We have a couple of microsoft word XP files on the network, when 1 user goes and opens the file, then closes it, another user goes in it could be half hour or more and it is still locked by that user. Check the server and that user still have file open. I unlock that word file then the other users can use it. It seems like only this 1 user is causing the problem. What could be causing these records to lock up after he opens and closes the file.

The first question to ask is since it is related to such and such user that is good information. The next good thing to narrow down is this related to other things on that user's computer or just that specific word file. One way to test that is to create another word file on that computer with just something like test in the text then save it. Copy that to another computer that you know it works right on. Then you know if it is something to do with that specific word file or not because that matters and helps narrow things down. Other things to check are if there are any other general problems with that users computer with the problem. There could be other issues on the computer such as viruses, spyware, trojans, needing defrag, etc. Just try scanning it and defrag it anyway.