.xls file gets renamed to a file with no extension

[Everett]

Hello All!

I am using Excel 2000 and I am occasionally having an
issue with my .xls files being renamed.

I have an in-house application that opens, modifies, saves
and closes any given list of .xls files. Prior to running
the in-house app, let's say my directory contains 10 .xls
files. Sometimes, after the in-house app runs, the
directory will have (for example) 8 .xls files and 2 files
with no extensions (like 22F1AC20).

Sometimes, as the in-house app is modifying the .xls
files, I watch the timestamps of the files (via Windows
Explorer) as they change after the files are opened,
modified, saved and closed. At this time of refreshing
and viewing the timestamps, I can sometimes see
the "temporary???" files with no extension getting
created. In most cases, the temporary files disappear and
then, the original .xls file (with the proper naming)
replaces it. It is almost as if a "temporary" copy of
each file is created while the in-house app works on it,
and then once the in-house app is done with it,
the "temporary" file becomes the permanent file with the
proper name.

The problem is that sometimes once all of the processing
is done, the directory occasionally contains 1 or more of
the funny named files instead of the originally named
files. Does anyone have an idea of what these files
without an extension are, and, why they sometimes do not
convert back to the original file name?

Thanks for any input and/or ideas.

Everett

 

[David McRitchie]

The files are renamed to protect your data, should the system
crash while trying to save the new file.

There may be more information in
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/backup.htm

which also mentions that if you are using removable media,
especially floppy disks, you should discontinue the practice
immediately and only work from your hard drive and then
copy back to a floppy, so you always have your file on your
much more reliable HD, which is not as likely to need 1.44MB
of space to store the extra copy needed while working on your file.
Or the also likely even that someone disconnects the media
while using it.

 

[Dave Peterson]

When you save a file, excel will save it as a temporary file (8 characters, no
extension). Then if that save is successful, excel will delete the original and
rename this funny named file to the original's name.

You see the results when something interferes with this process.

A couple of things that get pointed at are antivirus software and network
problems (hardware or permissions).

Since it's only occasional, it doesn't sound like permissions--except if happens
to the same user each time????

I think I'd do the easy test first--try disabling the AV software and see if it
helps. If yes, see if there's a new version available.

If it didn't help, it sounds like a job for your IT department (maybe????).