You don't have much control over FREAD() function. You may look into using WIndows API directly. Check http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ipc/base/named_pipe_operations.asp and http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ipc/base/named_pipe_type_read_and_wait_modes.asp.

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>I'm making a mechanism for reading/writing to a named pipe using low level function FOPEN, FWRITE and FREAD. It worked fine, but FREAD function makes the program to freeze when nothing comes from the named pipe. I could do nothing to stop the reading process. The system gets crashed or I have to force something to be sent. Do you know how can I set a timeout or interrupt the FREAD process?