MS Word file locked for editing

I am having a problem with one particular Word document on a shared drive.

If a user has the file open and another user then tries to open it the second user gets the standard 'xyz.doc is locked for editing by username' message.

Problem is that the user name given as having the file locked for editing is the same no matter who has the file open!

I have copied the text from the file into a new Word document and saved it with a different name, having done this it works ok and displays the correct user name of whoever has it open.

I have then deleted the original file and re-named the new one to the original name but as soon as I do this the problem re-occurrs.

It appears that somehow the file name has become associated with this one particular user name and no matter who has it open Word seems to think she is in it.

The users are reluctant to re-name the file permanently so I need a way to get it to work correctly with the original file name.

Has anyone come across this before or have any ideas what else I can try?

 

This may be extreme, but if this is in an AD environment, you might want to try deleting the AD account of the user who "locks" this file. Then try opening it. It it possible that somewhere, deep in the bowels of the network this user does actually have the file open, even if perhaps they haven't even been with the company in a while.

Remember, if the account is still active, it can always be recreated.

Best,

Chris