Desktop File Called "~" Left on Desktop After Sending Email

Anyone else seen / solved this?

At sometime after one of the recent MS security updates, my OE6 began leaving a file behind on my desktop called "~ ".

If I force open it with Word in contains names from my OE address book. A combination of names from both my ISP email account and my Hotmail Account. Many names appear multiple, multiple times.

It does not seem to hurt anything and deleting it has no identifiable repercussions. It just keeps showing up - but never did before. I would stop it if I could.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

 

WFC_Exile--See here (especially the last post)
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11269
So far, no fix. Whenever I alter the Address Book I get another ~ file on the Desktop. (And the existing .wa~ file does not change.)
A mystery (for me, anyway) is just what the function of the backup .wa~ file is. The Address Book (myname.wab), itself, seems to update appropriately as alterations are made.

 

Welshjim - Thanks for the pointer. You are correct. I have confirmed that the file does in fact appear when any change is made to the Address Book. So that part of the mystery solved. Clearly, whatever protection this backup provides, isn't being provided any longer. Maybe MS will provide a update to stuff the genie back into bottle before the death clock for Win98 hits zero in June!

WFC Exile

 

I suspect some sort of corruption in it or possibly in the main file itself. It wouldn't hurt to take a hard look at the entries in the Address Book and look for anything odd or any entry you don't know. You could try some pruning of those no longer needed.

Another thing to try would be to rename the yourname.wab file to old.wab and let Windows create a new empty one. Then import the old data into it using the import feature.

There is some good OE INFO here that might put some light on the issue.

Keep after it, you'll finally get it whipped I'm sure.

Good luck!

 

Zephyr--thanks for the ideas. But note that it was Tom Koch's (AKA insideoe.tomsterdam) advice in the link I provided in my first post.

 

Yeah Jim, I often fail to read the links. Lazy, no denying that!

The Address Bug hasn't attacked me yet so I'm at a loss to track it down. I did play around with things trying to create the problem but no luck. God protects us fools too well some times!

As part of my probing, I deleted the owner.wa~ file thinking it would be recreated automatically, the same way the owner.wab file does. So far it hasn't reappeared. I don't really need it but am now curious as to how and when it gets initially created and how and if it will recreate itself. Everything works well without it so not to worry. Another of Bill's little secrets I suppose.

73's

 

Zephyr - try adding or amending an Address Book entry and see whether that causes the backup copy to reappear.

Jim - did you experminent with the "resources" idea as Tom suggested?

 

Brett, Thanks for that but I exhausted all the easy stuff right from the git-go.

Here's more that I now find. The backup file probably wasn't updating as it should because I noticed before deleting it that the file date was 10/26/2002 and when I renamed it and looked at the entries, there were ones I have since deleted and later entries were not listed.

Further, I find that I do indeed have the ~ bug. It places the ~ file in my C:\Documents and Settings\Owner folder. (A simple search using ~ as the parameter turns it up.) To cause this, it is only necessary to make some change in the address book and close it and OE as well. That's the sequence and all steps are necessary. The change can be as simple as adding a new entry in the Address Book and immediately deleting it.

I'm thinking everyone who has upgraded with the latest patches has this bug but may not realize it. A quick drive search for ~ would verify that fact. Luckily it isn't of any real consequence.

Here's the bottom line. The owner.wa~ file is no longer functional and has been replaced with the ~ file. Renaming the ~ file to owner.wab opening it with a double click reveals an up to date backup of the Address Book.

Go figure. Someday M$ do likely come forth with a patch so I'll not sweat it in the meantime. Even when it works, I have better backups than that anyway.

Cheers.

 

brett and Zephyr--Had reason to modify my Address Book today. When I closed OE, got the ~ file. In my case it always goes to Desktop, so it is easy to find. Before closing OE
1) I used Resource Monitor to check my resources. 65%
2) I had put my aging (since it has not been updated since late October) myname.wa~ file in Recycle Bin. No new myname.wa~ was created in C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book, though I have not rebooted yet.
So it is a bug caused by the patch as far as I am concerned. I guess life could be worse!
And, indeed, if I make the effort, I can rename the "~" file myname.wa~, put it into C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book and have things looking like normal--until I make changes to the Address Book again, that is.