[Nucular Reaction]

I had 4-5 documents open. I needed to open another document. I noticed
that I hadn't yet converted this one to 2007 format (.docx), so I did
a Save As and selected Word Document.

Then I tried to delete the old (.doc) version. Word wouldn't let me
saying it was in use. It was NOT in use, of course. Word is just too
stupid to figure that out. I actually knew this would happen because
Word has been doing this for as many releases as I can remember.

So, I closed the new (.docx) version and tried again. No joy. Word
still thinks it is in use. This program is truly butt stupid.

I had to close all of the open Word documents before it would let me
delete that old version.

This is outrageous. Can't the M$FT developers stop cashing their stock
options long enough to fix this piece of garbage?

I don't suppose there's any way around this, right?

[Terry Farrell]

It is because WINDOWS has created a locking file to ensure that only 1 user
has it opened for editing at a time. When you SaveAs and chose a different
format, Windows does not know that you have closed and finished with the
original document. When you close Word, the locking file will be released
and you will be able to delete the document again.

If I were you, I would also check your temp folder for abandoned temp files.
After a fresh boot with all applications closed, the temp folder should be
EMPTY. Delete everything you find in it.

--
Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

"Nucular Reaction" wrote in message
news
I had 4-5 documents open. I needed to open another document. I noticed
that I hadn't yet converted this one to 2007 format (.docx), so I did
a Save As and selected Word Document.

Then I tried to delete the old (.doc) version. Word wouldn't let me
saying it was in use. It was NOT in use, of course. Word is just too
stupid to figure that out. I actually knew this would happen because
Word has been doing this for as many releases as I can remember.

So, I closed the new (.docx) version and tried again. No joy. Word
still thinks it is in use. This program is truly butt stupid.

I had to close all of the open Word documents before it would let me
delete that old version.

This is outrageous. Can't the M$FT developers stop cashing their stock
options long enough to fix this piece of garbage?

I don't suppose there's any way around this, right?

[Nucular Reaction]

On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 17:59:15 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
wrote:

It is because WINDOWS has created a locking file to ensure that only 1 user
has it opened for editing at a time.

Well, the locking mechanism is broken or Word is not using it
properly. No *user* has the file open. Word probably still has it
open, but this is a bug in Word -- and one that has been around
forever.

When you SaveAs and chose a different
format, Windows does not know that you have closed and finished with the
original document.

If it does not know, it is because Word didn't tell it, which is a bug
in Word, and a very amateur one at that. Wouldn't be allowed in an
undergraduate programming class.

When you close Word, the locking file will be released
and you will be able to delete the document again.

This should happen when I close that document -- not Word itself. It's
a bug. A big, ugly, hairy bug.

If I were you, I would also check your temp folder for abandoned temp files.
After a fresh boot with all applications closed, the temp folder should be
EMPTY. Delete everything you find in it.

If Windows were better written, there wouldn't be abandoned temp
files.

[Terry Farrell]

Did you come here to moan or get a solution?

Terry

"Nucular Reaction" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 17:59:15 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
wrote:

It is because WINDOWS has created a locking file to ensure that only 1
user
has it opened for editing at a time.

Well, the locking mechanism is broken or Word is not using it
properly. No *user* has the file open. Word probably still has it
open, but this is a bug in Word -- and one that has been around
forever.

When you SaveAs and chose a different
format, Windows does not know that you have closed and finished with the
original document.

If it does not know, it is because Word didn't tell it, which is a bug
in Word, and a very amateur one at that. Wouldn't be allowed in an
undergraduate programming class.

When you close Word, the locking file will be released
and you will be able to delete the document again.

This should happen when I close that document -- not Word itself. It's
a bug. A big, ugly, hairy bug.

If I were you, I would also check your temp folder for abandoned temp
files.
After a fresh boot with all applications closed, the temp folder should be
EMPTY. Delete everything you find in it.

If Windows were better written, there wouldn't be abandoned temp
files.

[Nucular Reaction]

On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:21:21 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
wrote:

Did you come here to moan or get a solution?

Terry

Do I have to choose one or the other?

In this case, I was reporting a buggy behavior. I was hoping for a
solution, but doubted there was one. You did not offer a solution,
because there isn't one. What you did was explain how the Windows
system works implying that it is working properly. The locking
mechanism may be working properly, but the whole system is not. It is
stupid and wrong to have to close file A before I can delete file B.
This is a bug. It's either a design but or an implementation bug or
both.

If you offer me a solution, that is, show me a way that I can delete
file B without having to close file A, I will apologized for being
crabby. I do not expect to be apologizing.

[Graham Mayor]

This is a user peer group, not Microsoft, so your whingeing here is
misdirected, and hardly likely to encourage your peers to offer assistance.

If you open a doc file and save it as docx, lock files for both the doc and
docx versions are created. While the lock files are open, you cannot delete
the parent file. If you close the (now) docx version of the file, the lock
files are closed and you can delete the doc version (and the docx version if
you wish).

You may not like it, but that's the way it works. Get over it.
--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Nucular Reaction wrote:
On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:21:21 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
wrote:

Did you come here to moan or get a solution?

Terry

Do I have to choose one or the other?

In this case, I was reporting a buggy behavior. I was hoping for a
solution, but doubted there was one. You did not offer a solution,
because there isn't one. What you did was explain how the Windows
system works implying that it is working properly. The locking
mechanism may be working properly, but the whole system is not. It is
stupid and wrong to have to close file A before I can delete file B.
This is a bug. It's either a design but or an implementation bug or
both.

