When not using the COM interface, specify a value of 'POI' for parameter REQINTF when accessing OOXML files in xlsread, xlswrite, xlsopen, xlsfinfo (and be sure the complete Apache POI interface is installed). If you haven't got ActiveX installed (i.e., not having MS-Excel under Windows) specifying 'POI' may not be needed as in such cases Apache POI is the next default interface.