>> ** how do i convert CComBstr to char **
I don't have a crystal ball either - so I only answered the quested asked by the OP (under the condition that it's an ASCII value less than 0x1F).

They didn't ask how to convert to a TCHAR, TCHAR[], or CHAR[] - but now this thread contains solutions to all of those

>> Looks like the msdn link I gave was incorrect.
No, its correct.

gg