ShowWithoutActivation mysteriously not working

Question

Have used this in other forms/apps without any difficulties. However, in this single form application, it doesn't appear to be working:

Imports System.IO

Public Class CPWBBackground
Dim _selectedScreenNo As Integer
Dim _screenWidth As Integer = 400
Dim _screenHeight As Integer = 300
Dim _CPWIni As New Dictionary(Of String, String)
Dim clArgs() As String = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()

Protected Overloads Overrides ReadOnly Property ShowWithoutActivation() As Boolean
    Get
        Return True
    End Get
End Property

Private Sub FromActivate() Handles Me.Activated
    MsgBox("blurp")
End Sub

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

    'exe [1] [2] / [3] [4]
    ' 1: ScreenNumber
    ' 2: ImgFile
    ' 3: Screen Width
    ' 4: Screen Height
    '  Me.Opacity = 0

    'TestFileExists
    If Not File.Exists(clArgs(2)) Then
        Debug.WriteLine("File doesn't exist. Closing..")
        Application.Exit()
    End If

    _selectedScreenNo = clArgs(1)

    'Set vars
    Try
        _screenWidth = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Width
        _screenHeight = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Height
        'Me.FormBorderStyle = Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.None
        Me.Location = New Point(0, 0)
        If clArgs.Count > 3 Then
            If clArgs.Count < 5 Then
                'MsgBox("There should be either 2 or 4 arguments - only 3 - please check your command line.")
                Debug.WriteLine("Not enough args. Closing.")
                Application.Exit()
            Else
                _screenWidth = clArgs(3)
                _screenHeight = clArgs(4)
            End If
        End If
        Me.Size = New Size(_screenWidth, _screenHeight)
        Me.ShowInTaskbar = False

        PictureBox1.Size = New Size(_screenWidth, _screenHeight)
        Me.Location = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Location + New Point(0, 0)
        Dim fs As FileStream
        Dim FreedImage As Image
        fs = New FileStream(clArgs(2), FileMode.Open)
        FreedImage = Image.FromStream(fs)
        fs.Close()
        PictureBox1.BackgroundImage = FreedImage
        PictureBox1.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Stretch
    Catch ex As Exception
        Application.Exit()
    End Try

End Sub

Private Sub CPWBBackground_FormClosing(sender As Object, e As FormClosingEventArgs) Handles Me.FormClosing
    NotifyIcon1.Dispose()
End Sub

Private Sub CloseToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles CloseToolStripMenuItem.Click
    Me.Close()
End Sub

End Class

I get "blurp" every time. 'Topmost' property in form desiginer is false. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Well, that was random. The solution was to add me.hide to the top of the me.load event.

Final working code (with some other bits tidied up):

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

    Me.Hide()

    'exe [1] [2] / [3] [4]
    ' 1: ScreenNumber
    ' 2: ImgFile
    ' 3: Screen Width
    ' 4: Screen Height

    If Not File.Exists(clArgs(2)) Then
        Debug.WriteLine("File doesn't exist. Closing..")
        Application.Exit()
    End If

    _selectedScreenNo = clArgs(1)

    _screenWidth = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Width
    _screenHeight = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Height
    Me.Location = Screen.AllScreens(_selectedScreenNo).Bounds.Location + New Point(0, 0)
    If clArgs.Count > 3 Then
        If clArgs.Count < 5 Then
            Debug.WriteLine("Not enough args. Closing.")
            Application.Exit()
        Else
            _screenWidth = clArgs(3)
            _screenHeight = clArgs(4)
        End If
    End If
    Me.Size = New Size(_screenWidth, _screenHeight)

    Dim fs As FileStream
    Dim FreedImage As Image
    fs = New FileStream(clArgs(2), FileMode.Open)
    FreedImage = Image.FromStream(fs)
    fs.Close()

    Me.BackgroundImage = FreedImage
    Me.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Stretch

End Sub