Can't instantiate Excel with CreateObject("Excel.Application"), Google CalendarSync can't talk to Outlook, and the volume is reset to zero every time I restart my machine

I've been addressing several separate issues on my machine and I have a hunch that they are COM-related or perhaps due to a corrupted registry.  It is however beyond my present powers to figure out exactly what's going on.

These separate issues all point the same way

1. In VBA, if I try to instantiate Excel using OLE with CreateObject("Excel.Application") I get an error message:
Run-time error '462': The remote server machine does not exist or is unavailable.

Note: I am trying to instantiate Excel on my local machine.  Not a remote server.

2. In C#, I have code to instantiate Excel using the Primary Interop Assemblies:
    myExcel = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application();

and I get a more verbose error:

Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 800706ba.

3. I found this possible fix: http://blog.crowe.co.nz/archive/2006/03/02/589.aspx  When trying to launch Component Services however, as soon as I click on the Computers node under Component Services, the window simply vanishes from screen with no on-screen error message, leaving this in the Application event log:

Application image dump failed.
Server Application ID: {01885945-612C-4A53-A479-E97507453926}
Server Application Instance ID:
{2AE03C7E-7656-42BD-846A-89DDD65E51F4}
Server Application Name: COM+ Explorer
Error Code = 0x80004005 : Unspecified error
COM+ Services Internals Information:
File: d:\qxp_slp\com\com1x\src\shared\util\svcerr.cpp, Line: 1259
Comsvcs.dll file version: ENU 2001.12.4414.308 shp


4. Google CalendarSync worked fine for weeks then all of a sudden stopped being able to talk to Outlook.  I found this fix http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Calendar-Help/web/google-calendar-sync---faq?version=34&pli=1 which worked for a day or two, and then the problem reappeared.

5. Whenever I restart my machine, the volume gets reset to zero.

6. The Windows Installer service is set to start automatically, but never starts up.  I have to start it manually, but even so after a while it switches off.  This causes Windows Automatic Updates to fail.

I've tried running various Registry cleaners (Registry Medic, Norton, ASO) and whilst they all find plenty of things that need sorting out, the above issues persist.

I've also been through this and all seems in order:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828550

Short of rebuilding my machine, which I really don't want to do, I'm at a loss.  I'm nervous that uninstalling Office and then reinstalling is addressing the wrong topic.

Note: I am trying to instantiate Excel from a Windows application I'm writing in C# in order to generate reports.  The application and Excel are both on the same machine.

Any advice would be warmly received.Start Free Trial