Hi Andrew,

What I do to use/instantiate an existing/new copy of MS Word is:

 If IsAppRunning         ( "OpusApp")            &&  Checks if MS-Word already running
    oWord = GetObject    (,"Word.Application")   &&  Conects to the running instance
 else
    oWord = CreateObject ( "Word.Application")   &&  Fires a new instance 
 endif

Below is the code for IsAppRunning ():

 Function IsAppRunning     
*-------- ------------
 LParameters pAppClassName

 Private cClassName, cNullPointer, nRetCode

 nRetCode      = 0
 cNullPointer  = .Null.
 cAppClassName = pAppClassName

 Declare Integer FindWindow In Win32API As CheckForWindow ;
         String  @cAppClassName, ;
         String  @nNullPointer

 nRetCode = CheckForWindow (@cAppClassName, @cNullPointer)

 Release cClassName, cNullPointer

 Return IIf (nRetCode = 0, .F., .T.)

 EndFunc     

*============================================================================

Hope it helps,

Fernando