Finding an XP Download of Visual Basic Express

  • Thread starter Thread starter W. eWatson
  • Start date Start date
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W. eWatson

I'm told that any earlier version of VB likely will work on XP. Maybe
2005. However, any of the sites I've seen are a tangled mess of other
attractions. I thought I had it on one only to find the actual install
was in Spanish. Others seem to be some Studio or database. The latest
versions are dependent on Chromelight(something like that). Can anyone
find the reall McCoy?
 
| I'm told that any earlier version of VB likely will work on XP. Maybe
| 2005.

You want the VB.Net Express programming software? According
to the Microsoft page for VB.Net Express 2010, you can run it on
XP. They no longer offer 2005. But you should be able to write in
2010 for older frameworks, if that matters. See here:

http://www.vbdotnetforums.com/ide/43140-change-net-framework-2-a.html

Writing to the v. 2 framework would be similar to using
VB.Net 2005, at least in terms of dependencies.

VB was discontinued as of VB6. Microsoft has taken to calling
VB.Net simply "Visual Basic", but 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010
are all actually VB.Net, which is radically different from VB. (That
may seem like a nitpick, but it will save you some confusion
when you start looking for help if you get in the habit of calling
it VB.Net.) VB produces native code executables, with a big focus
on COM and Windows programming. VB.Net is a Java clone that
produces JIT-compiled "assemblies". It deals with COM only
indirectly. .Net is not primarily designed for Windows software.
Like Java it's an object-oriented system with a gigantic set of
required support files. (The virtual machine or framework.) Like
Java it's mainly aimed at corporate intranet use. All of the .Net
versions depend on the .Net framework, which was something
like 50 MB in the early versions but has grown to something like
300-500 MB. (I've lost track of exactly how big it is.) None of the
frameworks is installed on XP by default, so that's something
to consider if you think you might end up distributing your software.
 
Mayayana said:
| I'm told that any earlier version of VB likely will work on XP. Maybe
| 2005.

You want the VB.Net Express programming software? According
to the Microsoft page for VB.Net Express 2010, you can run it on
XP. They no longer offer 2005. But you should be able to write in
2010 for older frameworks, if that matters. See here:

http://www.vbdotnetforums.com/ide/43140-change-net-framework-2-a.html

Writing to the v. 2 framework would be similar to using
VB.Net 2005, at least in terms of dependencies.

VB was discontinued as of VB6. Microsoft has taken to calling
VB.Net simply "Visual Basic", but 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010
are all actually VB.Net, which is radically different from VB. (That
may seem like a nitpick, but it will save you some confusion
when you start looking for help if you get in the habit of calling
it VB.Net.) VB produces native code executables, with a big focus
on COM and Windows programming. VB.Net is a Java clone that
produces JIT-compiled "assemblies". It deals with COM only
indirectly. .Net is not primarily designed for Windows software.
Like Java it's an object-oriented system with a gigantic set of
required support files. (The virtual machine or framework.) Like
Java it's mainly aimed at corporate intranet use. All of the .Net
versions depend on the .Net framework, which was something
like 50 MB in the early versions but has grown to something like
300-500 MB. (I've lost track of exactly how big it is.) None of the
frameworks is installed on XP by default, so that's something
to consider if you think you might end up distributing your software.
Click to expand...

More info listed here :

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3696

"Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual
Basic .NET is the complete technical guide to upgrading
Visual Basic 6 applications to Visual Basic .NET, covering
all upgrade topics from APIs to ZOrders. It shows how to
fix upgrade issues with forms, language, data access,
and COM+ Services, and how to upgrade applications
with XML Web services, ADO.NET, and .NET remoting.
It also provides big-picture architectural advice, a reference
of function and object model changes, and hundreds of
before-and-after code samples."

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP

The Microsoft site also lists many files needed for Visual Basic
(including run time etc.)

HTH
 
W. eWatson said:
I'm told that any earlier version of VB likely will work on XP. Maybe
2005. However, any of the sites I've seen are a tangled mess of other
attractions. I thought I had it on one only to find the actual install
was in Spanish. Others seem to be some Studio or database. The latest
versions are dependent on Chromelight(something like that). Can anyone
find the reall McCoy?
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_Express#Visual_Basic_Express

The so-called official web site is here, but we all know that such
things don't tend to provide easy access to old versions.

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/express

Now, a link off that page, gets you here. But maybe this isn't old enough ?

"Visual Studio 2008 Express"
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2008-editions/express

"Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition with SP1"

And the web pages rendered fine, without Silverlight or Adobe Flash (neither
of which are loaded in my main browser).

HTH,
Paul
 
| More info listed here :
|
| http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3696
|
| "Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual
| Basic .NET

W. eWatson wasn't very clear about what he/she wants
with VB/VB.Net, but it sounds like this is a first-time
foray into programming. Your link is about VB6ers porting
their code over to .Net. As I understand it, VB.Net 2010
doesn't include the conversion tools that were in earlier
..Net versions. And for the record: Microsoft dearly wanted
VB programmers to move to .Net, so they tried to present
it as an easy and obvious step, but people who have done
it seem to generally agree that there's no such thing as
a VB -> VB.Net upgrade. It's a rewrite. :

http://vb.mvps.org/vfred/Trust.asp

That all seems to be O.T. if W. eWatson is just looking
for some kind of programming tool to use on XP, and is
not switching from VB6. It might be worth mentioning that
there are a lot of other "basics" out there. I've heard good
things about PowerBasic, but I don't think it's free.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_Express#Visual_Basic_Express

The so-called official web site is here, but we all know that such
things don't tend to provide easy access to old versions.

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/express

Now, a link off that page, gets you here. But maybe this isn't old enough ?

