mysterious backup files?

[Dave]

I have a shared 2002 workbook set to capture change history (when file
is saved) that seems to be creating backup files. An example of a file
name is D1342500 with no extension, type of file is "type". These
files open in excel and look like replications of the master workbook.
This is a fairly new and recent but undesirable behaviour, as we are
rapidly creating multiple 1.3 MB files on the network. Can anyone tell
me what is causing this? Thanks.

 

[Dave Peterson]

When xl2003 and older saves the file, it saves it as a temporary file with a
funny name (8 characters--no extension) in the same folder.

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.

Common things that get blamed for interruptions to this process are antivirus
software poking its head in or network errors--either permissions or physical
problems.