This usually occurs when someone else is editing the same document that you
are working on. If this is not possible, then did your computer crash while
you were working on your doc? XP usually recovers from these type of errors,
but it may be possible that the document will stay "locked" forever until you
get rid of the temporary file associated with the document.

If this happens when you start a brand-new document, then it sounds like
your normal.dot template itself is locked.

Could you clarify what is happening?

"Melody Neris" wrote:

"This modification is not allowed because the document is locked." That is
the very annoying message I continue to receive when trying to start a new
document. What is going on? and Why can't I unlock the document so that I
can begin my paper?