+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Duplicate files open from autorecover

  1. #1
    Wendy
    Guest

    Duplicate files open from autorecover

    Excel has developed an annoying problem that reinstalling/repair hasn't
    cured. I haven't changed any settings so I'm not sure what is causing
    the problem. I have files set to autorecover every 10 minutes. Usually
    when I've got a file open a very small temporary file (*.TMP, several K
    only in size) is opened while I'm working with it, but these disappear
    after I close Excel. What is happening instead is that when autorecover
    occurs, a second file is opened of the exactly same size as the orginal
    one -- this second file has the name of the file I'm working with and a
    numeric code appended to the end, with a *.tmp extension. Problem is --
    these files do not disappear after I close Excel and they have to be
    deleted manually. Furthermore, it is as if these new files open an
    entirely new copy of Excel each time they are created. If I check task
    manager you see the name of the file open in addition to any *.tmp
    copies that have created themselves. Naturally all these additional
    copies of Excel end up sucking up all the RAM on my computer. You also
    can't "kill" these additional files without killing Excel as a whole.

    I have absolutely no idea why it has started doing this. The only thing
    I can think to do is to unstall Office 2003 completely and reinstall
    the whole thing again from the beginning. I'm not sure what got
    scrambled or even how. I haven't changed any settings. I'm running
    Windows XP. My PC is clean -- I am very diligent about spyware,
    antivirus, etc. I use AVG free and several antispam programs (Spybot,
    Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard).

    I've done searches through the archives and at Microsoft, but haven't
    found my particular problem described. This is driving me nuts because
    I use Excel daily so I can't be manually deleting these files all the
    time or having to close Excel down constantly to remove the extra
    copies running. Any ideas?


  2. #2
    Dave Peterson
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    Some people have said that their anti virus software (not AVG) creates .tmp
    files. (I've never seen excel create these .tmp files in any folder except the
    windows temporary folder.

    A while ago, someone posted back that uninstalling something called "Panda
    ClientShield" fixed a similar problem.

    Even if you're not running "Panda ClientShield", you could try disabling the
    Antivirus program to see if the problem goes away.

    Wendy wrote:
    >
    > Excel has developed an annoying problem that reinstalling/repair hasn't
    > cured. I haven't changed any settings so I'm not sure what is causing
    > the problem. I have files set to autorecover every 10 minutes. Usually
    > when I've got a file open a very small temporary file (*.TMP, several K
    > only in size) is opened while I'm working with it, but these disappear
    > after I close Excel. What is happening instead is that when autorecover
    > occurs, a second file is opened of the exactly same size as the orginal
    > one -- this second file has the name of the file I'm working with and a
    > numeric code appended to the end, with a *.tmp extension. Problem is --
    > these files do not disappear after I close Excel and they have to be
    > deleted manually. Furthermore, it is as if these new files open an
    > entirely new copy of Excel each time they are created. If I check task
    > manager you see the name of the file open in addition to any *.tmp
    > copies that have created themselves. Naturally all these additional
    > copies of Excel end up sucking up all the RAM on my computer. You also
    > can't "kill" these additional files without killing Excel as a whole.
    >
    > I have absolutely no idea why it has started doing this. The only thing
    > I can think to do is to unstall Office 2003 completely and reinstall
    > the whole thing again from the beginning. I'm not sure what got
    > scrambled or even how. I haven't changed any settings. I'm running
    > Windows XP. My PC is clean -- I am very diligent about spyware,
    > antivirus, etc. I use AVG free and several antispam programs (Spybot,
    > Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard).
    >
    > I've done searches through the archives and at Microsoft, but haven't
    > found my particular problem described. This is driving me nuts because
    > I use Excel daily so I can't be manually deleting these files all the
    > time or having to close Excel down constantly to remove the extra
    > copies running. Any ideas?


    --

    Dave Peterson

  3. #3
    Wendy
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    Unfortunately disabling AVG didn't fix the problem. I also tried asking
    a question at the AVG forum and was told it was absolutely not related
    to AVG but definitely related to Excel. Incidentally, my husband is
    running AVG and Excel 2003 and doesn't have the problem I'm getting.
    The only Office program that is having this problem is Excel. Turning
    off "autorecover" isn't an option I care to try but I may be forced
    into doing this if it keeps up. Anyone else have any ideas as to the
    cause or a potential cure? I haven't changed any settings. The whole
    thing is just bizarre.


