Error Message - Can't save Office doc as PDF because "file is in u

[Amznblu]

I am running Office 2007 on a Vista home operating system. I recently
downloaded and installed the 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as
PDF. However, each time I try to save a document (Word, Powerpoint, etc.) as
a PDF, I get the following error message: "This file is in use by another
application or user."

Of course it's in use -- I have it open so that I can try to save it as a
PDF! By some stroke of luck, I was somehow able to save one Powerpoint
document as a PDF; all others result in this error message. I've tried
uninstalling, redownloading and reinstalling the add-in, but the problem
stays the same. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I am running Office 2007 on a Vista home operating system. I recently
downloaded and installed the 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as
PDF. However, each time I try to save a document (Word, Powerpoint, etc.) as
a PDF, I get the following error message: "This file is in use by another
application or user."

Of course it's in use -- I have it open so that I can try to save it as a
PDF! By some stroke of luck, I was somehow able to save one Powerpoint
document as a PDF; all others result in this error message. I've tried
uninstalling, redownloading and reinstalling the add-in, but the problem
stays the same. Does anyone have any ideas?

Usually that means that you're trying to save to a PDF file of the same name as
one that's already open. Check to see that Acrobat or Reader isn't already
running with the file open.

If that doesn't seem to be the case, try shutting down and restarting your
computer.

 

[Amznblu]

Hi Steve, thanks for responding!

Here's the follow-up to your note:

Usually that means that you're trying to save to a PDF file of the same name as
one that's already open. Check to see that Acrobat or Reader isn't already
running with the file open.

This definitely isn't the case. I just now did a test, in which I opened a
new Word doc, typed a few words, then tried saving first as a PDF -- still
get the same error message. I then opened another new doc, saved it as
"Doctors Love Summer School.doc" -- a nonsense file name that I know doesn't
exist anywhere on my computer -- then tried to save it as a PDF. Still the
same error.

If that doesn't seem to be the case, try shutting down and restarting your
computer.

Tried this one also. Twice. Still the same error messages.

What do you think?

Thanks again!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve, thanks for responding!

Here's the follow-up to your note:


This definitely isn't the case. I just now did a test, in which I opened a
new Word doc, typed a few words, then tried saving first as a PDF -- still
get the same error message. I then opened another new doc, saved it as
"Doctors Love Summer School.doc" -- a nonsense file name that I know doesn't
exist anywhere on my computer -- then tried to save it as a PDF. Still the
same error.


Tried this one also. Twice. Still the same error messages.

What do you think?

Hmm. Not sure what to think.

But before you save as PDF, are you saving as a normal Word file?
I don't know that that'd matter, but it might.

Also, have you applied SP2 to Office?

 

[Gordon]

Hmm. Not sure what to think.

But before you save as PDF, are you saving as a normal Word file?
I don't know that that'd matter, but it might.

Also, have you applied SP2 to Office?

Hmmm. Works OK here without first saving as a Word document - I can save as
PDF directly from the unsaved document. (2007 SP2....)

 

[Amznblu]

Hmmm. Works OK here without first saving as a Word document - I can save as
PDF directly from the unsaved document. (2007 SP2....)

Thanks to you both for responding!

I have tried saving both Word and Powerpoint docs as regular files, then
saving them as PDFs; get the same error message each time.

However, I'm not certain if I've applied SP2 to Office or not. (Memory is
not what it should be; mine, not the computer's.) Is there a way I can tell?
Or should I just try downloading it?

 

[Gordon]

However, I'm not certain if I've applied SP2 to Office or not. (Memory is
not what it should be; mine, not the computer's.) Is there a way I can
tell?
Or should I just try downloading it?

Open any Office module and do Help-About

 

[Gordon]

However, I'm not certain if I've applied SP2 to Office or not. (Memory is
not what it should be; mine, not the computer's.) Is there a way I can
tell?
Or should I just try downloading it?

Ignore my last post - 2007 is different!

In Word do office Button-Word Options-Resources and at the bottom under
About Microsoft Word 2007 it will show the SP level...

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hmmm. Works OK here without first saving as a Word document - I can save as
PDF directly from the unsaved document. (2007 SP2....)

Thanks for checking. Same here.

 

[Amznblu]

Hi guys,

I did the check that Gordon suggested and found that my Office suite was
using SP1. I went though the update and downloaded/installed SP2. Restarted
my computer and the Office programs now show SP2. However, I've tried to
create new PDFs in both Word and Powerpoint and continue to get the same
error message, that the file is already open by another user or application.

Hopefully you might have other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks again!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Can you walk us through exactly the steps you take to make a PDF from either PPT or
Word. Literally every step along the way? I don't honestly expect that
anything'll turn up from this, but it's worth a try.

