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What is the ~ file it creates

Ok, I have noticed this for a little while with my system and I am curious
what it is if anyone knows by chance.

I will be working on something or just surfing or checking e-mails, etc....
and when I close the program, it places an icon(looks like a program icon or
something) on my desk top with a little tilda ~ underneath it. I have
adaware and it is not detecting anything out of the ordinary.

Is this something to do with the system restore on XP?

Les Moore

These are all temp files. Most disappear when you close the application that created them.

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war1

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homewrecker

In most cases these are temporary backup files. For example, MS Word creates a backup of the document you are working on every few minutes in the same folder as the original but with a ~ (tilde) character in front of it. This way, if the program crashes for some reason, you don't necessarily need to revert to the last copy that you saved manually - it will load the recent autobackup.

You probably have "Show hidden files and folder" enabled under Tools/Folder Options/View in windows explorer. Well, these would be some of those hidden files they were talking about. You can clear that checkbox if you find that the display of these is annoying to you.

hitchhiker49

I recently had that ~ show up on my desk top..since I didn't know where it came from I deleted it..and didn't seem to suffer any programs re Outlook Express