excel not being released by vb.net
 

hi,

i am having a strange problem when opening excel from vb.net.

the procedure tries to use an existing (running) excel app if there is one
and creates a new instance if that fails. i then create a workbook, save it
and release the reference to the application (without closing excel).

the strange part is as follows: if i look at the task manager on the pc
then there is just one instance of excel running - which is what i would
expect - and i can see it as it is visible. if i close excel though (by
clicking on file and exit within excel) then the running instance of excel
remains in the task manager - which is not what i would expect.

the problem now is that if i try to open a workbook by double clicking on it
in windows explorer then it tries to open in the (now) invisible instance of
excel and not opening a new one.

any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks.

michael