Not So Recent Documents

[Guest]

Can anyone tell me if there is a limit to how long a Document can remain on
the Recent Document list in Microsoft Word?

I would have thought that a document would stay on the list indefinitely
unless and until it was pushed off the bottom of the list by newer
documents.

I am specifically trying to find out if a document that reportedly appeared
among the Recent Documents on a little-used computer (or rather a
little-used user login to that computer) could have been older than 4 years.


Many thanks to anyone who can help...

Simon C

 

[Stefan Blom]

The list is kept in the registry for each user, so it should be preserved.
Are you experiencing a particular problem?

 

[Guest]

It's a dispute over the age of a document. My contention is that the
document was last accessed 4+ years ago. I am being told that is impossible
because it would have been automatically deleted from a 'Recent Documents'
list if it was that old. Something about a 999 day limit.

I am hoping to show that it would remain on the list indefinitely as long as
there were insufficient new documents to push it off the end of the list.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Well, there are some utilities that can clear the various lists of recent
files in Windows, but I've never used one of them, so I don't know how they
can be configured.

Word, in itself, does not offer such an option, at least. On the contrary,
there are Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that describe how to manually
clear the recently used files in the Office programs. See:

How to clear the list of recently used files in 2007 Office programs
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926535/en-us

How to edit the Windows registry to clear the list of most recently used
files in Office
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826208/en-us

 

[Guest]

Ok, thanks. I'm pretty certain no such utility was used, so from what you
say it seems there is no reason the document could not have been from many
years ago.

Perhaps I'll try setting the pc date forward a decade or so to try to prove
my point.

Thanks

Simon C

 

[Stefan Blom]

Perhaps I'll try setting the pc date forward a decade or so to try to

prove my point.

Yes, that might be required!

Seriously, this emphasizes the difficulties... It is difficult to prove
anything at all that involves creation and modification dates.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Which recent document list? If you mean the one associated with the file
menu in Word 2003, then are you saying that you still have a document in the
recent files list after 4 years (which would mean that you would have
accessed no more than 8 other documents in that period)? That sounds
unlikely. I cannot imagine why anyone should buy an expensive word processor
to create less than nine documents in four years. I don't suppose it is
impossible, but you would be hard pressed to prove it.
Windows keeps a recent file list at C:\Documents and
Settings\Username\Recent which will have files dated the last time the
associated was opened.
Windows also keeps information in the registry about files that are used.
It is not possible to prove anything relating to the dates associated with
files, in the absence of corroboration as the dates are easy to alter.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, the OP said it was a "little-used user login."

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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