Help referencing a file at desired intervals

[saldelmundo]

Ok, here's what I have so far. The notation on line 2 explains what I'm trying to do.

Public Class Form1
    Dim RunningTime As Integer = My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText("C:\data.dat") 'need if/then to start countdown if value in data.dat is numeric, pause timer if value is PAUSE, and resume timer if value is RESUME. Right now it assumes the value is numeric and starts the countdown. The app should page the file for new data every 100ms.

    Private alarmTime As Date

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.alarmTime = Date.Now.AddSeconds(RunningTime)
        Me.Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        If alarmTime < Date.Now Then
            Me.Timer1.Stop()
            Me.Close()
        Else
            Dim remainingTime As TimeSpan = Me.alarmTime.Subtract(Date.Now)

            Me.TextBox1.Text = String.Format("{0:d2}:{1:d2}:{2:d2}:{3:d3}", _
                                           remainingTime.Hours, _
                                           remainingTime.Minutes, _
                                           remainingTime.Seconds, _
                                           remainingTime.Milliseconds)
        End If
    End Sub


    Private Sub TextBox1_TextChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.TextChanged

    End Sub
End Class

Thanks in advance.