Get "Cannot create ActiveX Component" trying to use scripting from VB.Net

In the past, I wrote an application under WinXp using VB2005 to call the GUI scripting functions from VB.NET. This worked fine for many years.

I now need to update it and am running Win7 x64 using VB2010. The GUI installation is 7.20. When I try to run the code, the call

      SapGuiAuto = GetObject("SAPGUI")

fails with an error "Cannot create ActiveX component."

The GUI is running and I am generating x86 code (not x64). Scripting works fine when run from a VBScript file.

What am I missing or doing wrong?

Thanks

Derek.