What am I missing here?   If the Excel file is “read only,” then naturally Windows will not allow it to be replaced.   It will insist that the file must be saved under a different name.   And, yes, it just might “pop up a user prompt” in that case.   Your program, therefore (and regardless of language) must detect that the file is read-only ... OLE will tell you ... and “save as” in that case, thereby avoiding any prompt.