the Library of Congress approved an exemption to the DMCA that permits the cracking of copy protection on software no longer being sold or supported by its copyright holder so that they can be archived and preserved without fear of retribution.
Several websites archive abandonware for download, including old versions of applications which are difficult to find by any other means. Much of this software fits the definition of "software that is no longer current, but is still of interest", but the line separating the use and distribution of abandonware from copyright infringement is blurry, and the term abandonware could be used to distribute software without proper notification of the owner.
Old copyrights are usually left undefended. This can be due to intentional non-enforcement by owners due to software age or obsolescence, but sometimes results from a corporate copyright holder going out of business without explicitly transferring ownership, leaving no one aware of the right to defend the copyright.
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Secondly, I still don't approve much of using VB6, it's slow and clunky. But, I've been asked about download links a few times and lots of people are still using it, so I figured what the hell.
Now then, here is the installer that I built from the files from a copy of an original disc. However, this EXE that I've created does a couple of things. First, instead of being just an archive of files where you have to guess at which damn executable you have to run (and be wrong, have to modify settings, etc to run), this is an extractor, which is ~1/3 of the size of all of the files, and runs them all the same.
Download link removed due to MegaUpload takedown, will reupload soon!
First, extract it somewhere (Desktop is easy enough). RUN IT AS ADMINISTRATOR! You will be asked if you want to install VB6, click yes. It will extract the files to install, give it a couple of minutes. Next, the VB installer itself will come up. If a compatibility warning appears, just say to run it anyways. Enter the info it asks for, and the serial (included in the zip). Then just follow the installer through and VB6 will be installed!
NOTE: If it seems to be taking a while at "Setup is searching for installed components", even says it has stopped responding, just wait. It may take a while on newer machines (weird, right?)
The EXE also does a nice job of cleaning up after itself, and deletes itself after the install is done!
Now, Windows 7 (and possibly Vista) may have a "lagging" issue when running VB6 when they are working with forms. To fix this, right click your VB6 shortcut, and go to Properties. Under the Compatibility tab, check "Disable desktop composition". Then you won't have the lag issue anymore!
If you have any questions or problems with this, post here or PM me.
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Originally Posted by Bianca
I'm still trying to work out a few simple programs, VB seems easiest
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