"Visual Studio 2008 Express"
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2008-editions/express

"Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition with SP1"

And the web pages rendered fine, without Silverlight or Adobe Flash
(neither
of which are loaded in my main browser).

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...
I'll give 2008 a try. I only have a modest need for using VB, so if any
goodies added to 2010 will unlikely be of interest.
 
| More info listed here :
|
| http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3696
|
| "Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual
| Basic .NET

W. eWatson wasn't very clear about what he/she wants
with VB/VB.Net, but it sounds like this is a first-time
foray into programming. Your link is about VB6ers porting
their code over to .Net. As I understand it, VB.Net 2010
doesn't include the conversion tools that were in earlier
.Net versions. And for the record: Microsoft dearly wanted
VB programmers to move to .Net, so they tried to present
it as an easy and obvious step, but people who have done
it seem to generally agree that there's no such thing as
a VB -> VB.Net upgrade. It's a rewrite. :

http://vb.mvps.org/vfred/Trust.asp

That all seems to be O.T. if W. eWatson is just looking
for some kind of programming tool to use on XP, and is
not switching from VB6. It might be worth mentioning that
there are a lot of other "basics" out there. I've heard good
things about PowerBasic, but I don't think it's free.
Click to expand...
A friend is turning a useful VB program over to me that was written with
VB 5. No source. I plan to try it out. It's possible I might want some
simpler programs using VB. I used VB a lot 12-15 years ago with Excel.
Regarding NET, I really know little about it, but it appears to have
something to do with networking. I have only a local need.
 
More info listed here :

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3696

"Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual
Basic .NET is the complete technical guide to upgrading
Visual Basic 6 applications to Visual Basic .NET, covering
all upgrade topics from APIs to ZOrders. It shows how to
fix upgrade issues with forms, language, data access,
and COM+ Services, and how to upgrade applications
with XML Web services, ADO.NET, and .NET remoting.
It also provides big-picture architectural advice, a reference
of function and object model changes, and hundreds of
before-and-after code samples."

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP

The Microsoft site also lists many files needed for Visual Basic
(including run time etc.)

HTH
Click to expand...
See my response to Mayayana. I think I'll try 2008 per Paul and hope for
the best. If that doesn't cut it, then I'll try yours and other
suggestions.

I have somewhat simple interests, so I hope these later versions are not
chock full of stuff I do not need. It might be useful to have a users
manual, but as I reamrked to Mayayana, I' just trying initially to
execute an old VB program, no source code.
 
I'll give 2008 a try. I only have a modest need for using VB, so if any
goodies added to 2010 will unlikely be of interest.
Click to expand...
BTW, 2008 says SP1. I think my PC has a much later SP. Is this going to
screw up matters?
 
W. eWatson said:
BTW, 2008 says SP1. I think my PC has a much later SP. Is this going to
screw up matters?
Click to expand...

No, that refers to the 2008 version having its own patch. When you download
that, I presume you're getting 2008 + patch, which they then call 2008 SP1.

And I don't think the fun stops, with the one download. You get to try that
out, and then the software will want you to download something else and so
on. I don't think you'll get instant satisfaction. It could be, for example,
the 2005 or 2008 version, will translate your code, into a .NET version,
and then something else will be needed to finish the job.

Post back how it goes. I love stories involving slow torture via software
products (domino download syndrome). Before you know it, you've got 10GB
of installed software, to compile that 5 line program someone gave you :-)

Paul
 
No, that refers to the 2008 version having its own patch. When you download
that, I presume you're getting 2008 + patch, which they then call 2008 SP1.

And I don't think the fun stops, with the one download. You get to try that
out, and then the software will want you to download something else and so
on. I don't think you'll get instant satisfaction. It could be, for
example,
the 2005 or 2008 version, will translate your code, into a .NET version,
and then something else will be needed to finish the job.

Post back how it goes. I love stories involving slow torture via software
products (domino download syndrome). Before you know it, you've got 10GB
of installed software, to compile that 5 line program someone gave you :-)

Paul
Click to expand...

Yes, slow torture is right. I ended up with something called Visual Web
Developer 2008. It appears to know something about VB, C++, and maybe
some other language. Net, net, seems the idea. It looks I need to lay
out bucks for a book or books to understand what this is all about.
Yikes. I have 30 days to register. I wonder which way I'll go? :-)
 
Yes, slow torture is right. I ended up with something called Visual Web
Developer 2008. It appears to know something about VB, C++, and maybe
some other language. Net, net, seems the idea. It looks I need to lay
out bucks for a book or books to understand what this is all about.
Yikes. I have 30 days to register. I wonder which way I'll go? :-)
Click to expand...
My friend eased the pain by providing
<http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=14597>. Looks like
what I wanted.
 
Here's another magic number:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9350817

I got curious because I know I was able to download
C++ 2008 Express recently as the real installer, rather
than just a "web-installer" package. I came across the
link above, which is a 749 MB ISO of VS 2008 Express.
Apparently one writes it to a DVD and gets the option
to install any combination of tools/languages. It might
be worth getting just to have, since it's become so
difficult to find this stuff. The web installer could be kaput
at any time, since it depends on the real installer being
left online. The actual file URL is here:

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...59B738298/VS2008ExpressWithSP1ENUX1504728.iso
 
| Mr. W. eWatson
| Back up your VB 5 File first before run it in VB 2008!
|

See the earlier post: "A friend is turning a useful VB program
over to me that was written with VB 5. No source."

This is not a conversion. There's no source code. .Net doesn't
convert VB5, anyway. If I understood right he just wants to
try to write something similar to the VB5 program in VB.Net.
 
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