Locked for editing. Unknown user.

[judylawson5]

Hi,
Since the last upgrade, word files in my folders in Documents are locked for editing. If I move the file to the desktop, it will open without fuss. As soon as it is moved back to the folder in documents, it is locked for editing again. It must be a folder problem, not a file problem. Can someone help please?

[RoryOF]

Enable "viewing of hidden and archive files" at system level. Then, with OpenOffice closed, look in the original directory in which the file was stored and delete any .~lock files.

[judylawson5]

Thanks for your information. When I right click on the properties of the file there are only 2 alternatives read only and hidden, but both boxes are clear. As I suspected the problem might be with the folder itself I did the same and the read only box was selected ,so I cleared that, restarted the computer but the problem was not fixed and the read only box in the folder properties was shaded again.

Have you another suggestion please?

[RoryOF]

With viewing of hidden and archive files enabled, you need to delete files with a name like

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

.~lock.MyFile.odt#

This is nothing to do with the original file being marked read-only.

[judylawson5]

Thanks again for your help. The only time I get .~lock.MyFile.odt# is when I have a file open. As soon as it is closed the greyed locked file disappears. I get this when the file opens correctly and when the file opens as read only. So I set up a dummy file, (wasn't game to delete the locked file of an important file) kept it open, deleted the locked file, than closed it. Now all the files in that folder are working properly.!!!!!

Was it supposed to happen like this??

[RoryOF]

Normally the lock file is created when OpenOffice opens the file for editing and s automatically deleted when the file is correctly closed. If for some reason the file is not correctly closed, or the closure process is interrupted, perhaps by a program or computer crash, the lock file is left. On next opening this file OpenOffice thinks it is being edited and will open it read-only. If a lock file is found, _with OpenOffice closed_ such files may safely be deleted. Typically such files are a few hundred bytes in size, whereas the OO file that "owns" them will be at least 6 kB.

If one regularly finds such lock files, it may be appropriate to re-consider one's method of closing the files and/or OpenOffice/the computer.

[judylawson5]

Thanks. I am sorry that this problems is not getting fixed - it is happening in another odt folder . I think I am opening the files properly - I go to documents, open the folder, get a list of files in that folder and pick the one I want to open. Pretty sure this open happened since the last update. So if the file does this I move them to the desktop so that I can save the editing. Opening on the desktop is not a problem. If I put that file back in the folder in documents - there is a problem. Maybe I shall transfer them to the folder that seems to be working OK and see what happens.

[Villeroy]

Some obscure "anti virus" corrupting the system? https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/v ... 20#p431616

[judylawson5]

These solutions are not helping. I shall explain again. In a folder X, stored in documents, I try to open one of the odt files. It tells me it is locked for editing by an unknown user. I can open a read only copy - but I can't save any editing changes. So if instead of opening it, I transfer the file to the desktop - it opens properly - no trouble. If I then close it and put it back into the folder that is in Documents, it will not open properly. How do I fix this?

Further, When I click on the Document folder and click on properties in the folder, read only is checked. If I uncheck this - it does ask for administrator permission, but then finishes the job. Check again, and it is right. Go into the list of documents stored in the document folder and the properties on these folders have the read only checked, I click to uncheck them and it goes through the process, but at the end of it the file is still read only.

[RoryOF]

With OpenOffice closed, In the Document folder enable viewing of hidden and archive files and delete any lock files. I cannot tell you with any exactitude how to do this as I haven't used Windows in years. That your file opens correctly on your Desktop and not in Documents folder is an almost certain indication that there is a lock file left in the Documents folder.

With OpenOffice closed access the OO user profile. As you are using Windows do this by:

Close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter. Open File Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar (sometimes called Windows Explorer address bar) and press Enter. Check that no lock file is shown beside or in the User folder (again, you need to enable viewing of hidden and archive files). If there is such a lock file, delete it.

Alternately, don't do anything of the above. Open a new file and Save As with a new name. In that file, /Insert /From File : old file, and Save New.odt file. Check that all your content is there, then edit to your heart's content - it would be good to check that you can Save and reopen correctly after a simple edit before doing any serious work. If this new file works correctly you could delete the old file but because of a lock file you cannot use old file name ever until old file's lock file is found and deleted.

[Bill]

These solutions are not helping. I shall explain again. In a folder X, stored in documents, I try to open one of the odt files. It tells me it is locked for editing by an unknown user. I can open a read only copy - but I can't save any editing changes. So if instead of opening it, I transfer the file to the desktop - it opens properly - no trouble. If I then close it and put it back into the folder that is in Documents, it will not open properly. How do I fix this?

If there is no lock file for the file in the Documents folder, then something on your computer is blocking OpenOffice from writing to your Documents folder. You have to find out what is blocking OpenOffice and change the settings of that something to allow OpenOffice to save documents in the folder. Another user recently reported that Bitdefender was blocking OpenOffice and had to change some setting to "Allow". If you have Bitdefender or some other program providing anti-ransomware protection, then that's the place to start looking.

Further, When I click on the Document folder and click on properties in the folder, read only is checked. If I uncheck this - it does ask for administrator permission, but then finishes the job. Check again, and it is right. Go into the list of documents stored in the document folder and the properties on these folders have the read only checked, I click to uncheck them and it goes through the process, but at the end of it the file is still read only.

When the properties dialog of a folder is first opened, the "Read only" box should be filled, not checked. The filled box indicates that the user hasn't checked or unchecked the box. There should be a check mark in the box only if the user has manually clicked the box to display a check mark. Checking that box sets the Read only attribute for all documents in the folder. Unchecking the box unsets the Read only attribute for all documents in the folder.

[robleyd]

Another user reported that Windows Defender Controlled Folder Access was preventing access to OpenOffice files - see this post for more information. Not exactly the same situation, but it may be useful.