you can keep things in your app running, whether or not your app is the current active application, by using a Timer, or having a some form of 'while loop. advice : don't use a 'while loop. 2) when your app is not active ... it can still get messages by using a GlobalKeyBoardHook it defines, and registers, that intercepts some keyboard combination of keys. warning: you override some other app's keyboard hooks, and you are in trouble. I believe what you probably need to use is the SystemTray app model, and CP has several articles that will show you how to use that: [^] However, if what you want is some kind of stealth monitoring app: you won't get help with that here. «The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch