Execute a php page and don't wait for it to finish

Hi List, I have a php page that updates data from one database to another when it is run. My query is, how can I trigger the execution of this update page from another php / javascript without the calling page having to wait for the update page to finish? Basically, I think the update page needs to use: ignore_user_abort(1); set_time_limit(0); // I don't think the script will take more than 1 min. At the other end I found this: 1) http://www.mindraven.com/blog/php/run-a-php-script-in-the-background-using-ajax/ 2) On that page a user suggested using *pclose(popen(‘/usr/bin/php /path/to/something.php > /dev/null &’, ‘r’)* * *However, I need this to be usable on windows servers also. 3) Finally, would pcntl_exec, pcntl_fork, exec or something be useful for me? Which of the above 3 options is the better one? Other suggestions are welcome :) Thanks and Regards, Ferdi