Microsoft KB Archive/81121

-

{| The information in this article applies to:
 * width="100%"|
 * Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

SUMMARY
If you do not have READ, WRITE, CREATE, MODIFY, and DELETE or ERASE rights in the network directory where you are trying to save a file, Microsoft Word for Windows returns the following error message on a Novell network:

Word Cannot Save or Create File

MORE INFORMATION
READ, WRITE, CREATE, and DELETE (or ERASE, for earlier versions of Novell) are the minimum rights required for saving a file the first time. READ, WRITE, CREATE, MODIFY, and DELETE are necessary for saving over a file previously saved to the network drive. You must have MODIFY rights if you are trying to save over a previously saved file.

You can check your rights by going to MS-DOS Shell and typing RIGHTS at the prompt. If you have the above rights, the response should include the following:

[R WDM C] The above-mentioned error also occurs if you DO have the correct rights in the appropriate directory, but one or more of the following conditions exist:
 * 1) You do not have rights on the current directory (that is, the directory Word displays above the Directories box in the File Open dialog box). This error occurs when you open or save a file. You must change the current directory in the File Open or File Save As dialog box to a directory in which you have rights.
 * 2) The directory is Search Mapped (for example X:\USERS\USER1).
 * 3) You have gone to Shell and moved to the root of X: (for example, by typing &quot;CD\&quot;).
 * 4) You do not have READ, WRITE, and CREATE rights at X:\.
 * 5) You try to save a file to X:TEST.DOC.

This error occurs because Novell Search Drives do not hold their places if you move between directories on the same Search Drive. For example, when you type &quot;X:&quot; after logging in, you are taken to X:\USERS\USER1 because that is the Search Map that was set up with the login script. However, if you move from the X:\USERS\USER1 to the X:\ directory, the Search Map changes to X:\. In the above example, if you usually type &quot;X:\TEST.DOC&quot; in the File Name box when you save the file, you now receive the &quot;Cannot Open Cannot Create File&quot; error message because Novell is mapping X: to X:\ (where you do not have rights) instead of to X:\USERS\USER1.

Workaround
Create a Map Root to the directory in which you usually store files. This prevents Word from changing the current directory to a directory where you do not have rights.

Note: In this case, Novell is behaving similar to MS-DOS. For example, if you move from D:\WINDOWS to the C drive, you can copy a file with the command COPY TEST.DOC D: and it is copied to the D:\WINDOWS directory.
 * }

-

Last reviewed: July 30, 1997

© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.