File Corruption: 'File Open in Other Location' + 'Read-Only'

I'm having a problem with a very long (125+ page) and extremely crucial Office 2007 Word document. Two strange things have started happening: First, when I try to close the file I get an error message that says: “Cannot close file. File is open in another location” (which, of course, it isn’t). In order to close the file, I have to do a “Save-as” and rename the file. However, when I open the newly created file, it only opens up as a "read-only" document which can't be saved or edited. To make matters worse, when I close the new file and reopen it, the new file becomes read-only as well. And on and on ad infinitum with every new file created from the original file!!!

When I check Properties for both the old and new files, “Read-Only” is not checked, so I'm really stumped. I've tried every method I know to correct both the File Open in Another Location and the Read-Only problems. I tried going to Task Manager to see if either the original file or the new file was actually running in another program, which they were not. I went into Event Viewer to see if there was any error in Microsoft Office, and I couldn’t find one (although, I’m not really sure how to find this exact kind of error). I tried to reopen both files from Windows Explorer, which didn’t help. I tried shutting down and rebooting which didn’t help. I even tried copying the contents of the new file and creating a newer file with a different name, but even the newer file had the same corruption.

I always make a backup copy of important docs that I’m working on, and I even tried to save my backup copy of the original document, but after shutting down and re-booting, even the backup copy (which I didn't think was corrupted) opened up as "read-only" also. This is really frustrating because of the importance of this document.

It would be an interesting experiment to save the file as an RTF (Rich Text File), rename it, and then open it for editing in Word and see if the same problems happen.

The reason it would be interesting is, when you save Office files as Office files, they're written with Visual Basic code. VBA code is used in lots of applications and it affects "system" features like your ability to edit and save.

So, save the doc as a "Save As..." and in the white box at the bottom, click it, and a list will show up with the various other formats you can save as. RTF does not contain Visual Basic or VBA code.

RTF keeps formatting information, though special indents and numbering systems may look a little funny afterward.

Well, I think I may have solved the problem by closing down Explorer.exe and reopening it. At least, I've solved it for the moment.

But Paulie, your suggestion is very interesting, and it makes complete sense, logically. I'll try it the next time the file corrupts, which is random and happens from time to time. At that time, I'll post back into this column, and let you know if saving the file as a RTF solved the problem.

When you call it back up, save it again as a DOCX, as an MS Word 2007 document. If it comes back, you know something's really wrong.

Does this happen with other documents, or is it just this one that's funky?