With more Visual Basic Classic COM classes being utilized in VB.NET programs I am getting more questions like: “What happens to my COM object after I use it?” and “Does the garbage collector destroy my COM object for me?”.
In fact, it is up to you the COM user to ensure the COM object is destroyed when your program has finished using it.
.NET provides the System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject method for this purpose.
Read about the ReleaseComObject method.