Excel Macro Hangs in ASP

I have a problem that i have been unable to resolve for some time now. I have tried searching on google and MSDN for
a specific solution, but haven't found any. Essentially, I'm trying to get VBScript code in a web page to open an Excel workbook
on the server and run a macro from the workbook on the server. I was able to make this work when I was using IIS 4.0
and Office 97; however, it still behaved strangely at times and would hang whenever an error occurred in the macro.

Recently, i migrated my server to Windows 2000 Server with IIS 5.0 and Office 2000. Now, when i view the scripted web page,
it will not open any workbooks that contain macros without causing Excel to hang. When i go to task manager to try
to end the Excel process, it says "Access Denied" and will not allow me to terminate it, so i have to reboot every time it hangs.

I have set the macro security on the server to low so that it doesn't bring up the macro alert message.
I have also set the permissions in IIS to allow for scripting and executing files.
The macro code is not to blame for sure, because I don't even call the macro and I get the same problem with an
empty macro module in the workbook. However, if i remove the module from the workbook, the script will execute
just fine without causing Excel to hang.

I have also tried running the same code from a *.vbs file locally on the server,
and it runs correctly. But again, when I try to run the *.vbs file from the web page using the Windows Scripting Host Object
to make the call, it causes wscript.exe to hang and I cannot terminate it. I would rather have the code inside of the asp
web page because i have to do this with several workbooks.

Here is an example of the code in my web page:

dim ExcelApp, ExcelWB, cellcount
set ExcelApp = Server.createobject("Excel.Application")
ExcelApp.visible = true
set ExcelWB = ExcelApp.Workbooks.Open("C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Asp Test SpreadSheet.xls")
cellcount = ExcelWB.Sheets(1).UsedRange.Cells.Count
ExcelWB.Close
ExcelApp.Quit
set ExcelWB = nothing
set ExcelApp = nothing


If "Asp Test SpreadSheet.xls" has an empty macro module in it, it will cause Excel to hang on the server. Task Manager
gives a message "Access Denied" when i try to terminate it. Without any modules, the script works.

Are there any other settings in IIS that I should change or is there something I have to enable before I can get this
to work? Does this problem sound like it is IIS-related or ASP-related?

You will have better luck getting an answer if you only post your question once, in one forum.

I for one will often not answer a crossposted question.

Sorry about that. I really don't know where this question fits as my understanding of IIS, ASP,
and VBscript and how they cooperate is fairly poor. I am really desperate for some help and was unsure
if someone would reply to my question if i posted to the wrong forum. Sorry.

Well, I suspect it's a permissions-related issue. I have never tried to open Excel on a web server, in fact I have no servers with Office installed.