turn off .tmp generation

[Dave]

..tmp files are a real pain and I would like word to stop generating them.
Does anyone know of a way to stop word from generating .tmp files when I open
an existing file? Is there a registry key to stop them? I am not worried
about losing information in an open document if something should happen,
which is what I understand the .tmp file is for.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Creating .tmp files is part of Word's genetic coding, and their generation
cannot be stopped... except of course by not using Word at all. ;-)

..tmp files are how Word manages the pieces of files as you work with them.
Think of them as pieces of scrap paper, without which Word could not do what
it does. When Word closes a file, the associated tmp files are deleted (in
theory). When Word crashes, tmp files often get left over. The leftover bits
can be deleted (although... when I go on a delete-athon, I usually focus
only on files that are at least a few days old, just to make sure I'm not
zapping something that might be a last grasp at recovering something I might
lose.

 

[Graham Mayor]

That's not what temporary files are for - and you cannot stop them being
produced. Many applications produce temporary files for a variety of
purposes. Leave them alone! If they are not removed when the application is
closed (usually through a fault condition) then you can remove them - see
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Jay Freedman]

.tmp files are a real pain and I would like word to stop generating
them. Does anyone know of a way to stop word from generating .tmp
files when I open an existing file? Is there a registry key to stop
them? I am not worried about losing information in an open document
if something should happen, which is what I understand the .tmp file
is for.

In addition to what Herb and Graham have told you, here's one more bit of
advice: Don't store documents on the desktop and open them from there.

As explained in http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632, there are certain
kinds of temp files that must be stored in the same folder as the open
document, and if that's the desktop then the temp files will be in your
face. Store the documents in any subfolder on the disk, and the temp files
will be out of sight unless you happen to go looking for them.

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

 

[Beth Melton]

The .tmp files Word creates are automatically delete, unless you experience
a crash. If after you exit Word you still see temp files (that Word creates)
then something is preventing their deletion, such as you may not have the
necessary permissions enabled.

Otherwise, if they are deleted automatically then, as others have noted,
this is "normal" behavior.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Dave]

Thank you all for replying. My situation is when I open a merge document and
use my Word based data base it opens a .tmp file. If I edit the data base,
which word allows and has qucik buttons to do it by during the merge, and
then close the template I cannot save the changed data base file because it
says it is open. The error is that it is a read only file, which it is not.
It is just that Word created a .tmp file so it thinks it open somewhere else.
So I have to close without saving changes, a real pain for my application
plus I cannot use features Word has to offer.

This did not happen in Word 2000 and the folks on the Merge help page said
it is a know problem, they thought it might get fixed sometime. I was
looking for a near term solution.

Thanks again,

 

[Beth Melton]

I believe this has more to do with the data connection to your database than
temp files. Word now uses a new method, (called OLEDB), by default to
connect to a data source for mail merge. Word 2000 uses a method called
DDE.. In a nut shell, this connection allows Word to communicate directly
with your data file (which is more efficient) rather than through the
application as it did in the past using a DDE connection method. The fact
that your database may be opening as read-only may indeed be a bug. (I don't
know, this isn't something I've investigated.)



What you might be able to do is use the DDE method to connect to your data
source which may allow you to make your edits and save them. However, we
need to know the version of Word you are using so we can provide you with
the necessary steps.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have a lot of Excel data sources that I connect to with DDE, and I find
that when I go to save and close the mail merge main document, I am asked if
I want to save the data source as well. I always do, because it saves the
selection of recipients so that I can check to see whom I sent things to (I
don't save the merged document in most cases).

 

[Dave]

I orginally created my data base using Office 2000 and Word. It was the old
merge tool bar drop down, not a wizard, so my data base is a word document.
I now have office 2007 and Word that goes with it, I am still using the Word
2000 data base file as my source. Does this help?

 

[Beth Melton]

Yes, additional information is always helpful.

Instead of changing the method you are using to connect to your data, I
would copy/paste the data in your data file to an Excel workbook and use it
instead. I've verified it can be updated in Word 2007 and you might find
managing your data in Excel to be more flexible than using a Word table.

All you have to do is create a new Excel workbook, open your data file in
Word, select the entire table, then in Excel make sure the active cell is A1
and paste the copied data. Save and close your Excel workbook. Then in your
main document, on the Mailings tab, click Select Recipients/Use Existing
List and select your saved Excel workbook.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Dave]

I will give that a try and let you know. Thanks for your help

 

[Dave]

I finally gave it a try and re-created the data base Excel, as you asked me
to do below. What happens is when I use a quick button to edit a field
during a merge I get a window that asks me if I "want to break the link" with
the file. With no other options I say yes. It seems to complie for about 30
seconds then asks me to save the word document in my database directory,
which I do not understand? This is all too tedious and time consuming.

BTW this tmp process is also affecting me when I email a file through
outlook and then I try to move the file within explorer. It says I cannot
move the file because the file is being used by another program. Even though
outlook may have sent the file I have to close outlook then move the file.
..tmp files are my enemy, lol.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Beth Melton]

Strange. I don't encounter this -- it works like previous versions for me. I
can edit the Excel data and am prompted to save the changes when I close the
main document.

Are you saving in the old file format or new file format? Are you using
Windows XP or Vista?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs