Recent Documents List

[David]

I am having a problem with my Recent Docements Lists getting
accidentally deleted. I am not talking about the Document List that
can be accessed via START-> DOCUMENTS.

I am talking about the Recent Documents Lists that may be found in the
various Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, & Powerpoint.

My workstation is running XP Pro/SP2 & has Office 2007 standard
(licensed). I would like to know where the Recent Document Lists for
the various Office products are stored. I'm thinking that the
accidential deletions of these lists may be because of some
housekeeping program is running amuck.

Knowing where the Recently Used Documents Lists are stored would help
solve the problem. Can anyone help?

David

 

[Gord Dibben]

Don't know if applies to Office 2007 but here's one guess........

For Office 2002 and 2003............

Are you running TweakUI?

If so, you may have disabled the MRU lists by unchecking "maintain document
history list" under the Explorer tab.


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 3/4/2008 10:31 AM, and on a whim, David pounded
out on the keyboard:

I am having a problem with my Recent Docements Lists getting
accidentally deleted. I am not talking about the Document List that
can be accessed via START-> DOCUMENTS.

I am talking about the Recent Documents Lists that may be found in the
various Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, & Powerpoint.

My workstation is running XP Pro/SP2 & has Office 2007 standard
(licensed). I would like to know where the Recent Document Lists for
the various Office products are stored. I'm thinking that the
accidential deletions of these lists may be because of some
housekeeping program is running amuck.

Knowing where the Recently Used Documents Lists are stored would help
solve the problem. Can anyone help?

David

Hi David,

If you're using any type of registry cleaner, they could be removing the
MRU lists from the registry.


--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
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Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[David]

I am not using TweakUI, so that is not what is at fault.

Are these lists actually stored in the Registry? I have used Norton
Utilities to remove erroneous Registry entries, but its been several
months since I did that. And, the Recent Documents list has
disapeared within the past several weeks.

I have done text searches of the entire hard drive for the name of a
document on these lists without success.

It has been my habit for many years - at least since windows 3.1 to
periodically delete garbage from the following temp directories. I
realize files in use can not be deleted, so my practice is to delete
stuff at least 3 days older than the last reboot. (I do not reboot
daily). Could the Recent Documents List be in a file in these temp
directories?
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp

David

 

[PD43]

I have done text searches of the entire hard drive for the name of a
document on these lists without success.

Using XP Search, search for *recent* just as I have typed it.

When you find the location, click on it and all of your recent docs
will be there.

 

[PD43]

I have done text searches of the entire hard drive for the name of a
document on these lists without success.

OR... enable showing hidden files and folders.

Go to Documents and Settings, your username and look for "My Recent
Documents"

 

[David]

I believe I have found the Recent Documents List, but not the reason
for my problem.

The Recent Document Lists found under a given user in Documents &
Settings are lists of all documents/directories, etc accessed. These
lists are NOT the Recent Document Lists that a given Microsoft Office
application displays.

using regedit32, this is what I found: (Note - I changed nothing!)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Office -> 12.0 -> Excel
-> File MRU
will display a series of registry entries that are the Recent
Documents List that Excel Displays. If you substitute Word or
Powerpoint for Excel, you will get the Recent Document Lists for those
apps.

What is apparently happening on my workstation is that these registry
entries are getting wiped out. Why? I have no explanation. I have
not used a registry cleaner in a long time. I have no garbage
deletion utilities that I even think might have access to edit the
registry. I use McAfee for virus and for firewall. I use Webroot's
Spy Sweeper for removal of various malware. Both have options set to
Quarantine, not delete. Checking Quarantine lists shows nothing.
Besides, the Recent Documents Lists diappear maybe once a month to
every few weeks. McAfee & Spy Sweeper run continuously.

Does Microsoft Office have a setting that limits the lifetime of these
Recent Document Lists? Could this be a bug in Office 2007?

Dave

 

[R. McCarty]

Check the Polices for explorer at:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

NoRecent_____ and see if any key value is 01 00 00 00

 

[David]

This is what I found checking the Registry in the suggested location:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Default REG_SZ (value not set)
NoDriveTypeAutoRun REG_DWORD 0x00000091 (145)

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about the registry and therefore I
never change nothing. I don't know what these entries mean or if they
are correct.

What does Explorer have to do with the Recent Document Lists in
Office?

 

[R. McCarty]

Disabling Recent Documents will store keys at that location. Since you
have no NoRecent keys then the problem must be something else.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 3/4/2008 12:24 PM, and on a whim, PD43 pounded out

Using XP Search, search for *recent* just as I have typed it.

When you find the location, click on it and all of your recent docs
will be there.

He said he wanted the MRU lists in programs, not Recent Documents.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
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Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was 3/4/2008 1:06 PM, and on a whim, David pounded out

What is apparently happening on my workstation is that these registry
entries are getting wiped out. Why? I have no explanation. I have
not used a registry cleaner in a long time. I have no garbage
deletion utilities that I even think might have access to edit the
registry. I use McAfee for virus and for firewall. I use Webroot's
Spy Sweeper for removal of various malware. Both have options set to
Quarantine, not delete. Checking Quarantine lists shows nothing.
Besides, the Recent Documents Lists diappear maybe once a month to
every few weeks. McAfee & Spy Sweeper run continuously.

Does Microsoft Office have a setting that limits the lifetime of these
Recent Document Lists? Could this be a bug in Office 2007?

Dave

My guess is one of your utility programs is removing them. Check into
the options for Spy Sweeper and see if somewhere it's not removing MRU
lists for you as a "security" feature.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[PD43]

He said he wanted the MRU lists in programs, not Recent Documents.

My bad.