>oleexcel = CREATEOBJECT("Excel.application") >oleexcel1 = CREATEOBJECT("Excel.application") >oleexcel2 = CREATEOBJECT("Excel.application") >oleexcel3 = CREATEOBJECT("Excel.application") >release ; > oleexcel, ; > oleexcel1, ; > oleexcel2, ; > oleexcel3 >They hang around fro me if you actually DO anything with them. Just creating and releasing they do go away. XP/SP1 and Excel2K2.