Hi Ira,
By deleting TMP as an extension opened by Word, through Control Panel >
Folder Options > File Types, Windows will assign the generic icon
automatically to *.tmp files. I've had both Windows 98 and Windows XP, both
with Office installed, and not seen *.tmp files associated with Word, or any
other program. In other words, when clicking on a file ending in .tmp, no
program should open automatically. TMP files are temporary files, and that
extension is used by many different programs. (Not to be confused with
temporary internet files, temporary program files are files used to store
data currently being worked on, or information to be swapped with the
operating system or other programs. Often .tmp files disappear after they're
used for whatever purpose a program created them; if not, they become
"debris" which can be deleted manually). Deleting TMP as an extension
through Control Panel > Folder Options > File Types will not prevent .tmp
files from being created for legitimate purposes, and no editing of actions
or assignment of icons is necessary. (TMP shouldn't be in the list of
extensions at all.) You can "peek" at created TMP files through such
programs as Notepad through drag-and-drop, among other means, but .tmp's
shouldn't be directly associated.
My point about .url's and viewing them in a text editor was to show you that
the .tmp items you are seeing in the TEMP folder are
actually internet shortcuts, renamed with a .tmp extension. My hunch was
that it is Microsoft Word doing this, because Word has auto-save
functionality with some of the extensions it's associated with, and is quite
capable of opening a text type file.
(The classic URL file format has a format similar to an INI file, and its
general classification is that of a Text file.)
Sample URL File, seen as a text file:
___________________________________
[DEFAULT]
BASEURL=http://www.someaddress.com/
[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://www.someaddress.com/
IconFile=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\url.dll
IconIndex=1
___________________________________
Like I said, auto-saving .doc files, for example, which Word is legitimately
associated with, is okay, but not .tmp files. I'm thinking that these .tmp
files, created when you click on a shortcut in the Favorites folder, will
hopefully disappear if Word is taken out of the equation. Anyway, you're
safe in deleting TMP as an extension with associations in File Types, and I'm
thinking there's a 50-50 chance
it might solve your problem. Note: After the deletion, if you do click on a
*.tmp file, you will see an "Open With" dialogue, allowing you to choose a
program to open the file, which you can do, just make sure the check-box
"always use this program to open this file" is NOT checked.
As to repairing IE, this will only repair functions associated with IE.
Description of the Internet Explorer Repair tool:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=194177
As the article states, the Repair Tool has a feature to fix problems that
are caused by the incorrect or incomplete registration of Internet Explorer
files. Doing this just verifies that IE has the files it needs, and is
functional, but won't address the fact that your Word program is associated
with TMP files, or shed light on how that happened. However, running the
tool won't hurt, and will help verify that IE's arena is ok. Your version of
Office might also have a repair option, for checking and repairing its own
files' integrity, but it may not fix the *.tmp file association enigma, since
Office doesn't assign associations to TMP files in the first place, and, like
the Internet Explorer Repair, only resets its own files' functionality,
probably ignoring anomalies like miss-associated files that aren't its own.
I hope all this is clear.
Good Luck,
Dean
Post by IraThanks for your interest and explanation of this.
<<<<
Anyway, if your .tmp files are showing a Word icon, instead of Window's
| generic, non-associated icon,
| try going to Control Panel > Folder Options > File types and highlight the
| TMP listing under the extensions column,
| and delete it.
Yes, they're showing a Word icon in the TEMP folder, When I highlight this
file type, I'm told that it open with Microsoft word for Windows. I'm
hestiant to delete this, since I've seen files of this type appear in the
TEMP folder in more "legitimate" circumstances. . Do you think it would help
matters here if I were to designate another program to open such files? I do
have the option to :Edit file types at Control Panel-->Folder
Options--->File Types.
However, I don't konw how I might designate
"Window's
| generic, non-associated icon"
to be the icon associated with the TMP files, nor whether this is advisable.
If you think that would be the way to go, would you expalin the most
reliable --and least risky--way of doing this?
