Visual Basic 6 on Windows 8

In case you need to support and maintain Visual Basic 6 application on Windows 7, Windows 8, ...:

1. Open command windows as administrator 
2. Create a zero byte file called MSJAVA.DLL in C:\Windows. (Note: This trick does not work with Windows 10. Need to copy a real copy MSJAVA.DLL to C:\Windows\SysWOW64). Read more: http://www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp?artid=23993 
3. "robocopy \WindowsXP\System32 \Windows\System32 java* " (These files from Windows XP system)
4. "robocopy \WindowsXP\System32 \Windows\System32 msjava*"  
5. Run setup as administrator from the VB6 or Visual Studio 6 installation media 
6. On compatibility, select "Run program without help" 
7. Enter product key and hit next until option list. Choose CUSTOM. 
8. Do NOT select Data Access (Otherwise you cannot install Visual Studio 6 SP 6 later).
9. The install will go straight through and will request a restart of windows 
10. After a restart, start your Visual Basic and confirm all works well, advised to set the program to run in administrative mode so it can write to areas of the registry 
11. Close it down and install the Visual Studio 6 Service Pack 6 components by right click on SetupSP6.exe to run as administrator) 
12. Once installed, restart VB6 and check the help about box to confirm you see SP6 installed 

Source: 
http://www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp?artid=23993 http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pareshj/archive/2013/07/16/visual-basic-6-on-windows-8.aspx

Other readings:
VB6: David Platt’s Inside Pitch 
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/msdnmagazine/archive/2014/06/05/10531518.aspx 

Bring back Classic Visual Basic, an improved version of VB6 
http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio/suggestions/3440221-bring-back-classic-visual-basic-an-improved-versi 

Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Update: November 2012
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/ms788708 

The Silent Majority: Why Visual Basic 6 Still Thrives 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj133828.aspx 

Installing Visual Basic/Studio 6 on Windows 10
http://blog.danbrust.net/2015/09/14/installing-visual-basic-studio-6-on-windows-10/