If you offer me a solution, that is, show me a way that I can delete
file B without having to close file A, I will apologized for being
crabby. I do not expect to be apologizing.

[Three Lefts]

On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:38:38 +0300, "Graham Mayor"
wrote:

This is a user peer group, not Microsoft, so your whingeing here is
misdirected, and hardly likely to encourage your peers to offer assistance.

If you open a doc file and save it as docx, lock files for both the doc and
docx versions are created.

Do you think this is a good design?

While the lock files are open, you cannot delete
the parent file. If you close the (now) docx version of the file, the lock
files are closed and you can delete the doc version (and the docx version if
you wish).

This is not always true. If you read my original post, you will see
that I had several docs open when I opened xxx.doc file. Noticing that
it had not been converted, I did so, creating xxx.docx. I then tried
to delete the xxx.doc. No good. Remembering that Word has this little
bug, I then closed xxx.docx and tried again. No good. I had to shut
down all of the open Word docs before I could delete xxx.doc.

This is very inconvenient and terrible progamming. It's wrong and it's
stupid and if I want to complain about it, I will. If that irritates
you or the other "MVPs", then I guess I'll struggle on without your
"help".

You may not like it, but that's the way it works.

That is the way it works. It's wrong.

Get over it.

This is helpful. No, I will not get over it. You may be ready to
accept mediocre products from M$FT, but I do not. I am stuck with the
crap from Redmond for now, but alternatives are coming. The attitude
of "helpers" like you will only serve to hasten their acceptance.

[Terry Farrell]

I think you are missing the point. This is a peer-to-peer group so Microsoft
will never read your post. So berating your peers is hardly going to be
productive.

If you feel strongly about this, then please report it direct to Microsoft.
It Weill mean calling them and raising a
"Three Lefts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:38:38 +0300, "Graham Mayor"
wrote:

This is a user peer group, not Microsoft, so your whingeing here is
misdirected, and hardly likely to encourage your peers to offer
assistance.

If you open a doc file and save it as docx, lock files for both the doc
and
docx versions are created.

Do you think this is a good design?

While the lock files are open, you cannot delete
the parent file. If you close the (now) docx version of the file, the lock
files are closed and you can delete the doc version (and the docx version
if
you wish).

This is not always true. If you read my original post, you will see
that I had several docs open when I opened xxx.doc file. Noticing that
it had not been converted, I did so, creating xxx.docx. I then tried
to delete the xxx.doc. No good. Remembering that Word has this little
bug, I then closed xxx.docx and tried again. No good. I had to shut
down all of the open Word docs before I could delete xxx.doc.

This is very inconvenient and terrible progamming. It's wrong and it's
stupid and if I want to complain about it, I will. If that irritates
you or the other "MVPs", then I guess I'll struggle on without your
"help".

You may not like it, but that's the way it works.

That is the way it works. It's wrong.

Get over it.

This is helpful. No, I will not get over it. You may be ready to
accept mediocre products from M$FT, but I do not. I am stuck with the
crap from Redmond for now, but alternatives are coming. The attitude
of "helpers" like you will only serve to hasten their acceptance.

[Three Lefts]

On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 18:42:24 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
wrote:

I think you are missing the point. This is a peer-to-peer group so Microsoft
will never read your post. So berating your peers is hardly going to be
productive.

Where did I berate a peer? I was definitely hostile to M$FT, but
unless you are a M$FT apologist, you should not take that personally.

You replied that I would have to close both documents. I replied that
that was crappy programming. I wrote better code as an undergraduate.

I agree with you that "whingeing" about M$FT's many faults and
failures is not that productive, but neither it telling me "that's the
way it is, get used to it". You could have said, "Yep, this is a bug.
I don't see any way around it. Crappy code." If no one whinges, then
we should all just bend over, spread 'em, and think of England. I
prefer whinging. ymmv.

M$FT puts out a lot of crap. Windows is unstable and insecure. I am
definitely going to comment on that when I feel the mood. That's the
way it is. Get used to it.

If you feel strongly about this, then please report it direct to Microsoft.

Actually, I have sumbitted a few problem reports. I submitted a report
on the "Jason tabs" at least 10 years ago. Here we are several
releases later and it's still not fixed. Actually, I haven't tested it
in 2007, but it was definitely still broken in 2003.

It Weill mean calling them and raising a
"Three Lefts" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:38:38 +0300, "Graham Mayor"
wrote:

This is a user peer group, not Microsoft, so your whingeing here is
misdirected, and hardly likely to encourage your peers to offer
assistance.

If you open a doc file and save it as docx, lock files for both the doc
and
docx versions are created.

Do you think this is a good design?

While the lock files are open, you cannot delete
the parent file. If you close the (now) docx version of the file, the lock
files are closed and you can delete the doc version (and the docx version
if
you wish).

This is not always true. If you read my original post, you will see
that I had several docs open when I opened xxx.doc file. Noticing that
it had not been converted, I did so, creating xxx.docx. I then tried
to delete the xxx.doc. No good. Remembering that Word has this little
bug, I then closed xxx.docx and tried again. No good. I had to shut
down all of the open Word docs before I could delete xxx.doc.

This is very inconvenient and terrible progamming. It's wrong and it's
stupid and if I want to complain about it, I will. If that irritates
you or the other "MVPs", then I guess I'll struggle on without your
"help".

You may not like it, but that's the way it works.

That is the way it works. It's wrong.

Get over it.

This is helpful. No, I will not get over it. You may be ready to
accept mediocre products from M$FT, but I do not. I am stuck with the
crap from Redmond for now, but alternatives are coming. The attitude
of "helpers" like you will only serve to hasten their acceptance.