Hi Bill,

in a vb.net-program I use the following code to see, if a program is already started and then activate it instead of starting a new instance, may it can help you.

Best regards

Thomas

            Dim nProcessID As Integer = 0
            Dim tempprocess As Process
            tempprocess = checkInstance()
            If Not tempprocess Is Nothing Then
                nProcessID = tempprocess.Id
                AppActivate(nProcessID)

                'MsgBox("Läuft schon")    ' means "Already running"
                End
            End If
        Else
            Dim cText As String = My.Computer.Clipboard.GetText
            oData = getclipclassic(cText)
            ' MsgBox(oData.Count)
        End If
...................
   Public Function checkInstance() As Process
        Dim cProcess As Process = process.GetCurrentProcess()
        Dim aProcesses() As Process = process.GetProcessesByName(cProcess.ProcessName)
        'loop through all the processes that are currently running on the 
        'system that have the same name
        For Each process As Process In aProcesses
            'Ignore the currently running process 
            If process.Id <> cProcess.Id Then
                'Check if the process is running using the same EXE as this one
                If Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location = cProcess.MainModule.FileName Then
                    'if so return to the calling function with the instance of the process
                    Return process
                End If
            End If
        Next



        'if nothing was found then this is the only instance, so return null
        Return Nothing
    End Function

    Public Function getCombookProcessId() As Integer
        Dim cComBook As String = "ComBook"
        Dim cPName As String = ""
        Dim nRet As Integer = 0
        Dim aP() As Process = Process.GetProcesses
        For Each Process As Process In aP
            cPName = Process.MainWindowTitle.ToUpper
            If cPName.IndexOf("COMBOOK") > -1 Then
                nRet = Process.Id
            End If
        Next
        Return nRet
    End Function