Normal.dot; Read-only; File in use

[Ed Lay]

I have had problems with my Word 2002 program ever since I
purchased my Dell Dimension 8250 computer with Windows XP
and MS Works Suite 2003 in April 2003.

1. Sometimes when I open a Word document, I get a message that
"File in use. Open a read-only copy."
or
"File is locked for editing by another user" Do you want to:
"Open a read-only copy"
"Create a local copy and merge your changes later"
"Receive notification when the original copy is available"
2. Sometimes when I try to close a Word document, I am asked
"Do you want to save file" when there were no changes made
or
"Normal.dot was being edited by another Word session"
Then when I click on Save, I get "The file is read-only"
If I then click OK, I get a message that asks me if I want
to "Save it as Normal.dot under Templates"

I've asked these questions before and got answers that did
not resolve the problems, such as:
Delete the owner file (such as ~$current.doc)
Delete and rename the Normal.dot file
Uncheck the read-only attribute
Delete all *.tmp, ~*do?, and ~*.wbk files
Uninstall the add-in

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you are running Word freestanding (not starting it from the Works Task
Launcher), you can save yourself a lot of grief (and possibly the problems
you report) by uninstalling the Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Word
(through Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs), though it sounds as if you've
already done this. Have you deleted *all* temp files? Are you using Word as
your email editor?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
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