When i try to set the colorkey to a value than zero it seems like it is just ignored, or i am not just inputing the information to it in the right way.

I am running in 16 bit color mode and using 24 bit bmp files.

I tried to do it this way to ignore white.

color_key.dwColorSpaceLowValue = RGB(255,255,255);
color_key.dwColorSpaceHighValue= RGB(255,255,255);

also tried using

color_key.dwColorSpaceLowValue = RGB(0,0,0);
color_key.dwColorSpaceHighValue=RGB(255,255,255);

but the white is still there. So how would i go about to give the right instructions to colorkey on the color to ignore?

DirectDraw color keys use the native pixel format of the surfaces on which they are used, and you are trying to use a 24 bit COLORREF value to set transparency.

If you are using white, you simply grab the pixel format of the surface, use | to combine the red, green, and blue mask, and set the colorkey from there.