title: How to force process isolation for an out of process COM server?
body: <p>I'm writing managed code that has to interact with a vendor's COM automation server that runs out of process.  I have found that this server becomes unstable if more than one client connects to it.  For example, if I have managed code in process A and managed code in process B both connecting to this COM server, a single process will be spun up for the COM server and  it's behavior is less than reliable.  <strong>I'm hoping there's a way to force a separate process for each client - server connection</strong>.  Ideally, I'd like to end up with:</p>
  
  <p>Managed Process A talking to COM Server in process <b>C1</b><br/>
  Managed Process B talking to COM Server in process <b>C2</b></p>
  
  <p>One thought that came to mind was that if I ran process A and process B with different security identities, that that might cause the COM infrastructure to create separate server processes.  I'd rather not go down that road, however.  Managed Process A and Managed Process B are actually Windows Services.  And I'm running them with identity Local System (because I need them to be able to interact with the desktop, and you can't check the "Interact with Desktop" box on the services applet for services that don't run as Local System).  And the reason I need to interact with desktop is that this COM server occasionally throws up a dialog box on the screen and if the service itself cannot interact with the desktop then the COM server is spawns can't display the dialog (I believe it is displayed on a hidden WinStation).</p>