  4. #4
    Wendy
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    Update on the problem: I previously thought that it was autorecover
    that was the culprit but that doesn't appear to be the case. I had one
    workbook open and noticed that a *.tmp file was created with an older
    date (probably the last time I'd saved the file?) the first time I
    tried to save a change. Additional *.tmp files were created every time
    I manually saved a new change to the file. It doesn't appear that
    autorecover is the problem -- manual saves are. I spent some more time
    searching through the knowledge base at Microsoft -- still no luck.
    These temp files are not in the usual location -- they are in the same
    folder in which my original files are located. In a span of 10 minutes
    I ended up creating 4 temp files all of the same size as my original
    file. Closing Excel didn't remove them so I had to manually delete
    them. I do not have any "ghost" copies of Excel open according to the
    task manager.


  5. #5
    Dave Peterson
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    I've never seen excel create a .tmp file (outside the windows temp folder). So
    I still don't think it's excel--do you use that Panda ClientShield software?

    And did you test AVG by (temporarily) disabling it to see what happened?

    Some background:

    When excel saves the file, it saves it as a temporary file with a funny name (8
    characters--no extension).

    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.



    Wendy wrote:
    >
    > Update on the problem: I previously thought that it was autorecover
    > that was the culprit but that doesn't appear to be the case. I had one
    > workbook open and noticed that a *.tmp file was created with an older
    > date (probably the last time I'd saved the file?) the first time I
    > tried to save a change. Additional *.tmp files were created every time
    > I manually saved a new change to the file. It doesn't appear that
    > autorecover is the problem -- manual saves are. I spent some more time
    > searching through the knowledge base at Microsoft -- still no luck.
    > These temp files are not in the usual location -- they are in the same
    > folder in which my original files are located. In a span of 10 minutes
    > I ended up creating 4 temp files all of the same size as my original
    > file. Closing Excel didn't remove them so I had to manually delete
    > them. I do not have any "ghost" copies of Excel open according to the
    > task manager.


    --

    Dave Peterson

  6. #6
    Wendy
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    No, I don't use Panda Client Shield. Yes, I did disable AVG and it
    didn't fix the problem. Excel though has always saved a small temporary
    file when I open something (my folders are set to show hidden files so
    I can see them). Word & PowerPoint do something similar, but not like
    Excel has been doing the past few days. The Excel problem is unique
    cause it is a full copy of the entire file, not a tiny file only a
    couple of K. I understand what you're saying but the problem is that
    excel is not deleting the temporary files and is creating new ones
    every time I save.

    For example, I just made a tiny change to a file and saved it. An
    additional temporary file was created with the file name followed by
    ~RF26c83af.TMP. This file was dated when I last saved the file (last
    night). I made a second change and saved again. A new temporary file
    was created with the date/time I saved the file last today and the
    extension ~RF26dad2b.TMP. It sounds like it is Excel generating these,
    not something else. If I exit Excel, the files remain on my computer.
    They aren't deleted. In the past, the tiny files created by excel
    always disappeared whenever I quit the program.


  7. #7
    Wendy
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    Update: I appear to have fixed the problem. It *was* AVG that was
    creating the extra files. I thought I had it disabled but I'd only
    disabled one component of it, not the resident scanner which is what
    scans all files. I disabled it entirely and the problem disappeared.
    Then I started searching to see what could be causing it in the
    resident scanner. I tried turning off heuristic scanning, but the
    problem remained. The problem was "on close" scanning. Once I turned
    that off the problem disappeared. I've used that for a long time and
    never had a problem, but they updated this component on 10/23/05 and I
    guess it introduced a problem that didn't exist before. My husband had
    an older version of the scanner on his PC from March so he didn't have
    the problem I was having.

    I will write to AVG and inform them of the problem. I appreciate your
    patience and help! Hopefully my post here will help others who use AVG
    free too.


  8. #8
    Dave Peterson
    Guest

    Re: Duplicate files open from autorecover

    I'm sure your followup will help the next person who searches google with the
    same problem.

    Thanks for posting back.

    Wendy wrote:
    >
    > Update: I appear to have fixed the problem. It *was* AVG that was
    > creating the extra files. I thought I had it disabled but I'd only
    > disabled one component of it, not the resident scanner which is what
    > scans all files. I disabled it entirely and the problem disappeared.
    > Then I started searching to see what could be causing it in the
    > resident scanner. I tried turning off heuristic scanning, but the
    > problem remained. The problem was "on close" scanning. Once I turned
    > that off the problem disappeared. I've used that for a long time and
    > never had a problem, but they updated this component on 10/23/05 and I
    > guess it introduced a problem that didn't exist before. My husband had
    > an older version of the scanner on his PC from March so he didn't have
    > the problem I was having.
    >
    > I will write to AVG and inform them of the problem. I appreciate your
    > patience and help! Hopefully my post here will help others who use AVG
    > free too.


    --

    Dave Peterson

+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 RC 1