Question

How to unlock a document (template)

Asked by: Mariae

Good morning,
I have a client that has created a template , is something like an agreement and when she created it she used the FORMS and lock protection, I guess for a while she did not use it, now she is ready to modify it but she is having  probem with it, I see the lock but is all greyed out and can not unprotect the document, in the meantime whatever she locked can not be modified, I tried going into the tools and see if there was something I could reset there, nothing seemed to help, I tried various things even reinsatllling Word without avail, she has a windows 2000 OS with Office XP and she has the latest service pack, why is not allowing her to unlock the protected document.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely
Mariae

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2003-11-18 at 10:20:45ID20801792
Tags

word

,

unlock

,

document

,

how

Topic

Microsoft Word

Participating Experts
4
Points
300
Comments
9

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Excel Unlocking
    Hiya, I locked a Sheet in a workbook and must have made a typo or forgot password. Is there anyway of finding out what this is or unlocking it please? Thanks
  2. unlocked
    what does unlocked mean?
  3. Unlock GSM Phones.
    I have heard and read about unlocking GSM phones. What does it mean and how can I unlock my GSM phone. it is nokia 3650. There are a lot of online services ranging from $5 to $ 40. Why so? dont they all mean and do the same. Please let me know how to unlock my phone or if the...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2003-11-18 at 10:32:44ID: 9772820

Mariae:

You're lucky. This is an easy one.
Open a blank document.
Hit Insert-File and choose her agreement file.

When you do this, document protection is lost.
If it doesn't work for some reason, please let us know if there's any VBA code in the file.

 

by: JOrzechPosted on 2003-11-18 at 19:42:37ID: 9776165

Dreamboat is right - I actually did this at work today earlier.....if the document doesn't format properly, copy the styles over.

 

by: MariaePosted on 2003-11-18 at 20:32:16ID: 9776321

Hi Dreamboat,
Thank you for your answer, it worked, she did tell me that her document moved a little bit, anyway, she asked if she wants to lock and unlock the document can that be done, since she is the only one that can modify the document, and she does not want anybody else to do it, and for that reason she locks it, if she locks the document again, would she be able to unlock at a later time.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Mariae

 

by: DreamboatPosted on 2003-11-18 at 22:06:26ID: 9776588

Sure, she can do that Mariae.
But she has to remember the password or do not use a password.

Just go to Tools-Protect Document, and choose Forms.

 

by: Alexandre2004Posted on 2004-01-03 at 16:19:09ID: 10035613

Dear Sr.
Good evening. I am writing to you in order to ask kindly for technical assistance. Could you please help me?
I've been experiencing problems with the Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 i.e. Word, PowerPoint and Excel. I bought this software on December 30 2003 at the store Staples, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. When I try to type in the Word files that I have in my computer (:C) or floppy disk (:A), the following message appears at the bottom of the computer screen: This modification is not allowed because the document is locked. The tool bar is all greyed out including the tool "unprotect the document". Please let me know what should I do in this peculiar situation.
Thank you very much indeed for your attention and invaluable help.
Best Regards
Alex
Graduate student
Guelph, Ontario, Canada

 

by: Alexandre2004Posted on 2004-01-03 at 16:20:07ID: 10035620

Dear Mariae
Dear Dreamboat
Good evening. I am writing to you in order to ask kindly for technical assistance. Could you please help me?
I've been experiencing problems with the Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 i.e. Word, PowerPoint and Excel. I bought this software on December 30 2003 at the store Staples, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. When I try to type in the Word files that I have in my computer (:C) or floppy disk (:A), the following message appears at the bottom of the computer screen: This modification is not allowed because the document is locked. The tool bar is all greyed out including the tool "unprotect the document". Please let me know what should I do in this peculiar situation.
Thank you very much indeed for your attention and invaluable help.
Best Regards
Alex
Graduate student
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
[Email address removed by JOrzech - EE Page Editor - Word]

 

by: moiracrichtonPosted on 2004-08-16 at 05:07:47ID: 11809158

Hello,
I have a frustrating problem. When I open an existing word document or create a new one, I cannot make any changes to them as a message says "This modification is not allowed because the document is locked." Almost every option on the toolbar is greyed (including all the permissions and protection stuff). I have uninstalled and reinstalled my Office 2003 but the problem persists. I read the advice given to others with the same/sinilar problem but any recommendations were greyed out on my computer and I could go no further.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mog

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...