I do a lot of work on Word that I continually revise as things change.
 I am encountering a problem that I have never had before.  After I
have sent a document to My Documents and I later retrieve it, make a
change or two, I can not return it to My Documents without changing
the title.  I get a message that I already have such a file set-up and
must put in a different title.  This is a nuisance as the document is
the same with just a slight revision.  I want to keep the original
title and not have to continually change to a new title and i do not
wish to have a file for both the original (which I no longer need) and
the new revised document.  For years I have been able to do this
without any problem.  I feel quite sure that it is because I some how
have changed everything over to "Read Only" but I can not figure out
how to go back to not having that restriction. Bob

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Request for Question Clarification by blazius-ga on 26 Jan 2004 13:01 PST

- Which version of Word do you use, and on what operating system?
- Does the problem occur with only one particular file, or with all files in the
  "My Documents" folder?
- Are you connected to some kind of network with file sharing?

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Clarification of Question by instanswer-ga on 26 Jan 2004 14:22 PST

I use Word 2000 on Windows 98 operating system.  All files in My
Documents are requiring the same renaming process to save any changes.
I am not a part of any network. Thanks, Bob.

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Request for Question Clarification by blazius-ga on 27 Jan 2004 01:28 PST

I have tried to reproduce your problem on a computer with a
near-identical setup (the major difference is that I use Norwegian
versions of Windows and Word).  Unfortunately, I have not been able to
find any setting in MS Word that would generate problems like those
you describe.

I believe that the problem does not relate to Word, but it might be
that the OS has added read-only restrictions on the files in the "My
Documents" folder.  To check this, do the following:

1: Open the "My Documents" folder from your Desktop and locate one of the files
   you can't save over
2: Right-click the file and select "Properties" from the pop-up menu that
   appears
3: Check if the "Read only" box is selected.  If it is, unselect it.

You could also try this with the "My Documents" folder itself.  Do do
this, you must access the settings via the Windows Explorer
(right-clicking the folder on the Desktop won't work).  The "My
Documents" folder is probably located in the root directory of your
primary hard drive.

- Open the Windows Explorer (click "My Computer" on the Desktop, or find it in
  the Start menu
- Select the C: disk
- Select the "My Documents" directory and proceed as from "2" above

If this does not work, I really do not know how to proceed with your
problem.  It could be related to the presence of a computer virus - do
you run an updated antivirus utility?

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Request for Question Clarification by blazius-ga on 27 Jan 2004 01:32 PST

I have discovered another possible cause of your problem, but this
will normally go away if the computer is powered down and turned back
on again.  Do you do this regularily, or is it always turned on
("sleep" or "suspend" mode counts as being powered on...)?

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Clarification of Question by instanswer-ga on 27 Jan 2004 03:51 PST

I have tried each of your suggestions without success.  I do have
Norton 2003 AntiVirus protection.  The Read Only box is not checked in
either case you mentioned.  The only other thing I have noticed since
my original question is that any newly created Word document does not
act that way.  I can make changes without having to change titles. The
older documents still require it.

I appreciate your time and am still willing to pay as I have another
situation that will start tomorrow which will force my terminating any
communication with Google Answers for a while.  I am changing my
internet provider (from DSL to Cable).  My current set up is just
horrible.  The change will necessitate a new email address which will
make a change necessary to be able to sign on to my account.  I
haven't checked into how to make that change so if you happen to know
and it is no trouble to advise me, I would appreciate it.  Thanks,
Bob.

You have described that the problem is limited to a few files. 
Because we have ruled out that it is the OS that protects the files,
it would probably be Word that - for some reason - has added its
internal "read only" flag to these files.

The procedure to remove the "read only" flag is as follows:

1: Open the file - you should get a prompt asking if you wish to open the
   document in read-only mode.  Answer "no" to this prompt.  If the prompt does
   not appear, proceed anyway.
2: Choose "Save" from the "File" menu.
3: In the dialog box that appears, click "Tools" and select "General options"
4: In the bottom of the next dialog, deselect the bottom checkbox (this turns on
   the read-only mode). Click OK.
5: Save the document.  If you did not get the prompt mentioned in (1), you will
   still have to select a new file name.  You can delete the old file and rename
   the new file later after you have verified that it works OK.

I believe this should solve your problem.  If not, please request an
answer clarification when you are back online again.

To edit your e-mail address that is rgeistered with Google Answers
(GA), do the following:

- Log in on the GA website
- Select the "My Account" link (on the top of all GA pages)
- Select the "My Profile" tab
- Click the "Change Email or Password" button
- Click the "Email address" link
- Enter your new e-mail address and your password
- Click "Save email address"

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Clarification of Answer by blazius-ga on 27 Jan 2004 06:27 PST

When you have submitted your new email address, you will recieve
emails to your new and old addresses asking you to confirm (or cancel)
the address change.  Please follow the instructions in these mails
carefully to ensure that the transition goes smoothly.

Did everything possible