[ms office - 2007] Word says the file is locked by a user, but names the wrong user!

[AngryTechnician]

We've been seeing an odd problem here in the last few days with Word 2007 claiming that the wrong user has a file locked open when another user tries to edit it, and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this problem.

 

Example:

 

User A has a file open for editing on our file server.

User B tries to open the file for editing, and is informed that the file is locked - by User C.

 

The weirdest part? User C is always the same person. Specifically, it's always our ICT co-ordinator, who is now getting stick for having all these documents locked open for editing! As far as I know it only happens to documents that she has genuinely accessed recently (within the last couple of days), but no longer has open. The Computer Management Console on the server correctly reports which user actually has a lock on the file.

 

Our file server is running Server 2003 with SP2, and is as up-to-date as you can be with CC3. Office 2007 is 100% up to date. Most of our clients are running Windows XP SP2, but the ICT co-ordinator is a Windows 7 early adopter. I see the same incorrect message on my Windows 7 client, and in fact, as does the ICT co-ordinator when she tries to open the file herself.

 

Anyone got any ideas? I'm fresh out.

[elsiegee40]

The weirdest part? User C is always the same person. Specifically, it's always our ICT co-ordinator, who is now getting stick for having all these documents locked open for editing!

 

Whatever it is, I think I could use this feature

 

[AngryTechnician]

I'll admit it was amusing to both of us the first couple of times, but we share an office and I'm getting bored of all the phone calls now!

[powdarrmonkey]

If you pushed settings into people's profiles, did you include the user information that Word stores? This is (IIRC) where that message comes from - if they're all the same (for example, you pulled the data from the ICTC's profile) everyone will have the same name.

[AXE]

I expect it's a permissions issue.

Word creates temporary files to store document locking info.

If the user can create but not delete these temp files, the document will continue to appear as locked for editing even after it is closed.

[AngryTechnician]

Word creates temporary files to store document locking info.

If the user can create but not delete these temp files, the document will continue to appear as locked for editing even after it is closed.

Absolutely spot on, all the lock files were still sitting there with her name in. Removed them and the problem is gone.

 

Not sure why they were still there as "Effective Permissions" shows she has delete rights along with everyone else in the Teaching Staff AD group, and it hasn't happened to anyone else. Will have to do some testing, but thanks for the fix!

Edited March 25, 2010 by AngryTechnician

[mrhouse]

I saw that and I was afraid that someone has entered in my computer and saw my file .... As I read this I realize that there is a problem but to a different species. I read on one site to another user that I could be myself, because I had previously opened my file. Is it possible?

[AngryTechnician]

Yes. If Word did not delete the lock file after the last time you used the file, it would produce this error.

[crodrigl]

Hello all, I know this is an old thread, but...

I'm having the same issue with only one difference: "user C" has never opened those locked documents, so it cannot be an old lock file.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

[AngryTechnician]

Have you checked for an old lock file anyway? It's possible the lock file is there but has wrong information in it.

[crodrigl]

Well, lock files I could see are new but they still contain the wrong user name.

 

BTW, this began after updating Office 2003 to Office 2007, and at least in my case "User C" is the person who prepared the administrative installation, although I have not found any reference to his name in office setup' config.xml files or *.msp files...

 

Thanks anyway