One thing about your code. You're reusing frmForm for both forms? You're not Dim'ing the 2nd form?

yag

>Hello YAG, I appreciate you trying to duplicate the problem. I took out the two forms that run in the background. They actually run on the same thread. Here is the code to instantiate them.
>
>dim frmForm as Form
>frmForm = New frmNotifyNewPickUp()
>frmForm.MdiParent = Me
>frmForm.Show()
>frmForm = New frmCourierReceivedMessage()
>frmForm.MdiParent = Me
>frmForm.Show()
>
>I really don't see how the two forms would effect the program since the users are just minimizing them the first time they pop up. Once they are minimized they do not query the database. I changed the timer to 1 minute instead of 15 seconds two days ago. The program still had problems of not responding and in some instances lost functionality of the TAB key. Also one thing I noticed was that when the program is not responding the CPU usage is 100%. I can also see where the memory jumped to 100%, but it dropped back down to normal immediately. I will let you know if removing the two background forms has any effect on the performance. Thanks again for the help! It makes me feel much better knowing I am not alone in trying to handle this problem.