...but I am finding better ways to program those same functions.
>

Scott,

You may find this interesting. Check out the Windows Scripting Host (WSH) series by George & Ed at www.vfug.org. The series starts in the September, 2000 newsletter.

Here is a full link (which may not work):
http://www.vfug.org/Newsletters/Newsletters2.Afp?!_0FH1APA47Date=09/01/2000

Basically, you can create scripts to do all sorts of things (sorta like batch files on steroids), and call them from within VFP.