> HOORAY !!! Doug, THANK YOU !!
>
> This isn't *exacty* what you suggested, but your ideas came close enough
> to
> prompt me to try something...
>
> I solved it by opening up a totally NEW document in Word (i.e. a "clean"
> one, based only on the Normal template). Then, from the rogue file, I
> simply
> selected all the contents and copied them over into the new document
> (fortunately it copied over the Headers and Footers too!). Third, I saved
> the new document. Fourth, I used IT for the mail merge instead of the
> rogue
> file... and it WORKED !!!
>
> I dunno HOW long it would have taken me to figure this out on my own.
> Doug,
> may you be avalanched by Good Karma :-)
>
> Paul B
>
> **********************
>
> "Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote:
>
>> It could be something to do with the length of the path\filename. What
>> happens if you try with the file in a shorter path (make it really short
>> for
>> a test).
>>
>> Are there any macros or INCLUDETEXT fields in the mail merge main
>> document
>> that could be trying to open the second file. Or perhaps that file is
>> the
>> template from which the main document was created. Is that template
>> available on the machine on which you are trying to execute the merge?
>> With
>> the mail merge main document open, from the Developer tab of the Ribbon,
>> select Document Template and change the attached template to the Normal
>> template and see if that makes any difference.
>>
>> --
>> Hope this helps.
>>
>> Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
>> services on a paid consulting basis.
>>
>> Doug Robbins - Word MVP
>>
>> "Paul B" <PaulB[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:17A15A15-20C9-44E9-A049-198A6E97FC11[ at ]microsoft.com...
>> > ARRRGGHH !!!! This problem REALLY has me stumped!!
>> >
>> > I'm trying to do a mail merge (using Word), and I'm actually *starting*
>> > the
>> > process from Outlook. The problem is - Outlook (or perhaps Word?)
>> > insists
>> > on
>> > going out and grabbing the WRONG FILE, and then it gives me a couple of
>> > error
>> > messages because this "wrong file" is supposedly "being used by another
>> > process"!
>> >
>> > I'm using Office 2007 on Vista Home Premium, including Word 2007 and
>> > Outlook
>> > 2007 with Business Contact Manager. Here's how the problem occurs:
>> >
>> > **Step 1.** When trying to MAIL MERGE, in the "Mail Merge Contacts"
>> > dialog
>> > box I use the Browse... button, go out and select for the merge an
>> > EXISTING
>> > document file (350KB in size and named YYMM-LNAME##-PFNNOTES.DOC) in
>> > the
>> > following directory:
>> >
>> > C:\Users\Paul\Documents\T\m\admin\forms\1 TCABS business document
>> > templates\300 Project File Name Notes
>> >
>> > (BTW, please note this file path)
>> >
>> >
>> > **Step 2.** Then I click "OK" to do the merge, but instead I get TWO
>> > error
>> > messages:
>> >
>> > FIRST error message (appears to come from Outlook):
>> >
>> > "Word cannot open this document template."
>> > (C:\...\2A Draft Client Feedback Form...)
>> >
>> > (please note THIS path also)
>> >
>> >
>> > SECOND error message (also appears to come from Outlook):
>> >
>> > "the process cannot access the file because it is being used by
>> > another process"
>> >
>> >
>> > Anyways, after this happens I notice several things:
>> >
>> > a)***here's what's REALLY strange*** If you look above, you'll see that
>> > the
>> > FILE PATH that appears along with the "Word cannot open this document
>> > template" method is DIFFERENT from the file path that I used to select
>> > the
>> > merge file (which by the way is a DOC file; I don't know why the error
>> > message refers to it as a TEMPLATE (i.e. DOT) file)
>> >
>> > b) in the folder containing the .DOC file I wanted to use for the
>> > merge,
>> > there is a new "hidden" file, only 162 bytes in size, named
>> > ~$MM-LNAME##-PFNNOTES. Is this some sort of temp file?
>> >
>> > c) The Windows Task Manager tells me that WINWORD.EXE process is still
>> > running at this point, so I "kill" it and then I'm able to delete the
>> > ~$MM-LNAME##-PFNNOTES file mentioned above - and try the mail merge all
>> > over
>> > again, to no avail.
>> >
>> > .....
>> > Well, I'm at my wit's end. I spent a LOT of time creating the mail
>> > merge
>> > document and am really annoyed that I can't use it. Do you have any
>> > idea
>> > what might be causing this problem? For any assistance you can provide,
>> > THANK YOU kindly!
>>
>>
>>