Word docs 'locked for editing by another user'

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Jake

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I think this has to do with saving word files on a flash drive (I use the library internet) and then trying to open them on a home pc. Windows thinks that there is more than one instance of word running when there is not. I can open one in Abiword and then save it with a different name, then open it in word, but this is a rather inconvenient workaround and I don't like Abiword (not to mention it causes me to lose the images)

In computer management there are no 'open files' in open shares. I tried turning off the details and preview tabs, quitting all instances of word, turned off the search indexing service.

Any suggestions?
 
This most likely has to do with how the Library has their version of Office setup. It is most likely locked down due to the fact that it is used in a public place where anyone can cause damage to the OS if they are given to many rights within the OS or apps used. So they lock down what can and cant be done via that machine. So given that this is the case, I would say that you are stuck doing what you are doing with the whole process due to this fact.
 
I don't think that's the case. They're all on one hour time limits- everything reboots to a clean slate after an hour. Anyways, I think it`s a version problem : the word docs that I can't open are all Word 97-2003 docs (*.doc), whereas the *.docx ones are fine. There is software that converts docx to doc but not vice versa as far as I know.

I tried installing a lite version of Office 2003 but that didn`t work. I may have to uninstall Office 2010 (not sure how to do that either) first. Meanwhile if anyone can suggest an alternative to Word that can retain the images. I have hundreds of .doc files with screenshots that are all crucial to my education in IT. I`ve spent months collecting and organizing them and I`m determined to recover them somehow...
 
The format doesnt matter. It wont matter if it is .doc or .docx as you wouldnt even be able to open the later in anything but Office 2007 or newer versions but the older versions are compatible with all versions of Office to date.

The fact that they have it set for a 1 hour time frame means nothing. I could destroy a system in less than a minute that would render their hour time limit useless to the point it couldnt be restored. So yes there is some limitations put on the machine. Despite what you may think. The deep freeze process they are using is what is causing the issues. Not the format or anything else.
 
The format doesnt matter. It wont matter if it is .doc or .docx as you wouldnt even be able to open the later in anything but Office 2007 or newer versions but the older versions are compatible with all versions of Office to date.

Not 100% accurate, you can install the office compatability pack and this allows office xp and 2003 to open the .docx files and all other 2007/2010 office file formats
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - Support - Office.com


But back to the issue.

Try the following
Copy the file from the memory stick to the library computers desktop, work on it, save it.
Then copy it back to the memory stick.
This should hopefully stop the file from thinking it is still in use by another computer or user.
 
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