>Unless the created instance of the COM Server will stick around - reading the registry is the way to go!! CreateObject will work, but it is slow - especially since the the object instance gets destroyed anyway.
>


I'm not sure I understand. CREATEOBJECT is slow, but only if it succeeds. If you attempt to instanciate a server type that doesn't exist, CREATEOBJECT is fairly fast in returning an error.

>BTW, have you checked out the Windows Scripting Host yet for reading the registry???
>

No, I have a registry class that I have been using for a long time now, and haven't had a reason to look elsewhere. What is special about wsh?