>Can someone tell me how to turn off the initial screen which flashes when a VFP exe file is run independently of VFP

Create a CONFIG.FPW containing SCREEN=OFF, which will disable the display of the initial VFP screen; you can adjust the settings of _SCREEN to match what you want before displaying it by setting _SCREEN.Visible = .T., or just use Top Level Forms for your app, and avoid the default FoxPro window entirely.