Windows '97 file locked in XP

F

Frank

I have a friend who's exiting files can only be loaded up
as a copy. It reports that the file is being locked by her
already. The folders are not read-only and hers is the
only account on that computer in XP. This happens on every
existing file, including ones that are newly created and
closed without incident. Is there an overriding
incompatibility between Word '97 and XP Home Edition, or is
there something else going on? Thanks for any help on this.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

See these articles:

I keep getting files that I am working on locked for editing. Word only
allows me to open them read-only
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm

Cannot open or delete a document (claims to be "in use by another user" when
it isn't)
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/DocInUse.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
G

Guest

I saw these resolutions earlier and I'm not sure that
they apply because it is a pervasive problem. It seems
that every file that is created using Word is giving the
same result when trying to edit the document. If I
create a new document, save it and then re-open it, it
will only bring in a copy of it because it sees it as
being locked. This happens even when Word closes cleanly
(which it does much of the time). Could there be some
sort of compatibility issue going on between Word 97 and
XP? Is there some setting in either XP or Word (or both,
even) that is making Word think that the file is being
locked by another user?

I apologize for the errors made in my previous post. I
was in a hurry ("exiting" should have been "existing" and
of course "Windows "97" should have been "Word 97").

Thank you for your help.
 
G

Guest

I saw these resolutions earlier and I'm not sure that
they apply because it is a pervasive problem. It seems
that every file that is created using Word is giving the
same result when trying to edit the document. If I
create a new document, save it and then re-open it, it
will only bring in a copy of it because it sees it as
being locked. This happens even when Word closes cleanly
(which it does much of the time). Could there be some
sort of compatibility issue going on between Word 97 and
XP? Is there some setting in either XP or Word (or both,
even) that is making Word think that the file is being
locked by another user?

I apologize for the errors made in my previous post. I
was in a hurry ("exiting" should have been "existing" and
of course "Windows "97" should have been "Word 97").

Thank you for your help.
 
T

TF

Are you sure that the user has got full permissions including delete for the
folders? Have they checked to see if there abandoned temp file locking the
documents?

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://www.mvps.org/word/

I saw these resolutions earlier and I'm not sure that
they apply because it is a pervasive problem. It seems
that every file that is created using Word is giving the
same result when trying to edit the document. If I
create a new document, save it and then re-open it, it
will only bring in a copy of it because it sees it as
being locked. This happens even when Word closes cleanly
(which it does much of the time). Could there be some
sort of compatibility issue going on between Word 97 and
XP? Is there some setting in either XP or Word (or both,
even) that is making Word think that the file is being
locked by another user?

I apologize for the errors made in my previous post. I
was in a hurry ("exiting" should have been "existing" and
of course "Windows "97" should have been "Word 97").

Thank you for your help.
 
F

Frank

Yes. I checked for *.tmp and found no Word temp files
out there at all (w*.tmp, for example). She is the only
user on the system and from what I could see, she has
administrator rights. The directories are not read-only,
so that can be eliminated as a possible source of the
problem as well. She doesn't have this problem with
WordPerfect (that came with the machine). Nor does she
seem to have this problem with anything else that I've
seen. It is particular to Word '97.

My thinking right now is to re-load XP (I'm loathe to do
that) because she's talking about pitching the machine
altogether anyway. I don't know what she or someone else
may have done prior to my arrival, so there may be some
bad setup buried deep within. I don't know. Any other
suggestions? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank Aronson
[email protected]
 
T

TF

Frank

Try starting Word in Safe Mode by typing into the Start, Run dialog

winword /a

and press OK. Test Word like this and see if it is creating and then
deleting its temp files.

Terry

Yes. I checked for *.tmp and found no Word temp files
out there at all (w*.tmp, for example). She is the only
user on the system and from what I could see, she has
administrator rights. The directories are not read-only,
so that can be eliminated as a possible source of the
problem as well. She doesn't have this problem with
WordPerfect (that came with the machine). Nor does she
seem to have this problem with anything else that I've
seen. It is particular to Word '97.

My thinking right now is to re-load XP (I'm loathe to do
that) because she's talking about pitching the machine
altogether anyway. I don't know what she or someone else
may have done prior to my arrival, so there may be some
bad setup buried deep within. I don't know. Any other
suggestions? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank Aronson
[email protected]
 
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