Visual BASIC 6 help

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i recently got a computer programming book from, "Goodwills" a bargain store. I get home and pop the cd-rom into my laptop and I'm getting along with the lessons alright. Well I miss read an instruction from the book and though that if i opened a new project it would undo the misplaced object. well for some reason the program starts doing weird things. and it wasn't only the program messing up, my pc is doing weird stuff. can some one please help?

What sort of strange things is your system doing? If you give us more details, it will be easier for us to help you out. If your system (instead of just VB) is doing weird things, it might be a virus/spyware infection that was triggered by something in VB.

I used to do a lot of programming in VB6, although more recently I use VB.NET and C#

More then likely your computer got a virus.

Visual Basic itself should not cause systemic problems. I have used that language quite a bit, and it rarely allows the user to fool around with systemic information. If you are a beginner, I doubt you would even be getting into the highly advanced parts where such a thing was bound to occur.

Systemic problems can have a wide range of causes. I wouldn't easily jump onto the virus bandwagon. Viruses tend to have specific patterns of abuse, and most spyware-laden viruses will cause problems with internet processes. Other viruses are possible but probably less likely. Have you downloaded anything lately?

Are you familiar with task manager? If not, simply press ctrl-alt-delete. From there, you can bring up the task manager from the menu. At that point, it should open up with the process list. If not, simply click on the process tab, should be the second from the left.

If you can print out the process list (print-screen, maybe) and post it here, I can likely determine if there is something erroneous on your system. You need to know the system processes quite well to understand what each does. If there is an unusual file there, I usually tend to research it and find information.

Many, but not all, spyware and virus programs are often stored in the temporary internet files folder. Just erasing the history and files from Internet Explorer, or whatever browser being used, is not going to do much. If this folder is loaded with erroneous information, you will have to get rid of it rather quickly. That can only be done in safe mode, and then you will likely have to remove entries from the registry. If there are serious problems, re-installing the operating system may be necessary. I personally know how to manipulate the system registry, but that is tedious and can be dangerous to the unskilled.

Your best bet is to get a virus checker, preferably a reputable one, like McAfee or Norton. I would caution using anything from the Internet.

I'll bet it's a virus and yes i have been doing dangerous downloads. another problem is that when i start up my computer my antivirus takes over 5 minutes to start running and i think that's a major security risk. i'm currantly running Win XP on a laptop that's built for Win 98 and NT. i guess i don't know crap about internet security nor safety. =<

You got a "programming" book that teaches you Visual Basic? That's like getting a book on cooking that teaches you how to heat up a Hungry Man meal. Visual Basic does NOT teach programming skills. If you really want to learn programming, read a book on algorithms and data structures, and also one on the theory of programming languages.

OKay so i'm stupid and have no common sense... did that make everyones day? funny how this is supose to be a support forum but it seems more like i'm getting snubbed and sneered at.

Run a free virus checker (AVG etc): http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
Run a spyware checker: S&D Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/tutorial/index.html
Reinstall VB and see if it installs ok...did the book come with the learner model? If not, you can install Visual Studio Express (free) at:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Downloads/#
(It has VB Basic). I know it's a different version but assuming that the book just shows the basics, it shouldn't matter.
When you start coding...
If you have issues, copy and paste your code here. Also, if you want you can show a screen capture of the errors you are getting.
Screenshot: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... nshot.mspx

Finally, don't worry about learning the "right" language, just get in there get your hands dirty. After you learn some basics you can choose another language (if you want) and choose another language.

As an aside, browse the web with Firefox and always scan your downloads in the future.

I don't think people are trying to be mean. I know it can seem like that....they are just passionate about computer stuff.

Visual Basic videos (search youtube)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVjQvixZPxk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oGpl6qNKoQ[/youtube]

Most importantly, have fun!

VB 6 is ancient.