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== Getting Visual Studio ==
There are a number of obtions options in terms of getting a copy of Visual Studio. If you work for a company which has Visual Studio licenses available then the first step is to talk to your IT department to see if they can provide you with a license, or purchase one for you.
If you do not have access to a purchase Visual Studio license, or lack the funds to buy a copy the best option, and actually the ideal option for those learning Visual Basic, is to download a trial version from Microsoft's web site. This will give you a 90 day trial period to use all the features of Visual Studio. Given that this book will teach you everything you need to know to program in Visual Basic the 90 day trial period will give you plenty of time to learn Visual Basic with time to spare to decide if you want purchase a fully licensed copy of Visual Studio.
== Installing Visual Studio ==
To install Visual Studio, place the DVD in the DVD drive of your system. If your system is configured to autorun when a CD or DVD is insterted inserted into the drive, then the installation screen should appear. If it does not appear, open Windows Explorer, navigate to the ''\vs'' folder on the DVD and double click on the ''setup'' icon.
When the installer has started the following window should appear:
[[Image:visual_studio_install.jpg]]
Click on the ''Install Visual Studio'' link to begin the installation process. Visual Studio supports a number of different programming languages in addition to Visual Basic (such as C#, J# and C++). If you only plan to use Visual Basic then choose the custom installation option and uncheck the boxes for the other languages. This will speed up the installation process and reduce the amount of space required to install Visual Studio. If you need to work with the other progamming programming languages at a later date you can insert the installation DVD. The installer will then start in Maintenance Mode and allow you to add and remove support for other languages.
== Starting Visual Studio for the First Time ==
