You could try unregistering, then re-registering Excel as a COM server:

* In a CMD window (may need to be elevated i.e. run as administrator):
regsvr32 /u [path_to_file]\excel.exe
regsvr32 [path_to_file]\excel.exe

>Office Excel.2007 won't automate unless it has run once.
>
>m.loExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
>Error Ole error code 0x80080005: Server execution failed.
>With (m.loExcel)
>
> * do neat excel stuff here
>
>Endwith && excel
>
>if i launch excel, then close it all is well.
>
>can anyone shed light on this.