Temp files left after closing Word

[frederick]

I have a workgroup with 2 computers, an XP Pro, and a 2000 Pro. I am sharing
C:\Documents and Settings\User on both computers. I have redirected the My
Documents folder on the 2000 Pro machine to the My Documents folder on the XP
Pro machine.

When I use Word 2000 on the 2000 Pro machine, it seems to randomly leave
temp files (~$, ~WRD, ~WRL) in My Documents on the XP Pro machine after Word
closes normally.

How can I prevent this?

 

[Terry Farrell]

First, make sure that users have full permissions in the shared documents
folder. Second, when Word has been used for copy/paste operations, the tmp
files used by the Office Clipboard retain that information even after Word
has been close and the temp files may not be full cleared until the computer
that generated them is shutdown (and the clipboard is cleared). Third, if
Outlook is being used as the email editor, then Word remains active in
background when it is closed even though it isn't visible. Some tmp files
aren't killed until Word closes, so they remain in the active folder (the
shared documents folder). If the computer wit the shard documents folder is
shut down before the other computer, some its temp files will be abandoned.

IMHO, this is neither a sound nor safe way to share folders and I suggest a
NAS device may be a better option.

 

[frederick]

Thanks for your advice.
What is a NAS device?

First, make sure that users have full permissions in the shared documents
folder. Second, when Word has been used for copy/paste operations, the tmp
files used by the Office Clipboard retain that information even after Word
has been close and the temp files may not be full cleared until the computer
that generated them is shutdown (and the clipboard is cleared). Third, if
Outlook is being used as the email editor, then Word remains active in
background when it is closed even though it isn't visible. Some tmp files
aren't killed until Word closes, so they remain in the active folder (the
shared documents folder). If the computer wit the shard documents folder is
shut down before the other computer, some its temp files will be abandoned.

IMHO, this is neither a sound nor safe way to share folders and I suggest a
NAS device may be a better option.

 

[Jay Freedman]

NAS = Network Attached Storage. Essentially a big hard drive plus a network
card, with a logic board that makes it available to everyone on the LAN. For
examples, try
http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&Tpk=nas

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

 

[Terry Farrell]

Note that some of them have USB ports so that you can share USB devices
(such as a printer or fax device) without needing to reply on the other
computer.

Terry

 

[frederick]

Would a different shared folder from My Documents on one of the computers
work as well as NAS?

Are you objecting to the redirecting My Documents part, or just sharing My
Documents?

 

[frederick]

Sorry to bother you again.

If I were to acquire a NAS device, and just share a folder on it from both
computers, would that eliminate the temp files?

Would it be sound and safe to redirect My Documents on both computers to the
NAS shared folder?

 

[Terry Farrell]

The point we are making is that you are using one of your networked PCs as a
sort of server and that has its problems. The temp files is one of the
problems. Another problem is that unless that computer is running, the other
computers cannot get any documents for editing or save any new documents to
the shared folder.

I would not recommend even using My Documents for this as they are hard
coded and inflexible - that's another possible problem with the temp files
because My Documents belongs to one person - hence My and not Our.

What you should do is create a new folder and call it something logical such
as Workgroup and then in Word you go to Tools, Options, File Locations and
change the default location to the Workgroup folder. If this Workgroup
folder is the NAS drive, it solves many problems and improves performance
and flexibility.

Terry