>>Hi all -
>>
>>I would like to be able to tell--within a VFP 6.0/7.0 application--whether MS Outlook is also running on the user's workstation. If Outlook is NOT running, I would like to start it.
>>
>>What is the best way to accomplish this?
>>
>
>Unlike the other Office applications, when you issue CreateObject("Outlook.Application"), it attaches to a running instance, if there is one, and starts a new one otherwise.

Use GetObject(,"Outlook.Application") instead. You do need to trap for an error because one will be generated if an instance does not exist.