"The Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the lifetime of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Applications built with VB6 will continue to run. However, the VB6 IDE is no longer supported and no new features will be added."

If you are not maintaining a legacy system, Microsoft recommends migrating to Visual Studio .NET (using VB.NET) or Visual Studio Code , as the VB6 environment is no longer supported by Microsoft and poses security risks if used for new development.

Given the complexity above, several trusted developers have created versions that automate all the fixes. These are not official Microsoft releases, but they are widely used in the legacy community.

Install Windows XP SP3 in or VMware Player . Then run the VB6 installer natively. This is the gold standard for enterprise development.