Links

http://www.startsiden.no A pretty good norwegian portal.
http://rookscape.com/vbgaming/files.php A good Visual Basic resource related to game programming.
http://www.freevbcode.com/ Contains numerous Visual Basic examples.
http://www.codeguru.com Free source code and forums for programers. Contains thousands of examples, ranging from beginners level and upwards.
http://www.planet-source-code.com An excellent user content-driven site that contains if not millions of submissions from programmers all around the world. Definitively a good place to start.
http://www.xtremevbtalk.com/ In my opinion the best Visual Basic forum out there. If you're stuck, this is most certainly a good place to seek help.

Visual Basic Control Creation Edition Download a free edtion of VB5 here. Keep in mind that compiling to EXE files is not supported.
Visual Studio Express A free IDE for .NET 2-framework by Microsoft; has no restrictions whatsoever, unlike VBCCE.
SharpDevelop A open software-licenced IDE for the .NET-framework.