Word 2003 graying out menu options

[Paul Weaver]

One of my 5th Grade students is attempting to complete an assignment using MS
Word 2003. He called me tonight to report that he is observing strange
behavior from Word that is keeping him from completing the assignment (which
is due in a couple of days). As he described it, when he attempts to edit
his in-process document, he gets a message saying "This modification is not
allowed because the document is locked." Sounds like the file is simply
Protected, right? But under Tools, the menu option "Protect Document" is
displayed but grayed out. I'd expect to see "Unprotect Document" displayed if
the document had been protected. Other menu options are also unavailable, the
most surprising being "File | New." He can't even begin a new document! When
he opened a known "good" document after re-booting, he had the same problem,
suggesting the issue might be with the install of Word rather than with any
individual document. The copy appears to be appropriately licensed based on
the "Help | About" display. I asked him to use the "Help | Detect and repair"
option to reset any customized settings to the factory default, but this
didn't fix the problem. I've checked the KB and every other resource I can
think of, to no avail. Anybody have any idea how to help this kid get access
to his own documents? Thanks in advance!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This message usually means that Word/Office has not been activated (Help |
Activate Product) or (more usually lately) that it is a trial version that
has expired.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

Either:
1. Your student has an expired trial version of Office 2003.
Many computer manufacturers include a free trial version of
Office 2003 with new computers, but the trial version expires
after 60 days.
2. If your student has a full version of Office 2003 (which
would have cost between $150 and $400 extra, depending on
edition), then maybe your student has not activated the software
by starting Word and clicking on Help | Activate Product.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Thank you (to both Ms. Barnhill and Mr. "Garfield"). I was able to confirm
this morning that you correctly diagnosed the problem. I'm much obliged.