i'll start with one i converted to vb from a C code i was looking at:

it will shell explorer's Find Files dialog:

Declare Function SHFindFiles Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "#90" (ByVal pidlRoot As Long, ByVal pidlSavedSearch As String) As Long

to use it, SHFindFiles VbNull, VbNull

what api's can you share?