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VISTA security won't let me open password-protected documents?

maybe it's not vista's problem rather the security that comes with it. i'll try to make it short..... my XP laptop from 2004 died this september. Thank goodness i have a home computer with XP on it, Dell, from 2002. Also have a new (2007) ACER home computer, it came with VISTA. When i brought the laptop to computer tech for fixing, I turned on the ACER(2007) for the first time. A friend and i email using password protected WORD documents. On the ACER (2007) home computer, on VISTA, all i had to do to get around the 'security' problem was disable ALL the firewall protection and then suddenly i could open my password documents. I think it was Symantec; could be AVG or Norton's. not positive. meanwhile...... wait for thanksgiving day sale to get new laptop. was first in line at office depot for nice new HP laptop. Computer tech down the street said he could wipe VISTA and put on XP, which is what he also did for my ACER(2007) ((while the two computer were both in the tech shop, I was using the old DELL from 2002)). when i went to pick it up the flashy new laptop, he said that this version of VISTA wouldn't allow him to "download drivers" or whatever, and something about the right 'fit' with the internal devices (not sure what that's all about) so that he COULD give it a different OS. (perhaps in the year between 2007 and 2008, microsoft people figured something out and now force you to pay for drivers~!). FIRST question, why did the home computer from 2007/ACER allow him to wipe VISTA and give me XP and why won't the new (2008) laptop let him do the same? SECOND question, when i tried to open a password-protected document from the new laptop, from the original email location (earthlink), it would not allow it, but then i forwarded it to yahoo but still could not open, so i know it's not an email security problem. I went to the control panel to find the firewall settings but it's not the same... it looks different... and there is no option to let me 'disable' anything for even 15minutes/30minutes/60minutes like i used to... Is there ANY way to get my VISTA to let me open a friggin' document that is password protected???? it's just a WORD document~!!!!! i'm going out of town for 3 weeks otherwise i'd ask the tech to do whatever he could to wipe VISTA and give me XP (I don't have time to wait, now that i've found this out)...(i will do the XP thing when i get back) For now, i just want to open my d@#$%^ documents on my laptop~!!

Public Comments

1. Why don't you just use the password for the Word document?