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I have some VB6 applications which have run well under every version of windows since XP. Now we are going over to Windows 10 x64 we are finding our our GUI application is very slow especially in SQL operations etc. We run all applications elevated and played around with various options in the compatibility tab but nothing stopped it from being laggy.

Recently i have found a huge improvement if i run the compatibility troubleshooter. the first time we test it fails because we then have to retry with the admin rights but then it seems quite good.

What i dont understand is what the troubleshooter is doing differently to manually selecting options and also even though i then tell it to save the settings, the next time the application runs its laggy again and we run the troubleshooter. I've done a little research and can confirm the applications are all run from the local hard drive. We also keep the database on the local drive.

Just in case it helps, Running different builds of Win10 from Anniversary to a clean install today of Fall Creator. The Visual Studio IDE is installed under the Program Files directory (not program files x86) and i deselected the ADO, RDS ODBC providers as suggested somewhere on the internet (there are ADODB calls could this have anything to do with it). The IDE runs also with elevated permissions.

There are essentially 3 applications with 2 running in the background. All reference a couple of DLL files from a 3rd party and run several SQL calls to a local database. We have noticed if the database is being accessed elsewhere (even through Access so not repetitively) this also slows down the GUI. This system need to perform realtime tasks and so this laggyness is affecting the operation.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Simon Wait
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    Is this a dev machine or a target / customer / deployment machine? Why install the IDE at all if this is where the deployed application is running? – StayOnTarget Feb 02 '18 at 12:26
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    FWIW the various VB6 applications I support have no noticeable difference between Windows versions. So I would say that in general there is no VB6 issue with Windows 10. There must be something specific about your application which leads to the slowdown. One suggestion is to build simple stripped down test applications; in this way try out different dependencies (DB access, etc.) until you narrow down which one is causing the problem. ie compare Win10 results to Win7... good luck. – StayOnTarget Feb 02 '18 at 12:28
  • Hi. Thanks for your suggestions. Basically each of the different installations want specific customised front ends so we find it easier to just include the IDE so the onsite technician can write stuff as and when. We are however finding this impact on speed across all the windows 10 installation whether a simple base version of our software or the ones which have been altered. – Simon Wait Feb 03 '18 at 18:07
  • Interestingly I went at the troubleshooter in a different way yesterday. By typing in compatibility into the start menu rather than going through right-clicking the icon it takes you through a different process and that, for now, seem to have retained the information. Thanks for your help DaveInCaz. In the long run, I will certainly break the code down to see where this isn't being helped. I have also found so more efficient ways to recode from the internet so will use them too. – Simon Wait Feb 03 '18 at 18:10
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    Glad to hear you are making headway. If you eventually learn the ropes cause maybe parting an answer to your own question would be helpful to others! Best regards – StayOnTarget Feb 03 '18 at 22:12

3 Answers3

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The correct, and fastest, latest software to run a VB6 program is only found in the "Windows 7, (SP3)" modes, with elevated (Admin) permissions. Since that version, there have been many safety features added to windows, which have to be "emulated", in order for VB6 programs to operate within certain safe limits. The cost was speed, nearly half the speed, which is measurable with most time-demo codes.

Setting compatibility mode to "Windows 7, (sp3)", and elevating your program to (admin), will return your program back to normal speed. Actually, it will be faster than it was on that version of windows, but only in some areas.

This should be done manually, or at the point of install, of your program. You have to add registry keys, based on where the program is installed and how it is named or identified. Prompting the user so they can OKAY the elevated (admin) access for your program.

NoesisAndNoema
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Even though it's still working, it's really not optimized for new operating systems - of course it's just Windows. There were a number of programs that used to work on Windows XP and today do not work at all.

As the language son wanted with the interpreter rather than compiling it - of course there are other languages as if they had undergone many optimizations (eg python). Which greatly reduces the software.

Idan Str
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I ran into the same issue and resolved it by Compatability options as below:

  • Right-click on "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\VB6.EXE" and choose the properties option from the popup menu
  • Select the Compatability tap from the properties windows
  • Under Compatibility mode, Select "Run this program in Compatability mode for"
  • Choose "Windows-XP (Service Pack 2)"
  • Click OK and execute VB6

enter image description here

Dharman
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Haseeb
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  • Hi, sorry I didn't notice your response. Yeah, I tried those compatibility settings a couple of times but each time it causes odd graphics behaviour with icons in a treeview not displaying correctly which is probably worse to the end user than slowness. Will keep plugging away! – Simon Wait Apr 16 '22 at 10:28
  • just an update, that issue got resolved automatically when I got the latest update of Windows-10, and now no issue anymore. – Haseeb Apr 16 '22 at 20:57