item 'already opened' but not visible

[Villain]

I have a user that constantly tells me he receives an error stating
that an excel workbook is already open when it is not. We look at the
list under 'Window' in the menu bar, move all of the minimized windows
out of the way, and we cannot find these files that are supposedly
open. Is there a reason that Excel would tell us a workbook is opened
even if it is not in use?

Could a linked workbook give this error?

 

[windsurferLA]

Could the workbook have been opened by another "user" on the same
computer and never have been closed? A workbook opened by one "user"
can't be also opened by another "user." As I recall, another "user" on
the same computer may make a copy, but can't modify the open file.

 

[RichardSchollar]

Have you checked that the workbook hasn't previously been saved down
Hidden (eg as the Personal.xls file normally is), and thus the user is
opening this file up in a hidden state (check Window>Unhide)?

Richard

 

[Villain]

As far as I know, it has not been. The same user will open the
document from his email, then it will disappear (he says that it is
still open and he doesn't remember closing it) and he can't find it.
When he tries to re-open the saved copy, he is told that the file is
already open andthe changes will be lost.

One thing that was weird, though, was that the item did not show in
the 'Window' list, but it was minimized down below another window.
Basically spreadsheet A was minimized and spreadsheet B was minimized
right over the top of it.

 

[Villain]

The computer in question is only used by this person, and no-one else
has access to the files in question due to permissions.