I am creating an application that will create a notify window similar to
outlook 2003 notify popup. I am making an asyncronous remoting call using
system.thread that raises an event to show the form. However, the form shows
up as a black box and then immediately disappears when the event is called.
If I call the function through a menu item or button, it works fine. Here's
the popup code:

   Private Sub ATU_RetrieveDone(ByVal e As
AsyncUpdater.AsyncUpdaterEventArgs) Handles ATU.RetrieveDone
       Me.UpdateTimer.Enabled = False
       If e.Forums Is Nothing Then
           UpdateTopicListView(e.Results)
       Else
           UpdateForumListView(e.Forums)
       End If
       Me.UpdateTimer.Enabled = True
   End Sub

   Private Sub UpdateTopicListView(ByVal Topics As ResultsCollection)
       For index As Integer = 0 To Topics.Count - 1
           Dim LI As New ListViewItem
           ... Create LI Item ...
           Dim NewB As New Button
           If Not TopicInList(Topics.Item(index).TopicID) Then
               lvNewTopics.Items.Add(LI)
           End If
       Next
       Dim Message As String
       Message = "{0} new topic updates have been retrieved from {1}"
       Me.ShowPopup(String.Format(Message, Topics.Count,
ClientSettings.WebURL))
   End Sub

   Private Sub ShowPopup(ByVal Message As String, Optional ByVal TimeOut As
Integer = 0)
       Dim displaytime As Integer
       If TimeOut < 1000 Then
           displaytime = ClientSettings.PopupTime * 1000
       Else
           displaytime = TimeOut
       End If
       PSound.Beep()

       Dim PW As New PopupWindow
       PW.SetProperties(NewMessagePopup.Blend, Message, displaytime)
       PW.ShowPopup()
   End Sub

And here's routine that creates the popup in a seperate windows form.

   Public Sub ShowPopup()
       Dim tbl As TaskBarLocation
       Dim workingArea As Rectangle
       Dim pt As Point

       pt = New Point
       pt.X = 0 : pt.Y = 0

       workingArea = SystemInformation.WorkingArea
       tbl = GetTaskBarLocation()

       Select Case tbl
           Case TaskBarLocation.Bottom
               pt.X = workingArea.Right - Me.Width
               pt.Y = workingArea.Bottom - Me.Height
           Case TaskBarLocation.Left
               pt.X = workingArea.Left
               pt.Y = workingArea.Bottom - Me.Height
           Case TaskBarLocation.Right
               pt.X = workingArea.Right - Me.Width
               pt.Y = workingArea.Bottom - Me.Height
           Case TaskBarLocation.Top
               pt.X = workingArea.Right - Me.Width
               pt.Y = workingArea.Top
       End Select

       Me.Visible = False
       Me.Show()
       Me.Focus()
       Me.Top = pt.Y
       Me.Left = pt.X
       Me.Visible = True
       tmrStartFade.Enabled = True
   End Sub

I've done some more research and it appears the problem is caused using
timers. I've used both System.Timers.Timer and System.Windows.Forms.Timer and
both give the same result, a black box that appears and then disappears. If I
call the ShowPopup subroutine by clicking a button, it displays correctly. If
the timer causes the form to be displayed, I get the black box.

Here's the logic steps used:
1) Timer.Tick event occurs
2) Tick Handler creates a new AsyncUpdater and invokes the GetUpdate method
3) GetUpdate creates a new thread and begins the remoting call
4) Once GetUpdate has completed the remoting call, the event RetrieveDone is
raised.
5) The main form handles the event causing a list view to update it's list
of items.
6) The ShowPopup method is called to display the popup.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I can't understand why the
manual invoking (pressing a button) works but the event handler doesn't.