microsoft word restrictions???? HELP PLEASE!!!

[Guest]

"This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked" is all i
see at the bottom of the page when i open and try to edit any document that
i've saved using microsoft word 2007. I have Vista Home Premium by the way.
Anyway, the only options available to me when i click on the office button in
the top left hand corner of the screen are open,print,business contact
manager, and close. No matter what i would like to do, the only options
available to me are options under "view" of the microsoft word tool bar
because that message keeps appearing and wont let me erase or add to any
saved document. The same thing applies to the doc's on my flash drive too
that have been saved using microsoft word 2007. I really NEED to have access
to these files again. PLEASE HELP ME!

 

[ray]

"This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked" is all i
see at the bottom of the page when i open and try to edit any document that
i've saved using microsoft word 2007. I have Vista Home Premium by the way.
Anyway, the only options available to me when i click on the office button in
the top left hand corner of the screen are open,print,business contact
manager, and close. No matter what i would like to do, the only options
available to me are options under "view" of the microsoft word tool bar
because that message keeps appearing and wont let me erase or add to any
saved document. The same thing applies to the doc's on my flash drive too
that have been saved using microsoft word 2007. I really NEED to have access
to these files again. PLEASE HELP ME!

I know I'll be flamed (again) for mentioning it, but there is a good
chance that OpenOffice.org would open and allow access to those files. It
won't cost a dime to find out.

 

[Bill Yanaire]

Are you that brain dead? That is your solution to each and every problem.
Try OpenSores Office. It won't cost a dime to find out.

Give me a break. Do you really think that the OP wants to ditch their
Office 2007 that they paid good money for to use OpenOffice? You sure are
an IDIOT.

 

[ray]

Are you that brain dead? That is your solution to each and every problem.
Try OpenSores Office. It won't cost a dime to find out.

Give me a break. Do you really think that the OP wants to ditch their
Office 2007 that they paid good money for to use OpenOffice? You sure are
an IDIOT.

I would guess that since the OP cannot get office 2007 to work properly
that (s)he might be interested in at least an interim solution - no one
else here seems to be offering any information on how to solve the problem.

 

[The poster fromerly known as 'The poster formerly]

I did, trade my office 2007 suite on my machine for openoffice that is.
Of course, I should mention also that office 2007 didn't cost me any
money. I got it with Vista through an MS promotional givaway for free.
That being said, I still prefer openoffice. The ribbon sucks!

I would guess that since the OP cannot get office 2007 to work properly
that (s)he might be interested in at least an interim solution - no one
else here seems to be offering any information on how to solve the problem.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

"Only religious fanatics and totalitarian states equate morality with
legality."
- Linus Torvalds

 

[XS11E]

PLEASE HELP ME!

I can't fix your problem but I can suggest you repost this in one of
the Office groups, that's where the Office experts hang out and one of
them might be able to fix it for you.

Try microsoft.public.office.misc and good luck!

 

[Charlie Tame]

I would guess that since the OP cannot get office 2007 to work properly
that (s)he might be interested in at least an interim solution - no one
else here seems to be offering any information on how to solve the problem.

Ye Gods Ray, you tried to help someone out of difficulties by offering
an option they may be able to use. Have ye taken leave of your senses man.

IMHO the purpose of this group "Should" be helping people to maximize
their use of the OS to which the group applies, and some may not like
Office 2007, yet this is in no way a statement of disloyalty to
Microsoft, simply a matter of choices. I am not sure why the Vista
advocates here are so afraid of users getting a choice.

 

[Lang Murphy]

IMHO the purpose of this group "Should" be helping people to maximize

their use of the OS to which the group applies, and some may not like
Office 2007, yet this is in no way a statement of disloyalty to Microsoft,
simply a matter of choices. I am not sure why the Vista advocates here are
so afraid of users getting a choice.

The main purpose of this ng is to assist users with their problems. The OP
didn't ask for alternatives to Office, they asked for assistance with their
specific problem. Saying "try Open Office" in this instance is no different
than someone posting about a problem they're having with their Chevy and
having someone respond "Try Ford." Hasn't helped the OP's problem
whatsoever.

If the OP -asks- for alternatives, well, that's a whole different ball of
wax... however, most of the "try Ubuntu" or "try Open Office" posts in this
ng are -not- in response to queries about alternative solutions. Personally,
I don't find those type of posts helpful in the least. (And, just to set the
record straight, I have no issues with Ubuntu or OO.)

Lang

 

[ray]

The main purpose of this ng is to assist users with their problems. The OP
didn't ask for alternatives to Office, they asked for assistance with their
specific problem. Saying "try Open Office" in this instance is no different
than someone posting about a problem they're having with their Chevy and
having someone respond "Try Ford." Hasn't helped the OP's problem
whatsoever.

Well, I'll be. And I thought that the specific problem was not being able
to access ms office files - I'll try to read more closely in the future.

BTW - I'd say it's more like - if your car won't run, maybe you need a
rental (or a loaner) while it's in the shop. The alternative is to sit
home and wait.

