Remove Temporary Files

[Brenda from Michigan]

User has Word 2002, SP3

She claims that some years ago on a previous PC with the same version of
Word, someone was able to get rid of her ~$ files permanently. Either they
were not created, or they were created somewhere she did not see them, she
doesn't know for sure. I'm not aware of any way to hide, remove or move the
location of these files. Yes, I know you can delete them when they are
retained after a crash. Is there a way to do that this user wants?

 

[Jay Freedman]

User has Word 2002, SP3

She claims that some years ago on a previous PC with the same version
of Word, someone was able to get rid of her ~$ files permanently.
Either they were not created, or they were created somewhere she did
not see them, she doesn't know for sure. I'm not aware of any way to
hide, remove or move the location of these files. Yes, I know you
can delete them when they are retained after a crash. Is there a way
to do that this user wants?

You cannot under any circumstances prevent Word from creating temporary
files. See the explanation at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632.

There are some things you can do so you don't have to see them unless you
want to:

- Many of the temporary files must always be in the same folder as the
document, as explained in the KB article. So avoid storing documents
directly on the desktop so their temp files won't be there. Use the My
Documents folder or any other subfolder on the disk, but not the desktop. To
make frequently used documents accessible from the desktop, make shortcuts
by right-clicking the icon where the document actually lives and choosing
Send To > Desktop (as shortcut).

- To make this organization easier, set the Documents folder in Tools >
Options > File Locations to the most frequently used location. Add other
common locations to the pane on the left side of the Save As and Open
dialogs
(http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/cstmzewd2kopensavedlgscontent.htm).

- Do clean up after crashes:
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Brenda from Michigan]

Thanks much; that's what I thought. After reading your answer to her, doing
a remote and showing her how the ~$ files work and when she can delete them,
she's now a happy camper. Thanks for your help.