 

[Amznblu]

Sure, no problem. Here are the steps that I've been taking, using a Word doc
as an example:

- Open Word, click the Word "Button" and select New.
- Type my text into the doc, make revisions, etc.
- When finished, I click the Word button and select "Save As."
- On the Save menu I select "XPS or PDF."
- In the "Publish as PDF or XPS" screen, I enter an original file name in
the related box and leave the "Save as type:" menu as "PDF (*.pdf)." Then
select "Publish."
- For a very brief moment the program seems to attempt to start the
publishing process, but then I get the error message "This file is in use by
another application or user."

Alternately, I have also tried opening a Word doc that has been previously
saved with a .docx extension, then using the same above set of "Save As"
steps for "XPS or PDF" -- and get the same error message.

The above steps are the same as what I follow when trying to save a
Powerpoint document as a PDF, still with the same error.

Thanks for your continued help!!


- On the Save menu I select "Word Document."
- When the Save As screen opens, I type in an original file name. The "Save
as type" dropdown shows "Word Document (*.docx) and I leave it at that; I
then click "Save."
-
-

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Just as a test, though I was sure it'd work, I followed your steps here (Word 2007 SP2
under Vista). No problems at this end.

I left the "Open file after publishing" box checked in this case.

I wonder if clearing it might help at your end. Worth a try if you haven't already.

Also, make sure you're saving the PDF to a folder where you have read/write privileges?

Beyond that, I can't think of anything else other running Office Diagnostics to see if
that turns up anything.

 

[Amznblu]

Hi again, Steve.

I've routinely left the "Open file after publishing" box unchecked, so I
don't think that's it. (As a test, I just tried it with box checked, but
still the same error.)

As for your note about making sure the folder I'm saving in has read/write
privileges: Interestingly enough, when I first started the computer tonight I
went to a folder where I've saved several documents, but had not worked in
for a while. I opened one of the old Word docs and tried saving it as a PDF.
And, incredibly, it successfully saved it as a PDF to that same folder
without any trouble. (I opened the PDF file and everything looked great!) So
I opened another Word doc in the same folder and tried saving it as a PDF.
And, unfortunately, I got the old error message again. So I tried restarting
the computer, went back to the same folder and still got the same error. I
then ran Office Diagnostics. The results were:

Diagnostics Run: 5
Diagnostics that identified problems: 1
Diagnostics that took corrective actions: 1

(Unfortunately, I didn't see the "Detailed Results" link until I was
clicking the window closed, so I don't know what those details were.)

Anyway, I then restarted the computer again, went back to the folder and
tried saving a PDF -- same old story.

So out of my 40-50 attempts to save a PDF, and each time using the same
steps, two of those attempts -- a Powerpoint file and a Word doc -- were
inexplicably successful. Do you have any thoughts about what that might
suggest?

I know I'm taking up a lot of your time on this, please know how much I
appreciate your help!

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi, and see below ...

I've routinely left the "Open file after publishing" box unchecked, so I
don't think that's it. (As a test, I just tried it with box checked, but
still the same error.)

As for your note about making sure the folder I'm saving in has read/write
privileges: Interestingly enough, when I first started the computer tonight I
went to a folder where I've saved several documents, but had not worked in
for a while. I opened one of the old Word docs and tried saving it as a PDF.
And, incredibly, it successfully saved it as a PDF to that same folder
without any trouble. (I opened the PDF file and everything looked great!) So
I opened another Word doc in the same folder and tried saving it as a PDF.
And, unfortunately, I got the old error message again. So I tried restarting
the computer, went back to the same folder and still got the same error. I
then ran Office Diagnostics. The results were:

Diagnostics Run: 5
Diagnostics that identified problems: 1
Diagnostics that took corrective actions: 1

(Unfortunately, I didn't see the "Detailed Results" link until I was
clicking the window closed, so I don't know what those details were.)

Anyway, I then restarted the computer again, went back to the folder and
tried saving a PDF -- same old story.

So out of my 40-50 attempts to save a PDF, and each time using the same
steps, two of those attempts -- a Powerpoint file and a Word doc -- were
inexplicably successful. Do you have any thoughts about what that might
suggest?

I know I'm taking up a lot of your time on this, please know how much I
appreciate your help!

No problem.

You might want to try a couple of the tools at www.sysinternals.com (this redirects to a
Microsoft site). There are file and process monitors you can use to see what program is
trying to open/read/write to which file. You'd want to start Word/PPT, open your document
file, switch to the file monitor program, start logging, then switch back to Office and make
PDF.

Then see what appears in the log.

 

[undisclosed]

Hi
I had the same problem - but my PP file was in "compatability" mode and
as soon as I saved in most up to date form the save to PDF worked.
Cheers
Mike

 

[gid]

I'm having the exact same problem so you're not alone!

 

[GHOA]

This problem is not resolved, it happens in all office programs. It does not
matter where you are trying to save the file to, whether you select or
unselect the open after save option.

This started happening more often after SP2 was installed, since numerous
updates have been installed, things that worked no longer work.

Office diagnostics reports nothing, until I restart my system and then asks
me to send previously unsent error reports.

Install/Uninstall does not work.

Running Windows XP Media Center, also current.