>I am trying to write an application that will allow users to have access to the bottom task bar only at certain times. Is there an API call or other method to do this?

If you only want to hide it you can do:

_screen.alwaysontop = .T.

And then just cover it up with the VFP screen. Of course, they'll still be able to access the toolbar via tha Ctrl+Esc shortcut.