Empty Word docs that start with "~$"

[riverman]

Every now and then, I think after I select 'show all folders' from my
folder options, I discover that I have boatloads of Word documents that
are 1KB in size, and start with "~$", and names that mimic other
legitimate files in the same folder. For example, I have a legitimate
file called "Progress Rpt" and another one called "~$ogress Rpt". When
I open the second one, I get a message saying that it is unreadable,
and there are a bunch of squares and the occasional letter.

I'm sure you guys know exactly what I am talking about, right? ;-)

I have been told (but do not believe) that this means I have some
malware somewhere that keeps the file open when I try to close it, so
the computer creates a 'shadow version' in the folder. I have also been
told (which I do believe) that I can do a search for any files of any
extention type that start with "~$" and delete them, as they are just
clutter.

What are these files, how do I get them, and how can I stop getting
them (or should I care)?

Thanks
--riverman

 

[Malke]

Every now and then, I think after I select 'show all folders' from my
folder options, I discover that I have boatloads of Word documents
that are 1KB in size, and start with "~$", and names that mimic other
legitimate files in the same folder. For example, I have a legitimate
file called "Progress Rpt" and another one called "~$ogress Rpt". When
I open the second one, I get a message saying that it is unreadable,
and there are a bunch of squares and the occasional letter.

I'm sure you guys know exactly what I am talking about, right? ;-)

I have been told (but do not believe) that this means I have some
malware somewhere that keeps the file open when I try to close it, so
the computer creates a 'shadow version' in the folder. I have also
been told (which I do believe) that I can do a search for any files of
any extention type that start with "~$" and delete them, as they are
just clutter.

This does not mean you have malware. Depending on the way you've set it
up to do automatic document backups, Word makes a temporary file. These
temporary files are what you are seeing. Normally they are invisible.
If you no longer want the temporary files, you can delete them.

Description of how Word creates temporary files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211632

Malke

 

[riverman]

This does not mean you have malware. Depending on the way you've set it
up to do automatic document backups, Word makes a temporary file. These
temporary files are what you are seeing. Normally they are invisible.
If you no longer want the temporary files, you can delete them.

Description of how Word creates temporary files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211632

Is there any significance that the files I refer to have "$" in their names?

According to the microsoft site, the .tmp files should merge with the
original and go away when I close the current application of Word. But some
of these ghost files are copies of files I haven't opened in 2 or 3 years,
and I have closed Word, and my entire OS, down hundreds and hundreds of
times since then.

How can I reset my automatic doc backups so that these files don't form? I
don't know why, but they just bug me. <g>

--riverman

 

[Malke]

Is there any significance that the files I refer to have "$" in their
names?

According to the microsoft site, the .tmp files should merge with the
original and go away when I close the current application of Word. But
some of these ghost files are copies of files I haven't opened in 2 or
3 years, and I have closed Word, and my entire OS, down hundreds and
hundreds of times since then.

How can I reset my automatic doc backups so that these files don't
form? I don't know why, but they just bug me. <g>

There is no significance about the name AFAIK. Since I don't use Word
very often, I can't answer your questions about its settings. Instead,
post in a newsgroup for Word where you'll get answers from Word
experts. Here is a list of all the MS newsgroups so you can find the
correct one for Word:

http://aumha.org/nntp.htm

Malke

 

[Pop`]

Every now and then, I think after I select 'show all folders' from my
folder options, I discover that I have boatloads of Word documents
that are 1KB in size, and start with "~$", and names that mimic other
legitimate files in the same folder. For example, I have a legitimate
file called "Progress Rpt" and another one called "~$ogress Rpt". When
I open the second one, I get a message saying that it is unreadable,
and there are a bunch of squares and the occasional letter.

I'm sure you guys know exactly what I am talking about, right? ;-)

I have been told (but do not believe) that this means I have some
malware somewhere that keeps the file open when I try to close it, so
the computer creates a 'shadow version' in the folder. I have also
been told (which I do believe) that I can do a search for any files
of any extention type that start with "~$" and delete them, as they
are just clutter.

What are these files, how do I get them, and how can I stop getting
them (or should I care)?

Thanks
--riverman

Those are temporary files that Word creates in order to do its work.
They're "scratch-sheets" if you will, where Word saves things (like Undo
lists, etc) that you may need while editing a document. There are several
kinds of them; I just mentioned Undo because it's easy to understand.
Once you close Word, the should be deleted automatically. Occasionally
the deletion process is interrupted though and thefiles get left behind.
There is only the one attempt to delete them; after that they are
"forgotten" by Word.
You cannot keep them from happening as they are an integral part of hte
way Word functions and are needed while the program has a document open.
Once that document is closed, they will never be needed again.
Some, not all, ways they can fail to be deleted are:
-- Word hangs; have to use Task Manager to close Word.
-- System crash
-- Anything that crashes a portion of RAM but not necessarily the whole
computer.
-- Powering off the computer while Word still has files open.
-- System corruption or file problems
It's a longer list than that, but what I wanted to show is that it's not
unusual for some of them to be left behind.

You can safely delete any and all of them. They should delete easily as
long as Word is not open. If Word is open, some may refuse to be deleted
because they are "in use".

HTH
Pop`

 

[Sharon F]

Hi,
I find that ms regclean deals with this problem on my PC.

Here's the link to the information - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299958

I picked it up from one of the Microsoft e-newsletters.

You may not have run into trouble with this program but it is not
recommended for use with XP. The registry structure has changed
significantly since that tool was last worked on and it sometimes tampers
with things it should leave alone.

From the very end of the article you've referenced: