why is my word docx being deleted?

[Ed]

I'm using Word 2007 and as of 2 days ago it is behaving strangely. I have a
large .docx which I save as normal. After typing for some time I find that
its name havs changed to ~~fgy.tmp or similar, and more to the point THE
ORIGINAL SAVED DOC HAS DISSAPEARED!!!! This happens when saved as .doc,
..docx, on my hard drive or on a flash pen.

What's going on?

 

[Terry Farrell]

First, never save a Word document to a flash drive or any other removable
media. It is the number 1 cause of broken or lost documents.

Would you like to elaborate on what you have done please. What you infer is
that you created a large document and saved it as normal.dotx? Is that
correct.

The temp files~~fgy.tmp are some of many temp files created by Word and they
should remove themselves when the document and Word are closed. If they are
not being removed, check that you have the necessary permissions in the
active folder (where the document is being edited from): Word must be able
to create and delete files.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

For diagnostic purposes:

Create a new directory on your hard drive called something like testxxx.
Create this directory so that it's path is very short, e.g. c:\testxxx.

Open Word and create a new document based on the normal template. Save it to
the newly-created directory with a short name, e.g. charlieone. Create an
other document in the same way called, say, charlietwo.

Exit word. Check the status of the documents. Also, please check by creating
a couple of other types of documents, say, Excel documents.

If there is a problem, do a disk check on the volume followed by a
defragment followed by a second check. Try again. Let us know.

Tom
MSMVP 1998-2007

 

[Ed]

Hi, thanks for this.

What happened is this.

I had a doc - not THAT large, less than 500k but more than just text, had a
few graphics in. I normally don't make documents this big.

It was saved on my hard drive (which seems fine)under the name "DSE212
notes.docx" on this filepath (from memory)

c:\documents and settings\Open University\DSE 212

although it might have been a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm typing away and notice the filename has changed from the above
to something akin to gdfg~.tmp. Very odd I think. I go and look for the
original file where I saved it and it has GONE!

So I resave the document as DSE212 notes.docx and continue. some time later,
same happens again. worried, I made a few copies of the docunment, and saved
one in .doc format, with only a 4th of the original text in it.

I call this file "Chapter 4 - Biological Psychology.doc" and begin working
from it, hoping the smaller size will help...only the same happened again.

At this point I started using the pen dirve, but the same happened with
that. When I tried to save the file it said the path had been removed (file
had disappeared from pen drive), and it's name had changed to

could it be a corrupted jpg in the document?

thanks

ed

 

[Terry Farrell]

Ed

Very bizarre. 500kb is certainly far from being a large file. Try Tom's test
and see what happens. Also, I suggest that you go to Word options, Resources
tab Alt+F, I, R and run the diagnostics too.

Terry

 

[Beth Melton]

Can you provide the exact name for the temp file you found? Also, where did
you find it? In your Temp folder or in the same folder as the original
document?

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/

 

[Ed]

Hi Tom,

I did this.

I created a folder called "test" and even called the documents charlieone
and charlietwo!

They seem fine - they open ok. What else did you want me to check?

just before I did this I have been working on a document stored on the root
c:\, a basic word document.

It also had the issue, although I only read Beth's post aferwards so I
didn't get the name of the temp file.

I'm waiting to see if "charlieone" which is open, spontaneously changes at
some point to a temp file.

ed

 

[Tom Ferguson]

OK. While we are waiting to see if any weirdness transpires: What OS are you
using? XP, Vista 32 or 64?

Tom

 

[Ed]

RIGHTO!!!!

I have evidence!!!!

I had two documents open - "charlieone.docx" from my test (see tom's post)
and "Methods.docx."

I have been watching them closely, and nothing had happened. I saved
"methods.docx" successfully and made sure they were not dissapearing from
their respective folders (Methods.docx is just on c:\)

I watched Autosave save the doscuments twice..no problem.

So, I'm getting ready to go to bed, and I decide to save "methods.docx" - at
which point, halfway through the green save bar, the name changes to:

Methods.docx changes to ~WRL0745.tmp

so I try to save "charlione" and guess what!
Charlieone.docx changes to ~WRL2369.tmp

they were NOT in the temp folder (that I can see). They just appeared during
save.

so it appears the save is causing the problem, even though the documents are
on the drive and have not changed?

what's going on?

please help!

thanks very much!

 

[Ed]

Hi Tom, the weirdness did transpire, please see my response to Beth.

I am using XP. Home edition with service pack 2.

open programs are adobe .pdf, itunes, firstclass (conferencing , email and
forum software) IE 7.

The word software is Word 2007 as part of office 2007 (can't remember which
one)
thanks

ed

 

[Ed]

In addition, I have left the document for some time and then tried again - I
THINK it's only happening after autosave.

the file this time was called ~WRL0003.tmp and once again the doc I saved as
methods.docx has dissapeared.

I'm pretty sure this didn't happen when first installed. I haven't changed
anything relating to this I'm sure.

 

[Ed]

just tried this diagnostic - will test tomorrow to see if it has fixed
problem - it did say on the final diagnostic check that it found 1 problem.
hopefully the same one I'm having.

many thanks

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Navigate to Word Options Advanced Save options and turn on to create
backup document, turn off background save.

Go to Save options and verify that the AutoRecover file location exists and
is a local drive and the directory exists and that the default file location
exists and is a local drive.

Also, after testing these settings, try turning off Save AutoRecover....
under Save options.

These changes are intended for testing purposes.

Tom
MSMVP 1998-2007

 

[Terry Farrell]

You mention in another reply that you have Adobe open: is this just the
viewer or the Acrobat Writer? If it is the full Acrobat Writer, run Acrobat
setup and uninstall the Office Macro section. Test and see if the problem is
now cleared. If it is clear, check with Adobe that you have the latest
updates for the version you are using and that Adobe state it has been made
Office 2007 compatible.

Terry

 

[Ed]

Hi Terry/Beth/Tom

After the diagnostic, the problem seems to have cleared up!

I never knew that tool was there...actually, I don't know where most things
are!

just wanted to say thanks for all your help, this is a great way to operate
customer services, vive la internet!

cheers and merry christmas / happy hannukah / happy yule / Eid / Kwanzaa etc.