File locking issues since upgrade to XP

[Farren Constable]

We recently upgraded our accounting department from a
mixture of Win 98 and Win 2K to Win XP. They had Office 2K
before and after the upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, when
one user had an Excel file open off of the network, and a
second user tried to open the same file, Excel would give
a warning that it was in use and do you want to open it as
read-only. Since the upgrade to Win XP, there are no
warnings. Multiple users are now opening the same Excel
files without any warning and are clobbering each others
changes. I do not necessarily want to enable the
workgroup sharing features of Excel. I'd rather just have
it work the way it used to: warn that the file is in use.
The network OS is Netware 6.0.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Farren

[Seaver]

Dear Farren,

Thank you for your posting.

According to your post, excel file won't prompt "in use" when being
simultaneously opened by multiple users.

If I have misunderstood your concern please don't hesitate to let me know.

1. Could you please confirm whether any newly created Excel XLS or Word DOC
file will encounter the same symptom?

2. In Windows XP, we suggest adopt "Offline Files" and "Briefcase" feature
to meet your requirement. The Briefcase feature in Windows XP helps you
keep your files updated by automatically synchronizing multiple copies of
individual files. In other words, Briefcase keeps track of the relationship
between files on two or more computers.

For example, if you use a desktop computer at the office, and you use a
portable computer when you are on the road, Briefcase synchronizes and
updates the files on your desktop computer to the modified versions when
you reconnect your portable computer to the desktop computer.

Since the instructions are lengthy, please refer to the following articles:

307885 HOW TO: Use the Briefcase Feature in Windows XP
[url]http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307885[/url]

312171 HOW TO: Configure Offline Files to Synchronize When a Particular
Network
[url]http://support.microsoft.com/?id=312171[/url]

Hope them help!

Sincerely,

Seaver Ren

Product Support Services
Microsoft Corporation

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