This approach allows the Shell to work on various plateform. It is known that Shell32.dll is not the same between Windows 7/Vista and XP/2003. By using this approach, we assure that our application will work as is no matter the plateform.

            Dim loShellAppType As Type = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("Shell.Application")
            Dim loShell As Object = Activator.CreateInstance(loShellAppType)