Word documents locked

[lindadi]

I have been using Word 2003 - NOT the trial version - for several years, up
to just last week. Suddenly none of my Word documents are edit-able. The
only thing I have done with my hardware is install a new printer/fax/copier a
couple of months ago.
The CD that came with the program is long-gone (2003!), so I don't have any
activation key. Is this program limited to a number of uses/years that it is
valid? If so, it could have at least given me a warning that it was about to
expire...

I have read all the previous posts that apply to this problem, and still no
solution for me. By the way, I did the solution in the
www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/LockedFiles.htm already. When I searched
for the *.tmp;~*do?;~*.wbk files, none were even found, so I couldn't
delete them. I proceeded with every step given in that solution, and the
problem is still there. Any hope, other than buying a new MS Office?

 

[lindadi]

Two other things I just discovered - yesterday on 7/07/08, my computer
installed the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 as an Update. AND, my computer
seems to have two versions of Word on it, one with a more modern, lighter
blue W icon, and the other with the older darker blue icon. I can start a
new document when I open Word with the old icon (from my Start-Programs
menu), but all my existing documents are in the new Word. And I can't copy
and paste from them into the older version. So my information is pretty much
inaccessible to me to edit!!!

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you really have two versions of Word installed, have you tried
uninstalling the newer version, via Control Panel? Then, if the remaining
Word installation is not working correctly, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/ProblemsStartingWord.htm.

 

[lindadi]

As of yesterday, all of my Word files opened in the old version again so I
have been able to edit them. I was awaiting a reply, so had done nothing
with either program.

My control panel shows "Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003" along with
10+ updates; says it was installed 5/18/04 and used rarely. It also shows
"Microsoft Office XP Professional", installed 6/17/04 and used occasionally.
Do these both contain Word? If so, what would happen if I removed one of
them? Would I lose any documents? Thanks for your help.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Since the older version, Office XP, was installed after Office 2003, you
might very well have two versions of Word installed (both versions do
contain Word). If you still have the CDs available, you could uninstall both
versions and then reinstall the one that you actually want to use
(uninstalling does not affect existing documents). When/if you choose to do
that, you have to consider the fact that Office XP Professional includes
more applications than
Office 2003 Standard--but, on the other hand, Office 2003 is a more recent
version.

Another thing worth considering is that since Word seems to work correctly
now, you could also leave things the way they are.