"File in Use" notification works on some machines, not on others

I'm trying to come up with a solution to inconsistencies that we're
experiencing with notifications and access of Excel files in a Windows 2003
Server environment. No security options or passwords are applied to the test
document.

Here's a scenario that may help explain, all involving "test.xls" on a 2003
server:

1) If I open the file on my PC (running Windows XP and Office 2003 SP3),
then attempt to open the file on my Mac (G5 running Leopard 10.5.1 and Office
2005 version 11.3.7), the Mac gets a File Protection dialog box with buttons
for read-only and notify. This is good. Another PC users in our IS department
also gets a notification. However, two other test Macs (a G4 running OS
10.4.10 and Excel 11.3.3, and a G5 running OS 10.4.10 and Office 11.3.7) open
the file as read-only with no notification.

I've also put Office 2008 on the test G5, but the results were the same; the
file opens as read-only if my PC or my G5 have the file open.

2) If I open the file on my Mac first, the results are the same as in No. 1;
the PC gets a "File In Use" dialog box and the read-only and notify buttons;
the test G4 and G5 open the file as read-only with no dialog box. It may be
beneficial to note at this point that network permissions don't seem to be
playing a role, as I log into the server using my own account on each test
machine.

3) If I open the file first on either of the test Macs, no other machine can
open the file. For example, if I open the test file on the test G4, the test
G5 gets the following message:
"Test.xls cannot be accessed. The file may be read-only, or you may be
trying to access a read-only location. Or, the server the document is stored
on may not be responding."
When I click "Cancel," a dialog box reports "Cannot access test.xls."
Interestingly, when I try to open the test file on my Mac or my PC, the first
dialog box is skipped and I only get the "Cannot access test.xls" dialog box.

Any insight on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Users have
reported to me that similar files had behaved correctly (with the
notification box) up until recently, but I'm not sure what if anything has
changed. If anyone needs more details to attempt to solve this, I'll do my
best to come up with them.

Thanks,
Kevin

Have you tried loading the Office 2007 compatibility pack, i was having the same issue with one of my customers and installing that solved it...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en



Posted as a reply to:

"File in Use" notification works on some machines, not on others
11-Feb-08

I'm trying to come up with a solution to inconsistencies that we're
experiencing with notifications and access of Excel files in a Windows 2003
Server environment. No security options or passwords are applied to the test
document.

Here's a scenario that may help explain, all involving "test.xls" on a 2003
server:

1) If I open the file on my PC (running Windows XP and Office 2003 SP3),
then attempt to open the file on my Mac (G5 running Leopard 10.5.1 and Office
2005 version 11.3.7), the Mac gets a File Protection dialog box with buttons
for read-only and notify. This is good. Another PC users in our IS department
also gets a notification. However, two other test Macs (a G4 running OS
10.4.10 and Excel 11.3.3, and a G5 running OS 10.4.10 and Office 11.3.7) open
the file as read-only with no notification.

I've also put Office 2008 on the test G5, but the results were the same; the
file opens as read-only if my PC or my G5 have the file open.

2) If I open the file on my Mac first, the results are the same as in No. 1;
the PC gets a "File In Use" dialog box and the read-only and notify buttons;
the test G4 and G5 open the file as read-only with no dialog box. It may be
beneficial to note at this point that network permissions don't seem to be
playing a role, as I log into the server using my own account on each test
machine.

3) If I open the file first on either of the test Macs, no other machine can
open the file. For example, if I open the test file on the test G4, the test
G5 gets the following message:
"Test.xls cannot be accessed. The file may be read-only, or you may be
trying to access a read-only location. Or, the server the document is stored
on may not be responding."
When I click "Cancel," a dialog box reports "Cannot access test.xls."
Interestingly, when I try to open the test file on my Mac or my PC, the first
dialog box is skipped and I only get the "Cannot access test.xls" dialog box.

Any insight on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Users have
reported to me that similar files had behaved correctly (with the
notification box) up until recently, but I'm not sure what if anything has
changed. If anyone needs more details to attempt to solve this, I'll do my
best to come up with them.

Thanks,
Kevin

EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice
WPF And The Model View View Model Pattern
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials...l-view-vi.aspx