HELP: "file locked for editing" Win/office XP

Hey everyone. Running into a bit of a serious problem with the company I'm with. We're rolling out en mass brand new computers with Windows XP and Office XP loaded on them. So far they've been running great, all save this one problem. A problem which I've seen in numerous groups on Google, but have yet to come across a solution for any of them. Here's the scoop...

Open any document for an office file (thus far, Word and Excel) and make changes to and save it.. no problem. However once you attempt to reopen the document, you're confronted with a message: The document is locked for editing by "". Then give the option to open "read-only" or to "notify" the user.

So far this has happened on every computer, but not 100% of the time. Occationally it fixes itself with time. Or if the user reboots. Or if I go to the "open files" on the server and close the document in question. The latter always shows that the document is in use (sometimes numerous times) by the user who previously had it opened.

Facts:
- it happens randomly
- happens if you: double click the file, right-click/open, file-open
- is a real pain in the butt
- OS: WinXP SP1
- Office XP sr-2
- happens to "users" and "domain admins"

I was able to find this
article from Microsoft.... alas it didn't help at all.

If you have any ideas please let me know. It's one thing when this happens to 5 users and I have to go to the server and close the file.... but it won't be long before this is happening to nigh 200 users..... ACK!

Thanks all!!

I know the "The document is locked for editing by..." error message can occur if OfficeXP hasn't been activated, which causes Office programs to be started in reduced-functionality mode. If you'd like to read up on Office activation, the below MSKB article explains it in detail...

OFFXP: About Office Activation and Reduced Functionality