>Now this "process", I am hopeful, can be a "COM server", set up as a Win2000 "service". This "process" ("service") would be expected to run continually without intervention.

Another possiblity (my favorite kind, low-tech) would be to run a VFP EXE that has a timer and just leave that running. You could remove the window from teh taskbar and put it in teh system tray if you wanted.