answers??

Hi

I might be able to answer some of your questions.

Will asp.net allow me to run a long routine without locking the browser?

Yes !!! - you can create a mutlitrheded funtion or you can use a delegate with Asyncronous setting, but Unfortuanly I have not done, except briefly in a class.

Can you shell an exe without going through a CGI?

This one I do not know

Can you access winapi functions through asp.net?

I think you can but they may be a lttitle differnt sysntax than before, I think there are some .net classes that incorporate winapi - but I have not used them

yes you can use win api directly in asp .net.. No need to create a dll to wrap the api.