from http://www.vbcity.com/forums/faq.asp?fid=9&cat=Shell 
 
 
Public Declare Function ShellExecute _  
    Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" ( _  
    ByVal hwnd As Long, _  
    ByVal lpOperation As String, _  
    ByVal lpFile As String, _  
    ByVal lpParameters As String, _  
    ByVal lpDirectory As String, _  
    ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long 
 
ShellExecute hwnd, "open", "C:\Netlog.txt", vbNullString, "C:\", 1  
  ' Obviously, the file must exist at that location for this to work.  
 
ShellExecute hwnd, "open", "C:\windows\script.doc", vbNullString, "C:\", 3  
' (You can type the above all on one line of code - minus the underscore) 
 
ShellExecute hwnd, "open", "C:\acrobat3\reader\acrobat.pdf", vbNullString, "C:\", 1  
' (You can type the above all on one line of code - minus the underscore) 
 
 
Shell ("c:\windows\calc.exe")  
 
Shell ("c:\iridium.exe") '  
* Obviously, assuming you have such a file on your C Drive.  
 
Shell ("c:\RunMe.com")  
'* As above  
    
Shell ("c:\windows\help\pingnum.bat")  
 
Dim RetVal as Double  
 
' To run a file in Normal WindowState, use 1 or vbNormalFocus  
RetVal = Shell("c:\windows\notepad.exe", 1)  
'or  
RetVal = Shell("c:\MyApp.exe", vbNormalFocus)  
 
' To open minimized, use 6 or vbMinimizedFocus  
RetVal = Shell("c:\windows\help\pingnum.bat", vbMinimizedFocus)  
 
' And, for Maximized, use 3 or vbMaximizedFocus  
RetVal = Shell("C:\Windows\PBrush.exe", 3) 
 
 
 
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