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Password error from Word2003 to Word2007

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 12, 2009, 9:16:29 AM5/12/09
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Hi everyone,

if someone protects a Word2003-DOC with a password and converts this
file into Word2007-DOCX then the former password is wrong. Did anyone
find a solution to this?

Both passwords have been set by an add-in so that we're sure they are
correct.

Thanks, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 12, 2009, 11:43:39 AM5/12/09
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I don't see this problem. How are you converting the document, and how are
you saving the document? And what do you mean by 'both passwords'?

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message
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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 12, 2009, 12:57:48 PM5/12/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> I don't see this problem. How are you converting the document, and how are
> you saving the document? And what do you mean by 'both passwords'?

users in the company are working either with w2003 or w2007. Those who
made a w2003 document (which is a form and therefore automatically
password protected) send this to another user. Some of them sometimes
use w2007, so they convert their file into a docx-document.
When opening the docx, an add-in needs to unprotect the file with the
same password and stops because w2007 doesn't accept the w2003
password. We checked it manually: a w2003-doc with password, converted
into w2007-docx, cannot be unprotected with this password!

So what to do?

bye, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 12, 2009, 2:52:43 PM5/12/09
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I hadn't registered you meant protected for forms, sorry, I was thinking of
encryption. It rings a bell, although the details escape me for the moment,
but I cannot recreate the situation; when I convert a .doc form to a .docx
form, it still unprotects with the same password (manually and in VBA).

What version of Word 2007 are your users using - SP1, or SP2? And, thank you
for the extra detail but you haven't answered the questions: how are the
users converting the document, and what are _both_ passwords (you only
mention one).

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 13, 2009, 2:12:10 PM5/13/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> What version of Word 2007 are your users using - SP1, or SP2? And, thank you
> for the extra detail but you haven't answered the questions: how are the
> users converting the document, and what are _both_ passwords (you only
> mention one).

Q1: My version is 12.0.4518.1014 MSO 12.0.6036.5000 (seems to be no
service pack), but I don't know what the company has installed.

Q2: I'm not sure how the users are converting the documents. The
company has installed the w2003-compatibility-pack (for those who are
still working with w2003), so they might use that SaveAsW2007 option.
We are external programmers and get their documents via email. To see
this error, we opened a w2003-doc with the w2007 (showing
[compatibility mode] in the top most caption) and then save it as a
w2007-DOCX.

Q3: The "both" passwords are one single password only. The w2003-doc
is protected by a w2003-AddIn when using one of the templates and the
w2007-AddIn has been copied from the old AddIn (with a new ribbon
interface) und uses the same code/password to unprotect and protect
the document.

Hope this helps to enlighten the darkness ;->

bye, Lorenz

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 14, 2009, 12:13:53 PM5/14/09
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Hi Tony and all the others,

we found new hints! The error needs a macro with
Public const p_cstrPW = "abc"

ActiveDocument.Protect wdAllowOnlyFormFields, True, p_cstrPW
and another macro with
ActiveDocument.Unprotect p_cstrPW

Between running those two macros you have to save, close and open the
document. With a non-SP2 Office 2007 this will work correctly, with a
SP2 Office 2007 there is the "incorrect password" error!

Can anyone proove this?

Thanks, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 14, 2009, 2:37:51 PM5/14/09
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OK - I can duplicate this on SP2. It doesn't need any macros. Open a .doc
protected form and save it as a .docx in SP2, close it reopen it, and the
password is invalid.

I'll see what I can find out.

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 14, 2009, 4:18:29 PM5/14/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> OK - I can duplicate this on SP2. It doesn't need any macros. Open a .doc
> protected form and save it as a .docx in SP2, close it reopen it, and the
> password is invalid.
>
> I'll see what I can find out.

Great!
And the problem becames even stranger: if you unprotect the file
_before_ closing it everything is still okay. It needs to be closed.

bye, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 24, 2009, 8:51:14 PM5/24/09
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Hi Lorenz,

I have just been informed that there is a hotfix that may resolve this
issue. It worked for me with some limited testing, so give it a try:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961/en-us

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Jay Freedman

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May 25, 2009, 9:06:26 PM5/25/09
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It works for me, too, in both directions (.doc to .docx, and .docx to .doc).

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 26, 2009, 7:30:34 AM5/26/09
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Hi Jay and Tony,

Jay Freedman schrieb:


> It works for me, too, in both directions (.doc to .docx, and .docx to .doc).

I will try it (but have to reinstall SP2 before...).

thanks, Lorenz

Jay Freedman

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May 26, 2009, 9:26:52 AM5/26/09
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Lorenz, it might be best to wait a day or two while we check out a report
that the hotfix has a problem. MVP Cindy Meister reported this to us:

"FWIW a person in the VSTO forum reports this hotfix did fix that problem
but
caused another, a biggie. Apparently running the hotfix destroyed the doc
variables in the file. See

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsto/thread/15b2d25a-00e8-4283-8a4e-0045254594b2 "

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 26, 2009, 10:05:24 AM5/26/09
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Hi Jay,

Jay Freedman schrieb:


> Lorenz, it might be best to wait a day or two while we check out a report
> that the hotfix has a problem. MVP Cindy Meister reported this to us:
>
> "FWIW a person in the VSTO forum reports this hotfix did fix that problem
> but
> caused another, a biggie. Apparently running the hotfix destroyed the doc
> variables in the file. See

thanks for the warning, I've read the link. We're not working with
original docs and planned to check this particular problem as well.

bye, Lorenz

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 26, 2009, 1:57:12 PM5/26/09
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Hi,

did anyone succeed in getting the hotfix? The requested email didn't
come within the announced 5 minutes. We asked for the hotfix this
morning (about 5 hrs. ago) and got a confirmation. Don't they send it
anymore due to the second problem??

