Error 429: ActiveX component can't create object

[GerryM]

I apologize in advance if this is considered cross- or multi-posting. I
posted essentially the same question a couple of days ago to the
Word.Application.Errors and Excel.Programming groups but since I got no
takers I concluded those were the wrong groups to ask.

I'm trying to test the program in MS Knowledge Base article KB285176, "How
to Automate Word to Perform a Client-Side Merge using XML from SQL Server".
The vbScript subroutine ButtonClick() in KB285176 starts with
Dim oApp
Dim oDoc
Dim oMergedDoc
Set oApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")

The "Set" statement causes Error 429: ActiveX component can't create object.
The same error occurs using CreateObject("Excel.Sheet") instead of
CreateObject("Word.Application").

(If this were VB, I would add a reference to the appropriate Object Library
to the VB Project, but this is vbScript.)

I'm running Windows XP Prof.(SP2), Office 2003 (SP1), VB6.0 (SP6), Works
Suite 2003, and have WindowsScript 5.6 installed. I have checked the
Word.Application key in the registry and the Normal.dot template.

What am I missing, and how can I fix it?