Since the official source is down, developers typically use these alternatives:
Because this is a legacy tool from the late 90s, finding it requires a bit of digital archaeology:
: Historically, it was available via Knowledge Base article Q194751 . download vb6cli.exe
Typically extracted to temporary directories or the VB98 folder Fixes design-time licensing for ActiveX controls Security Warning: Beware of Malware
If you are developing in VB6 and receive the following error dialog, vb6cli.exe is the intended solution: Since the official source is down, developers typically
Once you have located the file, the process is straightforward.
This fails if your project triggers a modal dialog (e.g., missing reference). You must ensure all dependencies are pre-registered. You must ensure all dependencies are pre-registered
or GitHub repositories that host old Knowledge Base archives. The Solution
Compile-time crashes when loading forms with common controls (like MSCOMCTL.OCX ). Technical Specifications Microsoft Corporation Associated Software Visual Basic 6.0 / Visual Studio 6.0 File Type Executable Application (.exe) Default Installation Path
This link is widely referenced in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q194751.
When you build a Visual Basic 6.0 project that includes third-party or Microsoft-provided ActiveX controls (.ocx files), the compiler checks for a design-time license. If the license is missing or improperly registered in the Windows Registry, compilation fails.