You could run stuff asynchronously using a hidden window. Basically you could use the full win32 API and use VB procedures as callbacks (e.g. as window procedures for your own window subclass). The book “Hardcore Visual Basic” explained how to do it: https://classicvb.net/hardweb/hardbook.htm

You’d just pepper Doevents() everywhere and it almost seemed multithreaded.

Since win32 requires customizing the main event loop to handle e.g. non-modal dialogs, doesn't running nested event loops all over the place (which diverts the messages away from the custom main loop) break things like that?

I have forgotten that trick. Good ol' times. :)

I did, but many operations would still lock. Database operations in particular.

But yeah DoEvents ftw.