I'm trying to run a VBScript script that uses a 7-year-old 3rd-party 32-bit COM component on Windows Server 2008 R2, with the command-line 32-bit script host, SysWOW64\cscript.exe. When I call CreateObject on the class, it appears to be successful, but the very first time I try to use a property or method (I've tried several different ones) on the object, it gives me the "catastrophic failure". I have identical results with SysWOW64\wscript.exe, except, of course, that my error message comes in a msgbox instead of the command-line window.

I think this has to do specifically with the 64-bit scripting hosts because of the following:

1. The equivalent Classic ASP script, calling the same component and using 95% of the same code, works correctly on the same server, with IIS configured to support 32-bit COM.
2. The same VBScript works correctly on a 32-bit Windows XP machine and a 32-bit Windows Server 2003 machine.
3. The component fails in exactly the same way on my 64-bit Windows 7 machine.

My Google searches for solutions to this problem have mostly turned up a lot of different problems that were solved by putting the COM component into a toolbar in Visual Studio. Obviously, that solution doesn't apply here.

My questions are:

1. Is there a core problem that is always behind a "catastrophic failure" from a Windows scripting host calling a COM component?
2. Is there a place in a configuration snap-in, or in the registry, where I need to make a change similar to the change I had to make to the IIS Application pool to "Enable 32-bit Applications"?
3. Is there a general place in the Server 2008 R2 Event Viewer that I should be looking, to see if there are any more details on the failure, in case it turns out to be specific to this component?

Thanks in advance.