>I am opening the form from within a module, and a me.something cannot be used within a module.

OK, then why can't you just use this:

Dim MyVariable As String
If frmStartup.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
   MyVariable = frmStartup.FormVariable
End If

and then pass it to your frmMain like this:

Dim oMainForm As New frmMain(MyVariable)
oMainForm.Show()

or am I missing something?

~~Bonnie