my $ex = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application') ||
    Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', 'Quit');

    if (not defined $ex) {
      die "couldn't get an instance of Excel";
    }

    $ex->{DisplayAlerts}=0;
    $ex->{SheetsInNewWorkbook} = 1;
    $ex->{Visible} = 0 ;

    $Win32::OLE::Warn = 3; # Die on Errors.