Regards, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 26, 2009, 3:55:41 PM5/26/09
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I got it successfully yesterday and checked it out before posting here.

I have just requested it again (using a different e-mail address because I
didn't know whether it might reject the same one again) and got the e-mail
in less than a minute.

If it's not in your junk mail, I would try again.

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 26, 2009, 4:11:56 PM5/26/09
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Hi Tony,

we tried it from two different email addresses and looked into the
junk mail folder. Well, I'll give it another try from a third one...

thanks, Lorenz

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 26, 2009, 4:17:50 PM5/26/09
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...yes, my third email address was worth a response ;->

regards, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 26, 2009, 5:05:31 PM5/26/09
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Glad you finally got it.

I would be interested to know what benefit Microsoft get for making this
such a complex procedure - not just the e-mail, but the frequently changing
password as well. I know you can't answer, I'm just musing :)

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Tony Jollans

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May 26, 2009, 6:33:28 PM5/26/09
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I have done some testing on this and it does appear that the hotfix is
causing the destruction of document variables. I will raise the issue with
Microsoft and report back when I have more information.

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Jay Freedman" <jay.fr...@verizon.net> wrote in message
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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 27, 2009, 2:17:58 AM5/27/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> I have done some testing on this and it does appear that the hotfix is
> causing the destruction of document variables. I will raise the issue with
> Microsoft and report back when I have more information.

is it ActiveDocument.Variables or
ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties? Are they being destroyed by
saving the document or do I have to delete one to destroy the others?

Regards, Lorenz

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 27, 2009, 2:23:01 AM5/27/09
to
Hi Tony,

> I would be interested to know what benefit Microsoft get for making this
> such a complex procedure - not just the e-mail, but the frequently changing
> password as well. I know you can't answer, I'm just musing :)

It was the first attempt to introduce a changing password. And that
was such a great idea that they added this feature to Word and even
improved it: a password that changes immediately...

Being awestruck,
Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 27, 2009, 4:15:14 AM5/27/09
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LOL!

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Tony Jollans

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May 27, 2009, 4:18:37 AM5/27/09
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It is ActiveDocument.Variables. In my tests they were destroyed on saving
the document - after I had added new ones (that is, both the ones I had
added and existing ones I hadn't changed). I haven't done extensive tests, I
figured any level of data destruction is intolerable.

I haven't looked at Document Properties - I daren't!!

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 27, 2009, 6:44:34 AM5/27/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> It is ActiveDocument.Variables. In my tests they were destroyed on saving
> the document - after I had added new ones (that is, both the ones I had
> added and existing ones I hadn't changed). I haven't done extensive tests, I
> figured any level of data destruction is intolerable.
>
> I haven't looked at Document Properties - I daren't!!

The CustomDocumentProperties did survive, but you're right: any data
destruction is intolerable. And unfortunately we use the variables in
our code.

It's your turn again, Microsoft!

Regards, Lorenz

Lorenz Hölscher

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May 29, 2009, 9:14:30 AM5/29/09
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Hi Tony,

Tony Jollans schrieb:


> I have done some testing on this and it does appear that the hotfix is
> causing the destruction of document variables. I will raise the issue with
> Microsoft and report back when I have more information.

did you succeed in discussing the issue with MS? "My" company needs to
solve this problem (no more form field documents world-wide for them!)
and will escalate the problem to MS. Is there something like a ticket
number or a we-know-the-problem-and-are-thinking-about-it-message or
even an announcement of a second hotfix?

Thanks,
Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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May 29, 2009, 11:23:58 AM5/29/09
to
Hi Lorenz,

I raised both the original password issue, and the hotfix variable issue
separately on "Connect" (connect.microsoft.com). The IDs are 452381, and
458719, respectively; they say they are publicly viewable but whether that
really means public, or just MVPs, I'm not sure (I haven't really got to
grips with Connect yet). They promise to review issues within five working
days but have not yet responded to either, which is rather disappointing.

To my mind the second issue is by far the more serious in that it is 'silent
but deadly' (you get no indication it has happened until you've already lost
your data). Form protection passwords can be removed and nothing is lost,
and only a limited number of users are affected. I can only hope they are
working hard to solve this issue.

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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Lorenz Hölscher

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May 29, 2009, 1:40:00 PM5/29/09
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Hi Tony,

we'll see what will happen (or will not).

Thanks, Lorenz

Tony Jollans

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Jul 2, 2009, 12:51:27 PM7/2/09
to

There is now a hotfix for the hotfix. Although I haven't personally tested
it, I am told it works. The description at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970942 does not mention the problem directly
but, nonetheless, it is the one.

--
Enjoy,
Tony

www.WordArticles.com

"Lorenz H�lscher" <inte...@software-dozent.de> wrote in message

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