How do you remove comments from XML?

I'm writing a vb or vbscript program that uses the DOM to remove nodes in an
XML file. 
I need to remove all the data between the two comment lines (see below),
<!-- Start xxxx.Net --> and <!-- End xxxx.Net -->
but the program errors when it hits the comment syntax. <! -->. 
I'm able to use "getElementsByTagName" or "selectNodes" for other nodes
(like <appsettings> below) , but not for comments.
It doesn't recognize the node even if I Dim it as IXMLDOMComment.

Can anyone help me with this?

example XML file 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
	<appSettings>
       <!-- Start xxxx.Net -->
            <!-- ServerType, PartnerAPI = 2, CorbisInternal = 1 -->
            <add key="ServerType" value="1"/>
            <!-- Framework -->
            <add key="xxxxOne.Validations.ValidationConstructString"
value="CONNECTIONSTRING=data"/>

	 <!-- End xxxx.Net -->
	</appSettings>


Dominica DeGrandis
206.373.6225 DH  m,t,th,f
425.844.8477 HM  w