If the OP -asks- for alternatives, well, that's a whole different ball of
wax... however, most of the "try Ubuntu" or "try Open Office" posts in this
ng are -not- in response to queries about alternative solutions. Personally,
I don't find those type of posts helpful in the least. (And, just to set the
record straight, I have no issues with Ubuntu or OO.)

You're correct. I did not respond to a query about alternatives. I
proposed a solution so that the poster could be productive until a
solution to his/her problem is found - particularly in light of the fact
that no answers or proposed solutions were forthcoming. If I had seen a
post saying 'do thus and such and it will fix your problem' I would not
have bothered with the suggestion.

 

[Charlie Tame]

The main purpose of this ng is to assist users with their problems. The
OP didn't ask for alternatives to Office, they asked for assistance with
their specific problem. Saying "try Open Office" in this instance is no
different than someone posting about a problem they're having with their
Chevy and having someone respond "Try Ford." Hasn't helped the OP's
problem whatsoever.

If the OP -asks- for alternatives, well, that's a whole different ball
of wax... however, most of the "try Ubuntu" or "try Open Office" posts
in this ng are -not- in response to queries about alternative solutions.
Personally, I don't find those type of posts helpful in the least. (And,
just to set the record straight, I have no issues with Ubuntu or OO.)

Lang

It is helpful if the user is stuck, a free alternative is available to
get the task done, and it buys time to work on the other problem.

A lot of people don't know about alternatives and so will not ask, but
they will get pissed off if they cannot get their task done using "That"
OS whatever it is.

It is not really any different than saying "You know you can edit your
webpage code directly with notepad". Many people may not think of that -
you know how it goes when you hit a problem and can't see the simple answer.

If customers get frustrated and give up on an OS it will be a long time
before they ever come back to it (if ever), especially if they go to one
that costs far less or nothing at all.

There are still some problems with Vista (And all others) where some
"Combination" of hardware / software plain don't work.

 

[Charlie Tame]

Well, I'll be. And I thought that the specific problem was not being able
to access ms office files - I'll try to read more closely in the future.

BTW - I'd say it's more like - if your car won't run, maybe you need a
rental (or a loaner) while it's in the shop. The alternative is to sit
home and wait.


You're correct. I did not respond to a query about alternatives. I
proposed a solution so that the poster could be productive until a
solution to his/her problem is found - particularly in light of the fact
that no answers or proposed solutions were forthcoming. If I had seen a
post saying 'do thus and such and it will fix your problem' I would not
have bothered with the suggestion.

Ray that is exactly how I saw your post. Some IE problems can be
diagnosed far quicker by installing Firefox and comparing results

Most often the OP will go back to IE once the problem is fixed but do so
knowing that any further problems will not be totally disastrous and are
therefore happier with the system as a whole.

 

[Adam Albright]

Ray that is exactly how I saw your post. Some IE problems can be
diagnosed far quicker by installing Firefox and comparing results

Most often the OP will go back to IE once the problem is fixed but do so
knowing that any further problems will not be totally disastrous and are
therefore happier with the system as a whole.

Browsers can be temperamental beasts. As most know the stock market
has been on a roller coaster ride so I wanted to monitor my Etrade
account in real time to see how my holdings are doing since I have a
holding in two of the banks that have been making news recently. Real
time updates is a free option but requires Java or there is the
standard 20 minute delay. So I try to upgrade yesterday.

First attempt nothing, just a blank window. I go to Control Panel find
the Sun Java applet I had installed way back when, delete it and get a
new version off Sun's web site. Reboot, try again, log onto my Etrade
account again still nothing, I just see a red "x" where the Java logo
should be so Java isn't working in spite of it saying it installed and
is working as it should.

I then mess around with IE's settings. Nothing helps. So I call up
Etrade technical help. About 20 minutes on the phone making a special
zone and changing security level and trying other things and still
nothing works. The tech throws in the towel says well sorry, that
should work, why don't you try Firefox instead, we know it works ok
first time in that browser.

So I'm about to download Firefox, but it's lunch time. Normally I
leave the computer running. This time I turn if off. About a hour
later I come back reboot from a cold start, changed nothing, had
rebooted at least four times before after making the suggested
changes, nothing worked, now all of a sudden Java for my Etrade
account works fine. Computers can drive you crazy. ;-)

 

[Lang Murphy]

Well, I'll be. And I thought that the specific problem was not being able
to access ms office files - I'll try to read more closely in the future.

If the OP is attempting to access Office files with Office, then helpful
answers to their specific issue would attempt to help them access those
files with Office. Obviously, you disagree with that.

BTW - I'd say it's more like - if your car won't run, maybe you need a
rental (or a loaner) while it's in the shop. The alternative is to sit
home and wait.


You're correct. I did not respond to a query about alternatives. I
proposed a solution so that the poster could be productive until a
solution to his/her problem is found - particularly in light of the fact
that no answers or proposed solutions were forthcoming. If I had seen a
post saying 'do thus and such and it will fix your problem' I would not
have bothered with the suggestion.

I'll keep that in mind when I read your forthcoming recommendations for
others to try Open Office.

