nanowrimo_lj | I need help! :'(

First off, I'm sorry if this bothers anyone, but I really need help right now.

Alright, so I was working on my word count earlier today, when I had to stop to take my sister-in-law to a job interview. I then had the clever idea of bringing my laptop with me, so I could work out in my car while I was waiting for my sister-in-law to finish up. Low and behold, when I opened up the document, it said that nothing could be changed because the entry was locked. I've tried everything I could think of to unlock it, but it's not just that file. Anything I try to open with Microsoft word can't be changed. So right now, I'm really just happy that I decided to back up my story last night, so I've only lost about 500 words or so.

Now, the point of my story is this: does anyone know how I can unlock Microsoft word to access my files? Or, if not, do you know about an alternate program I could use that would be compatible with Windows Vista? I do have Word Pad on my laptop, which I'm going to have to use for now, but if any one could tell me a better program that at least had a spell check, that would be amazing.

Thanks for your help and patience. :)

EDIT: I managed to finally open the file in Microsoft Works Word Processor! I still don't know what's wrong with Microsoft Word 2007, but I managed to start a new program without losing any word count, which is the most important part, really. Thanks to all those who helped me! I'm really really grateful!

:)