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#1
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ghost-like backup files on desktop
Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate
dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#2
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Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ -
all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#3
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These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome
if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#4
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I am new to this group and hope I may joint in this particular discussion.
I have also started to have the problem with "ghost" files - as Steve calls them. This only started a couple of months ago. I store my documents in a My Documents folder and when I open one to work on it, I now notice that the file name is repeated at the beginning of the list of files with a squiggle in front of it. The squiggle obliterates the first letter or so. This entry disappears when I close and later reopen Word. Why has this just started to happen - and how can I stop it? Hope someone can help. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#5
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It has only 'started a couple of months ago' if you set Windows Explorer to
display hidden files a couple of months ago. This is intentional behaviour. These are Word's temporary files. Ignore them or turn off the hidden file display again. Frankly it is better to know what is being stored on your PC. See also http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: I am new to this group and hope I may joint in this particular discussion. I have also started to have the problem with "ghost" files - as Steve calls them. This only started a couple of months ago. I store my documents in a My Documents folder and when I open one to work on it, I now notice that the file name is repeated at the beginning of the list of files with a squiggle in front of it. The squiggle obliterates the first letter or so. This entry disappears when I close and later reopen Word. Why has this just started to happen - and how can I stop it? Hope someone can help. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#6
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Graham - Thank you for this information. I must have set Windows Explorer to
display hidden files accidentally and would appreciate knowing how to reverse the process. Are you able to advise me? Many thanks - Alvis "Graham Mayor" wrote: It has only 'started a couple of months ago' if you set Windows Explorer to display hidden files a couple of months ago. This is intentional behaviour. These are Word's temporary files. Ignore them or turn off the hidden file display again. Frankly it is better to know what is being stored on your PC. See also http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: I am new to this group and hope I may joint in this particular discussion. I have also started to have the problem with "ghost" files - as Steve calls them. This only started a couple of months ago. I store my documents in a My Documents folder and when I open one to work on it, I now notice that the file name is repeated at the beginning of the list of files with a squiggle in front of it. The squiggle obliterates the first letter or so. This entry disappears when I close and later reopen Word. Why has this just started to happen - and how can I stop it? Hope someone can help. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#7
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Frankly I would leave the hidden file display active. It makes trouble
shooting simpler, and if temporary files are orphaned through crashes they can cause all sorts of problems. Better to know they are there. However, you can turn off the display from Windows Explorer Tools Folder Options View uncheck 'show hidden files and folders' -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: Graham - Thank you for this information. I must have set Windows Explorer to display hidden files accidentally and would appreciate knowing how to reverse the process. Are you able to advise me? Many thanks - Alvis "Graham Mayor" wrote: It has only 'started a couple of months ago' if you set Windows Explorer to display hidden files a couple of months ago. This is intentional behaviour. These are Word's temporary files. Ignore them or turn off the hidden file display again. Frankly it is better to know what is being stored on your PC. See also http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: I am new to this group and hope I may joint in this particular discussion. I have also started to have the problem with "ghost" files - as Steve calls them. This only started a couple of months ago. I store my documents in a My Documents folder and when I open one to work on it, I now notice that the file name is repeated at the beginning of the list of files with a squiggle in front of it. The squiggle obliterates the first letter or so. This entry disappears when I close and later reopen Word. Why has this just started to happen - and how can I stop it? Hope someone can help. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
#8
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Many thanks for this explanation. I will take your advice and leave them
alone. "Graham Mayor" wrote: Frankly I would leave the hidden file display active. It makes trouble shooting simpler, and if temporary files are orphaned through crashes they can cause all sorts of problems. Better to know they are there. However, you can turn off the display from Windows Explorer Tools Folder Options View uncheck 'show hidden files and folders' -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: Graham - Thank you for this information. I must have set Windows Explorer to display hidden files accidentally and would appreciate knowing how to reverse the process. Are you able to advise me? Many thanks - Alvis "Graham Mayor" wrote: It has only 'started a couple of months ago' if you set Windows Explorer to display hidden files a couple of months ago. This is intentional behaviour. These are Word's temporary files. Ignore them or turn off the hidden file display again. Frankly it is better to know what is being stored on your PC. See also http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm -- Graham Mayor - Word MVP My web site www.gmayor.com Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org Alvis wrote: I am new to this group and hope I may joint in this particular discussion. I have also started to have the problem with "ghost" files - as Steve calls them. This only started a couple of months ago. I store my documents in a My Documents folder and when I open one to work on it, I now notice that the file name is repeated at the beginning of the list of files with a squiggle in front of it. The squiggle obliterates the first letter or so. This entry disappears when I close and later reopen Word. Why has this just started to happen - and how can I stop it? Hope someone can help. "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: These are temp files and are unavoidable. They will be far less troublesome if you store your documents somewhere other than on the desktop, which is really not a good place to store them, anyway. If you want a specific document to be easily accessible, store it in My Documents (or another documents folder) and put a shortcut to it on the desktop. You might also want to check out Word's Work menu; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WorkMenu.htm. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "steve" wrote in message ... Actually, on further inspection, only the first ghost file starts with ~$ - all the others are in the format ~WRL followed by a number. The icon in these cases is not a Word one, but one of those 'undefined' icons. "steve" wrote: Whenever I work on a document for a long period of time I seem to accumulate dozens of copies of the file, all starting with ~$ and followed by part of the file name. I assume these are some sort of back up copies, but they really clutter my desktop and make switching between applications and documents tricky. Is there any way of not showing them? Many thanks Steve |
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