From Word 2010 Coauthoring Guide :
Step One – Install Word 2010
Co-authoring only works in Word 2010,
so it will need to be installed on all
computers you want to co-author with.
Step Two – Set up a Microsoft SkyDrive account
This comes for
free with any Windows Live account.
More info at:
http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive.
Step Three – Create a folder on your Skydrive
Log in and create a new
folder in your Skydrive to store
speeches in. We use one account for
the whole team, with a separate
subfolder for each team. It is
recommended you use a “protected”
folder rather than a public folder –
otherwise your evidence will be
accessible by anyone.
Step Four – Find Your SkyDrive WebDAV Address
This is the unique
WebDAV identifier for your SkyDrive.
There are several ways to find this,
including using the built-in “Save To
Web” function in Word 2010. I think
the easiest method is to log in to
your Skydrive in your web browser, and
then take note of the URL. It will
look something like this:
http://cid-425e2847g321hh2e.skydrive.live.com/home.aspx
The WebDAV address is the alphanumeric
code after “cid” – "425e2847g321hh2e".
Step Five – Setup SkyDrive as a network drive
There are several
ways to map a network drive in
Windows. For ease of use, it is
recommended you set up a “batch” file
in the following step. To do it
manually, open Windows Explorer, right
click on “Computer” and select “Map
Network Drive.” Select a drive letter
(we use Z), and in “Folder” put:
\\docs.live.net@SSL\425e2847g321hh2e\DebateFolder
.
Make sure to replace the WebDAV
address above with your own
alphanumeric code, and the name of the
folder you created instead of
“DebateFolder”.
When it asks you for
a username and password, use the
information you selected when you
signed up for Skydrive, and add
“@hotmail.com” to the username:
Username: [email protected]
Password: yourpassword
That’s it! If you did everything
correctly, you will now have access to
your Skydrive account as a separate
drive on your computer, accessible
through Windows Explorer or Word. Now,
to use co-authoring, just put a Word
file on the server and open it
simultaneously with 2 separate
computers. Both users should then be
able to make edits.
Step Six – Create a .bat file
Since reconnecting the Skydrive on
each computer can be tedious, it’s
easiest to write a batch file to
automatically connect. To do this,
create a new text file on your
computer called, for example,
“Skydrive.bat” Make sure that the file
extension is .bat, not .txt. Insert
the following lines of text:
net use z: \\docs.live.net@SSL\425e2847g321hh2e\DebateFolder * /user:[email protected] start z:
Make sure to replace the WebDAV
address, folder name, drive letter,
and email address with your own
information. Save the file somewhere
convenient. Now, when you double-click
the .bat file, it should prompt you
for your password, then automatically
open the network drive in explorer.
Problems that can prevent co-authoring are listed in Why can’t I edit the server file?.
The following is a shortened extract of the article :
Another author is using a different version of Word
The new co-authoring functionality is
available only in Word 2010 and Word
for Mac 2011.
The file format is not compatible with the co-authoring functionality
The co-authoring functionality can be
used with .docx files
Edit permissions have not been granted
Other features that can’t be used with the co-authoring functionality
The co-authoring functionality is not
available if the document is marked as
final or if it includes either of the
following:
- Information Rights Management or Digital Rights Management
- Encryption
- ActiveX controls
The co-authoring functionality is not
available if the document is a master
document or a sub-document, or if the
Store random numbers to improve Combine accuracy option is not
selected.