I don't get any kind of Text Editor when I right click on Send To....but I
think I understand what youre trying to explain here. I actually find it
interesting. Though the problem continues to vex and perplex...
I did try the IE SP 1 Repair from the Control Panel as you suggested, but it
didn't repair this problem.
<<<
I think, too, as a temporary fix, that if Word was closed, and you did a
| CTRL_ALT_Del and ended the task osa.exe, these *.tmp
| files might not be generated when you click to open a Favorite file.
I don't see the osa.exe task running when I do CTRL_ALT_DEL, not does this
http://www.pcpitstop.com/spycheck/scan.asp
In any case, I appreciate your assistance and explanations on this matter.
-Ira
************************************
| Hi Ira,
|
| This is only a hunch, but do you have your temp (.tmp) files associated
with
| Microsoft Word?
| If so, Word may be "helping" you by auto-saving .tmp files permanently in
| your Temp folder for some reason.
|
| An internet shortcut is actually a text document with very specific rules,
| with a .url extension
| (which is a hidden extension), and is editable by a text editor, such as
| Word, Notepad, or Wordpad.
| For example, using the Send To command, from the context menu (should any
of
| those editors be listed among your
| Send To programs), by right-clicking on any of the files in your
Favorites,
| and sending it to an editor,
| creates exactly the type of read-out of the ".tmp" file read-outs that
| you're seeing, by opening the
| internet shortcut as a text file.
|
| To make a long story short, for the moment, Yahoo Bookmarks and shortcuts
| (links) on a Web page,
| while they all open with Internet Explorer, aren't the same type of
shortcut
| as the shortcuts in your Favorites Folder
| (which are individual files on your hard disk).
|
| Anyway, if your .tmp files are showing a Word icon, instead of Window's
| generic, non-associated icon,
| try going to Control Panel > Folder Options > File types and highlight the
| TMP listing under the extensions column,
| and delete it. Click apply, and OK, to close the dialogue. (You might
want
| to re-open the File Types dialogue,
| and make sure that the TMP extension is no longer listed).
|
| Next, to be sure file types for Internet Explorer aren't screwed up, go,
| again, to Control Panel > Add or Remove
| Programs, and highlight Internet Explorer SP1 in the list. Click the
| Repair/Remove button, and, in the next dialogue,
| click the Repair radio-type option, and Apply. When it's finished, allow
the
| prompt to restart you computer.
|
| My hunch, in other words, is that Word, if it's associated with TMP files,
| is trying to catch and backup *.tmp files
| as a text file and is putting them in the Temp folder in Windows, for lack
| of a better place, so that you can
| find them "rescued" through Office's Open Document... dialogue.
Auto-saving
| .doc files might be okay, but not .tmp files.
|
| Again, sending any internet shortcut, which should either have a favicon
| icon or a "blue-e-on-a-piece-of-paper" icon
| ("e" as in Internet Explorer's) to a text editor (by Send To or using
| drag-and-drop) will create the
| type of text document you're seeing in your Temp folder, so I don't think
| it's a problem specific to another program,
| such as McAfee, or a web page, such as the Jerusalem Post. They just
happen
| to be words in a *.url file.
|
| I copied the text from your *.tmp files that you posted, pasted it into a
| New Text Document via Notepad,
| and saved the document as a *.url file (".url" being hidden by Windows
after
| the save), and created a valid internet
| shortcut. Thus, I'm concluding that your .url and .tmp extensions, and
| possibly other extensions, are haywire.
|
| You may also have to re-register shdocvw.dll, but see if the above two
fixes
| won't work first, before trying re-registering that .dll.
| I'm trying not to make my post too confusing, but this is an odd and
| confusing problem!
|
| I think, too, as a temporary fix, that if Word was closed, and you did a
| CTRL_ALT_Del and ended the task osa.exe, these *.tmp
| files might not be generated when you click to open a Favorite file.
|
| Just a hunch.
|
| Good Luck,
| Dean-Dean