Greetings, yury!
I've caught myself doing the same thing on a couple of occasions, and
realized it when the bizarre file folder name came up.
For instance, on a Word .doc file I just downloaded, MS Word wants to
save a file as:
c://WINDOWS/Temporary Internet Files/Content.IE5/CXEZGHMF/filename[1].doc
This is on a Windows ME system running Internet Explorer 5.5.
Windows XP is a bit more complicated and tricky. Rather than try to
walk through it step-by-step with you, I found a site that details
**exactly** how your neighbor can look for his "lost" file (***** as
long as he has NOT clicked "delete Temporary Internet Files" in his
browser, and the file he is seeking has NOT been cleared automatically
by the browser because his "Days to keep pages in History is less than
"2" *****).
Kim Komando is a well-known computer-help "guru" who has a website (
http://www.komando.com ) and a radio show providing advice and
problem-solving. In this column, posted on the website for Radio
Station WOAI 1200 AM and the San Antonio news, she describes how to
find hidden Temporary Internet Files:
Temporary Internet Files by Kim Komando
http://www.woai.com/news/cyberstuff/story.aspx?content_id=7EA2A85F-94B7-43DD-B11D-FBF10188C314
Once you follow her instructions on how to make hidden files visible
on your neighbor's computer, you will then need to take a look around
manually (the "Search" function has apparently been programmed by
Microsoft to ignore the "Temporary Internet Files" name in Windows
XP). Her files are located in the folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
If your neighbor has configured his system for more than one user,
there will be a folder for each user, so you might have to look a
little bit further (the folder path will include the username instead
of "Owner").
You may also need to look for similar folder(s) named "TEMP".
Another way you can try to discover the general area where the changed
Word .doc may be stored is to open up the document attachment from the
e-mail again, click "Save As", and see in what folder Windows XP wants
to store it.
Windows XP behaves differently from previous versions of Windows, so
once you find the correct file, you will need to "copy" the file to a
permanent folder (perhaps use the one where your neighbor stores his
other Word docs) before attempting to open it with Word.
Please let me know the results once you've been able to give this a try.
***** If you need additional assistance at that point, provide me with
a description of the results of your efforts, and we'll go from there.
*****
Regards,
aceresearcher
Search Strategy
"temporary internet files" "windows xp"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22temporary+internet+files%22+%22windows+xp%22 |
Request for Answer Clarification by
yyuryyubicuryy4me-ga
on
05 May 2004 11:35 PDT
Hello ace-researcher, thanks for responding!
Neighbor was under deadline, so she had to redo her revisions after
saving original attachment. I have same software on my machine and
have been working on this since receiving your input. Win XP Home,
Outlook Express 6, MS Word and Corel WordPerfect 10. The two word
processors do behave differently at the "moment of truth" and I have
done tests using both.
I set system as per Kommando:
Display contents of system folders YES
Show hidden files and folders YES
Hide extension for known file types NO
Hide protected operating system files NO
Re. your concern re. temp internet files, my history is kept for 20
days and I have not touched "delete temporary internet files" settings
in Internet Explorer.
The good news is that the path both Word and WordPerfect display at
the "moment of truth" is always the same:
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\ Content.IE5\0XMV0TUJ\
However, I was able to get to this only by using the command prompt.
Windows did not show any directories below Temporary Internet Files in
this particular path (even with the Kommando settings). So I used the
attributes parameter of the "dir" command to reveal the "Content.IE5"
and 0XMV0TUJ folders and then the "change directory" command to "drill
down" to them and display contents of each, again using the attributes
parameters of dir.
On the way there was a potential "gotcha": the command prompt lists a
"Temp" folder in Local Settings. However it is NOT the Temporary
Interent Files folder, which is hidden (!).
The bad news is that of several tests of both Word and WordPerfect,
the test attachment saved to the oddball directory did NOT appear to
be there when I went looking for it, except in ONE case, and that file
"a.wpd" which was a saved attachment is still there. This is
troublesome, because it worked just once (not necessarily the first
time) and cannot be repeated.
It would maybe be easier to figure out what's going on if it NEVER worked!