Lang

 

[ray]

If the OP is attempting to access Office files with Office, then helpful
answers to their specific issue would attempt to help them access those
files with Office. Obviously, you disagree with that.

I don't disagree at all. No 'helpful answers' to 'help them access those
files with Office' were forthcoming. So I provided an answer to 'help them
access those files'.

I'll keep that in mind when I read your forthcoming recommendations for
others to try Open Office.

I wonder if you'll notice several recent posts considering more ms office
problems to which I did not reply because proposed solutions were offered.

 

[The poster formerly known as the poster formerly k]

The main purpose of this ng is to assist users with their problems. The
OP didn't ask for alternatives to Office, they asked for assistance with
their specific problem. Saying "try Open Office" in this instance is no
different than someone posting about a problem they're having with their
Chevy and having someone respond "Try Ford." Hasn't helped the OP's
problem whatsoever.

If the OP -asks- for alternatives, well, that's a whole different ball
of wax... however, most of the "try Ubuntu" or "try Open Office" posts
in this ng are -not- in response to queries about alternative solutions.
Personally, I don't find those type of posts helpful in the least. (And,
just to set the record straight, I have no issues with Ubuntu or OO.)

Lang

Not everyone agrees with you Lang. I can't even count the number of
times I've seen someone post with an antivirus problem on Vista, only to
have an MVP or other poster suggest using a different AV program for the
OP to try, specifically when the OP was not asking for another AV
program to try, but just asking for help with how to fix the problem
with their current AV. And I'm not talking about when the OP's AV
program is not compatible with Vista. I've never seen anyone here
complain about respondents recommending another program in that case.
It's no different from what Ray did here. It's no different. Why are
people complaining about it now?

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

"Only religious fanatics and totalitarian states equate morality with
legality."
- Linus Torvalds

 

[Guest]

"The poster formerly ..." tried to think too hard...

Not everyone agrees with you Lang. I can't even count the number of times
I've seen someone post with an antivirus problem on Vista, only to have an
MVP or other poster suggest using a different AV program for the OP to
try, specifically when the OP was not asking for another AV program to
try, but just asking for help with how to fix the problem with their
current AV. And I'm not talking about when the OP's AV program is not
compatible with Vista. I've never seen anyone here complain about
respondents recommending another program in that case. It's no different
from what Ray did here. It's no different. Why are people complaining
about it now?

Apples and oranges. In this case, the OP is having trouble with Microsoft
products on a Microsoft OS, needing access to those file types created by
that Microsoft product. Substituting a different program is not acceptible
unless it reads/writes the same *exact* document types the OP already uses,
including the very documents that are already in use. In the case of AV
programs, they are all third-party, and no one ever needs to have access to
any files or documents created by them. We all need to know when it is
appropriate to suggest an alternative and when it is expected, by the OP, to
just answer the question.

 

[Charlie Tame]

"The poster formerly ..." tried to think too hard...
Apples and oranges. In this case, the OP is having trouble with Microsoft
products on a Microsoft OS, needing access to those file types created by
that Microsoft product. Substituting a different program is not acceptible
unless it reads/writes the same *exact* document types the OP already uses,
including the very documents that are already in use. In the case of AV
programs, they are all third-party, and no one ever needs to have access to
any files or documents created by them. We all need to know when it is
appropriate to suggest an alternative and when it is expected, by the OP, to
just answer the question.

So why didn't you "Just answer the question"?

 

[The poster formerly known as the poster formerly k]

"The poster formerly ..." tried to think too hard...
Apples and oranges. In this case, the OP is having trouble with Microsoft
products on a Microsoft OS, needing access to those file types created by
that Microsoft product. Substituting a different program is not acceptible
unless it reads/writes the same *exact* document types the OP already uses,
including the very documents that are already in use. In the case of AV
programs, they are all third-party, and no one ever needs to have access to
any files or documents created by them. We all need to know when it is
appropriate to suggest an alternative and when it is expected, by the OP, to
just answer the question.

Not true, MS has OneCare now.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

"Only religious fanatics and totalitarian states equate morality with
legality."
- Linus Torvalds

 

[Charlie Tame]

Not true, MS has OneCare now.

I'm still interested in why the question was not answered. I couldn't
answer because I didn't know the answer, and maybe nobody else around at
that time knew the answer, so if no answer was available what did Ray do
wrong? It is ridiculous to complain that Ray didn't offer an answer to
the specific question if you have none yourself

Given that most OPs don't give full relevant info at first (Because like
the rest of us they sometimes don't know what's relevant to the
particular problem) Ray offered a "Possible" solution in an effort to
get the OP up and running with something. If MS image viewer doesn't
work try Irfanview etc. Better IMNSHO than telling the OP there's no way
out of it except to persist with the non working MS application. Often
the alternative gives a clue to the problem with the original application.

 

[Guest]

"The poster formerly known...

Not true, MS has OneCare now.

Third party software - bought the company and slapped the MS brand on it.
;-)
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+moves+into+antivirus+realm/2100-1002_3-1015237.html