Visual Basic 6.0 ShellAndWait - How do I still keep the user interface active ?

Hi  Experts,
I have a program where I use the a ShellanWait function to run a few external programs. However, when I call the external program the main Windows looks frozen (I know it's not frozen but that 's how the users of the program will see that)

I want to leave the main Window active so I can show the users something like a "Please Wait" bar.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The following is my syntax,




Public Sub ShellAndWait(ByVal program_name As String, _
    ByVal window_style As VbAppWinStyle)
    On Error Resume Next
Dim process_id As Long
Dim process_handle As Long  
   
    process_id = Shell(program_name & " " & "/s", window_style)    

 
    process_handle = OpenProcess(SYNCHRONIZE, 0, process_id)
    If process_handle <> 0 Then
        WaitForSingleObject process_handle, INFINITE
        CloseHandle process_handle
    End If

End Sub