File location changes after saving file

[Chairman Meow]

I'm reposting here at the suggestion of a Windows 7 forum moderator who
thought my situation a problem with Word not Windows:

When working on projects, I group together relevant files in areas of my
desktop. However, with Word 2007 on Windows 7 (as opposed to Word and
Windows 2000), when I save a file that's on the desktop, the file location
that was the docx file becomes the wbk file and the docx file is put in the
first open slot in the rank of files on the left-hand of the desktop.

Thus, if <file.docx> was in the upper right quadrant, after saving the newer
version, the file in the upper right becomes <file.wbk> and <file.docx> is
moved to somewhere on the left of the desktop.

This is a problem, of course, because I (a) don't want to edit backup files,
and (b) grouped the files in the first place so that I'd not have to go
looking for them.

It's an obvious design flaw, and I'd like to see it corrected. Thanks.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

The .wbk file is created because you have the option to automatically create
a backup copy of the document whenever you save it. While I would not
advise against that, I would however advise against saving documents to the
desktop. A better place to save them is into the Documents folder. Because
when you save a document with the automatic backup option set, two files are
created, it is obvious that when saving to the desktop they must be put into
different locations on the desktop. Note that it is only the most recent
(.doc/docx/docm) file that will be displayed in the list of most recent
files that appears when you click on the Office button in Word.

If you do not want the backups to be automatically created, you can turn
that facility off by clicking on the Office button, then on Word Options,
then on Advanced and scroll down to the Save section of the dialog.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com