Hi. I've got a question about a shared Excel file stored on Windows 2000
server. This file is accessed by two different Windows XP end users running
Excel 2002 on their machines. Recently these two different end users have
been accessing the same shared Excel file simultaneously without the usual
file lock or warning that the file is in use. Sometimes they get the
warning, sometimes not. When they don't, they assume they have rights to
save to the file, only to find later on that their changes were not saved.

I'm having both check for updates so that their Microsoft software is current.

Any clues what's going on?

Unfortunately this isn't a reply with a fix.

However I have been able to replicate this issue somewhat.

Lets say there are two files stored a the Windows 2000 server share.. FileA
which is just some random excel file, and File B is commonly opened by two
users on different computers.

If the first user opens FileA, THEN opens FileB AFTER FileA has been loaded.
The second user on another computer can then open FileB without receiving the
warning. Note that this does not happen 100% of the time but MOST of the time.

I have reversed the files and it makes no difference. (FileB is opened
first, then open FileA and it isn't locked properly). It seems the second and
subsequent files are not being locked properly. This eliminates any issues
with the files. The timestamps on the files DO change after the first user
opens both files, which is an indication of Excel attempting to the lock the
files.

I am running Windows XP Machines with XP 2 and fully hotfixed to the latest
hotfixes, and Excel 2002 SP3 with all the Excel updates. I have tried on a
Windows Server 2000 with SP3 and one with SP4 and both file servers exhibit
the same issue.

Copying two excel files to the local hard disk of the Windows XP machine
shows the file locking properly. Also copying them to a share on a Windows
2003 (no SP1) server also shows the file locking properly.