using_win_thread.cpp

DWORD WINAPI DoThing( LPVOID );

DWORD ThreadID; // why?
auto threadHandle = CreateThread(
             NULL,       // default security attributes
             0,          // default stack size
             (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE) DoThing, 
             NULL,       // no thread function arguments
             0,          // default creation flags
             &ThreadID); // receive thread identifier

if( threadHandle == NULL ) // NULL is advisable here since HANDLE _could_ be just an int
{
  auto err = GetLastError();
  std::cout<<"CreateThread error: "<<err<<'\n';
  // quit here, presumabily
}