c++ - Avoiding "(Not Responding)" label in windows while processing lots of data in one lump

Question

I occasionally need to process a large amount of data from one package off the network, which takes sufficiently long that when the user tries to interact with the application windows adds the "(Not Responding)" string to the window title. I am aware this is because the processing is being done within a call to handle a message (some way up the stack) and therefore is blocking the message pump. I'm also aware the ideal way to deal with this is to process the data asynchronously in a separate thread so the pump can continue running, however this is a LARGE desktop application which is single threaded from top to toe and safely spinning this processing off is not feasible in our time frame.

So with that in mind, is there by any chance a way I can at least avoid the "not responding" moniker (which to most users reads as "has crashed") by telling windows my application is about to be busy before I begin the work? I believe there is something along these lines when responding to a request to close, one can keep asking windows for more time to avoid it proclaiming that your not "closing in a timely fashion"

I should add this is a C++ MFC application.

Answer 1

I don't think the Windows API can help you here.

Alternatively, how about showing a dialog box with a progress bar and make it run in a separate thread?

A text like "This operation may take half an hour" on the dialog box may be appropriate too.