Is SEARCH finding hidden text?

  • Thread starter Thread starter George
  • Start date Start date
G

George

Am using WinXP-pro. The SEARCH function seems to find text that "used to be
there" but isn't anymore....

Here's what did...I put zero's in place of an account number in an old
archive WordPerfect document, then resaved it with a new name (and deleted
the old file). This was done as a small extra security precaution to
prevent anyone from using my PC to access confidential info. But Windows
'SEARCH files and folders' still finds the old account number in the
document! Here's what I did:

----------old document text-----------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 12345678, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

---------new changed and re-saved document text-------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 00000000, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

When you right click My Computer > Search > [enter word or phrase]
12345678... it brings up this NEW document...even though when you open it in
Word and look at this letter, the text DOES reflect the change to 00000000
(there's no visible 12345678 in there anywhere).

Is there some shadow text or something (like a hidden file for the "revert
to last saved version" function)?. I deleted the old file and emptied the
recycle bin. I tried find-text 12345678 within the document...nothing shows
up. But SEARCH still sees it.

Why does WinXP still SEE the real account number (which means it has to be
hidden in there somewhere...and someone could still get to it)? Is there a
way to get rid of this account number (without deleting the document)? I've
got many more documents I need to "zero out", but so far it's not working.

Thanks,
George
 
Am using WinXP-pro. The SEARCH function seems to find text that "used
to be there" but isn't anymore....

Here's what did...I put zero's in place of an account number in an old
archive WordPerfect document, then resaved it with a new name (and
deleted the old file). This was done as a small extra security
precaution to prevent anyone from using my PC to access confidential
info. But Windows 'SEARCH files and folders' still finds the old
account number in the document! Here's what I did:

----------old document text-----------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 12345678, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

---------new changed and re-saved document text-------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 00000000, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

When you right click My Computer > Search > [enter word or phrase]
12345678... it brings up this NEW document...even though when you open
it in Word and look at this letter, the text DOES reflect the change to
00000000 (there's no visible 12345678 in there anywhere).

Is there some shadow text or something (like a hidden file for the
"revert to last saved version" function)?. I deleted the old file and
emptied the recycle bin. I tried find-text 12345678 within the
document...nothing shows up. But SEARCH still sees it.

Why does WinXP still SEE the real account number (which means it has to
be hidden in there somewhere...and someone could still get to it)? Is
there a way to get rid of this account number (without deleting the
document)? I've got many more documents I need to "zero out", but so
far it's not working.
Click to expand...

I suspect this is a result of the indexing service. Turn it off (under
services) and see if you still have the problem.
 
George said:
Am using WinXP-pro. The SEARCH function seems to find text that "used to be
there" but isn't anymore....

Here's what did...I put zero's in place of an account number in an old
archive WordPerfect document, then resaved it with a new name (and deleted
the old file). This was done as a small extra security precaution to
prevent anyone from using my PC to access confidential info. But Windows
'SEARCH files and folders' still finds the old account number in the
document! Here's what I did:

----------old document text-----------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 12345678, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

---------new changed and re-saved document text-------
Dear Sir,
In October 2001, I opened checking account 00000000, and would like to
request that...
------------------------------------------------------------

When you right click My Computer > Search > [enter word or phrase]
12345678... it brings up this NEW document...even though when you open it in
Word and look at this letter, the text DOES reflect the change to 00000000
(there's no visible 12345678 in there anywhere).

Is there some shadow text or something (like a hidden file for the "revert
to last saved version" function)?. I deleted the old file and emptied the
recycle bin. I tried find-text 12345678 within the document...nothing shows
up. But SEARCH still sees it.

Why does WinXP still SEE the real account number (which means it has to be
hidden in there somewhere...and someone could still get to it)? Is there a
way to get rid of this account number (without deleting the document)? I've
got many more documents I need to "zero out", but so far it's not working.

Thanks,
George
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you've got fast save turned on.

Fast save saves changes at the end of the document with a link to where the
changes go, leaving the original data intact
Normal save saves changes where they are, removing altered data.
 
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