Duplicate files open from autorecover

[Wendy]

Excel has developed an annoying problem that reinstalling/repair hasn't
cured. I haven't changed any settings so I'm not sure what is causing
the problem. I have files set to autorecover every 10 minutes. Usually
when I've got a file open a very small temporary file (*.TMP, several K
only in size) is opened while I'm working with it, but these disappear
after I close Excel. What is happening instead is that when autorecover
occurs, a second file is opened of the exactly same size as the orginal
one -- this second file has the name of the file I'm working with and a
numeric code appended to the end, with a *.tmp extension. Problem is --
these files do not disappear after I close Excel and they have to be
deleted manually. Furthermore, it is as if these new files open an
entirely new copy of Excel each time they are created. If I check task
manager you see the name of the file open in addition to any *.tmp
copies that have created themselves. Naturally all these additional
copies of Excel end up sucking up all the RAM on my computer. You also
can't "kill" these additional files without killing Excel as a whole.

I have absolutely no idea why it has started doing this. The only thing
I can think to do is to unstall Office 2003 completely and reinstall
the whole thing again from the beginning. I'm not sure what got
scrambled or even how. I haven't changed any settings. I'm running
Windows XP. My PC is clean -- I am very diligent about spyware,
antivirus, etc. I use AVG free and several antispam programs (Spybot,
Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard).

I've done searches through the archives and at Microsoft, but haven't
found my particular problem described. This is driving me nuts because
I use Excel daily so I can't be manually deleting these files all the
time or having to close Excel down constantly to remove the extra
copies running. Any ideas?

 

[Dave Peterson]

Some people have said that their anti virus software (not AVG) creates .tmp
files. (I've never seen excel create these .tmp files in any folder except the
windows temporary folder.

A while ago, someone posted back that uninstalling something called "Panda
ClientShield" fixed a similar problem.

Even if you're not running "Panda ClientShield", you could try disabling the
Antivirus program to see if the problem goes away.

 

[Wendy]

Unfortunately disabling AVG didn't fix the problem. I also tried asking
a question at the AVG forum and was told it was absolutely not related
to AVG but definitely related to Excel. Incidentally, my husband is
running AVG and Excel 2003 and doesn't have the problem I'm getting.
The only Office program that is having this problem is Excel. Turning
off "autorecover" isn't an option I care to try but I may be forced
into doing this if it keeps up. Anyone else have any ideas as to the
cause or a potential cure? I haven't changed any settings. The whole
thing is just bizarre.

 

[Wendy]

Update on the problem: I previously thought that it was autorecover
that was the culprit but that doesn't appear to be the case. I had one
workbook open and noticed that a *.tmp file was created with an older
date (probably the last time I'd saved the file?) the first time I
tried to save a change. Additional *.tmp files were created every time
I manually saved a new change to the file. It doesn't appear that
autorecover is the problem -- manual saves are. I spent some more time
searching through the knowledge base at Microsoft -- still no luck.
These temp files are not in the usual location -- they are in the same
folder in which my original files are located. In a span of 10 minutes
I ended up creating 4 temp files all of the same size as my original
file. Closing Excel didn't remove them so I had to manually delete
them. I do not have any "ghost" copies of Excel open according to the
task manager.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I've never seen excel create a .tmp file (outside the windows temp folder). So
I still don't think it's excel--do you use that Panda ClientShield software?

And did you test AVG by (temporarily) disabling it to see what happened?

Some background:

When excel saves the file, it saves it as a temporary file with a funny name (8
characters--no extension).

If the save is successful, xl will delete the original (or rename it to its
backup name (like "backup of book1.xlk)) and if that's successful, xl will
rename the funny named file to the original's name.

 

[Wendy]

No, I don't use Panda Client Shield. Yes, I did disable AVG and it
didn't fix the problem. Excel though has always saved a small temporary
file when I open something (my folders are set to show hidden files so
I can see them). Word & PowerPoint do something similar, but not like
Excel has been doing the past few days. The Excel problem is unique
cause it is a full copy of the entire file, not a tiny file only a
couple of K. I understand what you're saying but the problem is that
excel is not deleting the temporary files and is creating new ones
every time I save.

For example, I just made a tiny change to a file and saved it. An
additional temporary file was created with the file name followed by
~RF26c83af.TMP. This file was dated when I last saved the file (last
night). I made a second change and saved again. A new temporary file
was created with the date/time I saved the file last today and the
extension ~RF26dad2b.TMP. It sounds like it is Excel generating these,
not something else. If I exit Excel, the files remain on my computer.
They aren't deleted. In the past, the tiny files created by excel
always disappeared whenever I quit the program.

 

[Wendy]

Update: I appear to have fixed the problem. It *was* AVG that was
creating the extra files. I thought I had it disabled but I'd only
disabled one component of it, not the resident scanner which is what
scans all files. I disabled it entirely and the problem disappeared.
Then I started searching to see what could be causing it in the
resident scanner. I tried turning off heuristic scanning, but the
problem remained. The problem was "on close" scanning. Once I turned
that off the problem disappeared. I've used that for a long time and
never had a problem, but they updated this component on 10/23/05 and I
guess it introduced a problem that didn't exist before. My husband had
an older version of the scanner on his PC from March so he didn't have
the problem I was having.

I will write to AVG and inform them of the problem. I appreciate your
patience and help! Hopefully my post here will help others who use AVG
free too.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I'm sure your followup will help the next person who searches google with the
same problem.

Thanks for posting back.

 

[icymanoj1]

Hi every One.

After going through so many articles and forums I concluded that these tempfiles created by MS OFFICE EXCEL is due to Anti-Virus security issues. As I am using Quick Heal Admin console .. I contacted Quick Heal Support team and they solved this issue by copying some files in Quick Heal installed folder... So I am requesting whom ever people facing this kind of problem better you people contact You Anti-Virus Support team.

Thank
Arjun Aaryaa
INDIA

 

[patxiandroid]

Update: I appear to have fixed the problem. It *was* AVG that was
creating the extra files. I thought I had it disabled but I'd only
disabled one component of it, not the resident scanner which is what
scans all files. I disabled it entirely and the problem disappeared.
Then I started searching to see what could be causing it in the
resident scanner. I tried turning off heuristic scanning, but the
problem remained. The problem was "on close" scanning. Once I turned
that off the problem disappeared. I've used that for a long time and
never had a problem, but they updated this component on 10/23/05 and I
guess it introduced a problem that didn't exist before. My husband had
an older version of the scanner on his PC from March so he didn't have
the problem I was having.

I will write to AVG and inform them of the problem. I appreciate your
patience and help! Hopefully my post here will help others who use AVG
free too.

Hi Wendy! Did you get a answer for this? My machine running an old Windows XP and Office 2003 and doing the same sometimes and I have AVG installed.
Many thanks!!!
Patxi Español

 

[Joanna107]

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