VB6 Default Instance Creation Delayed in Windows 10 1607+ Causes NullReferenceException on Form Property Access

VB6 Default Instance Creation Delay in Windows 10 1607+

Goal: Determine whether the postponed default‑instance creation introduced in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update is the root cause of intermittent NullReferenceException errors observed in deployment logs when accessing form properties before Show.

Constraints: The VB6 runtime documentation does not specify the version‑specific timing shift, and logs only show the exception without indicating whether the form’s window handle has been created.

• What exact condition triggers the runtime to create the default instance on Windows 10 version 1607 and later?
• Can deployment logs be analyzed to differentiate this delay‑induced NullReferenceException from other null‑reference failures?
• Is there a supported configuration, manifest, or compatibility setting that restores the pre‑1607 default‑instance behavior without modifying the VB6 source code?