I'd appreciate any insight you can provide to help me nail this
behavior down, one way or the other, perhaps by a suggested series of
steps in an experiment that would provide us with unambigous
results.(?) Your thoughts?
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
05 May 2004 11:48 PDT
yury,
I'm glad that you were able to get so far with the instructions to
which I pointed you! It does help that you obviously have a decent
knowledge of how Windows XP works. Your neighbor is fortunate to have
someone knowledgeable who is willing to help her; I'm just sorry that
time constraints prevented us from saving her all that extra work.
Bear in mind that MS IE will save Temporary Internet Files under
different folders with meaningless names, according to some random
pattern known only to the computer-befuddlement pixies who developed
the software for Internet Explorer. So one time Word will save a file
under the ../Content.IE5/0XMV0TUJ/ folder, the next under
../Content.IE5/4XG9UB05, the next under ../Content.IE5/H8C3HXK9, etc,
etc. So you will need to look in everyone of those crappy temp folders
to find the specific file which you are seeking.
When you choose "Save As" in Word, does the pop-up dialog box show the
random folder name at the top of the box, where the program wants to
save the file? Mine does in Windows ME.
Let me know what you are able to find out.
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
yyuryyubicuryy4me-ga
on
05 May 2004 22:54 PDT
Dear Ace,
Since I can't add a comment to our exchange (no button to comment on
your own question) the only way I know to advise you of my
investigation progress is to post another request for clarification.
I thought I read you could only do this once, but apparently this is
the way for me to continue our little chat.
The neighbor never used "Save As.." Wordperfect just threw up a
simple dialog box that said "do you want to save? followed by the long
path. Word doesn't ask or offer to save, it just returns you to the
read mail window when you do File > Save or click on the big red X
"close" button.
When I was walking thru the steps on my machine, Word DID display the
long path when I did "Save As..":
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\0XVA0TUJ (or whatever eight characters).
And Word did save the doc file there when I used "Save As...".
WordPerfect would probably too. But the neighbor NEVER used Save As.
And unless I used it, the doc was NOT saved to the eight-character, 6
levels down folder.
I looked in the other folders that had eight character names but never any joy.
So it appears that neither Word nor WordPerfect will save a revised
attachment unless you use Save As. Of course, if you do, you would
never save it there.
This behavior is particularly misleading in WordPerfect, because it
throws up the Do you want to save C:path\attachment.doc message.
I guess this is the kind of thing that happens to you once when you
are learning how to use the computer, and it is painful enough that
you remember it, and from then on you just do it the way that works
from then on. (!)
Thanks for any additional thoughts. YYUR YYUB ICUR YY4ME
Too Wise You Are
Too Wise You Be
I See You Are
Too Wise For Me
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
06 May 2004 17:49 PDT
I've made arrangements to spend some time on a computer with your
software configuration in the next 2-4 days, to do some
experimentation with this. Will that time frame be acceptable?
Thanks,
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
yyuryyubicuryy4me-ga
on
06 May 2004 20:05 PDT
Ace,
Certainly. Any additional insight(s) you could add to what I have
discovered would be most welcome.
My working conclusion is that if you open an attachment and then edit
it (without first copying it), your changes will be lost, unless you
choose "Save As...". Word simply returns to the read mail window if
you choose Save or click on the red X. Wordperfect displays a very
simple dialog box asking if you want to save (showing long path).
I have had no success finding supposedly saved documents in the six
level deep temporary internet folders unless I used "Save As.." A new
user who depends upon his word processor to protect him from losing
data (and people who like to click on the close button and let the
program ask to save), need to be warned to learn to use Save As after
editing received attachments, or better yet, save first by RIGHT
clicking on the attachment header and making a copy to work with.
Thanks again,
YY
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
21 May 2004 11:15 PDT
Well, I got access to a Windows XP machine and did some
experimentation with a Word attachment opened directly from e-mail,
then saved without specifying a file name. I was not immediately able
to find a temporary file containing the changed version, but my time
was limited, and I know that XP makes such files as difficult to find
as possible. I am still convinced that it's there, however, and will
experiment again when I get the opportunity. If and when I find
something out, I will be sure to let you know.
Best wishes,
ace (APRNTLYNOTYYNUF)
|
,
0 Comments
)