Lost edited attachment file :(

[dowlu]

I edited a excel spreadsheet which came as an attachment to my email - without first saving it to a local directory in my PC. Now I don't seem to find the edited file

When I open the attachment now, I see the original un-edited file. I searched the temp directory which stores the attached files - C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files. The edited file is not in there.

Also the attachment files temporarily stored in this directory do not show up in the list shown when I do a search for files (Search - including Hidden files).

Help !!! Any other directories that the file may get stored after editing it ?

[denny26355]

When an email attachment is opened in it's source application and subsequently saved either with the same file name or under a new one it's easy to forget the importance of choosing a new, permanent location for the file. The result is that the file has been saved in a default system directory that stays hidden from any subsequent searches, regardless of whether you tell the search function to include hidden or system folders. For WinXP this folder is usually located at C:\documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet files\OLKnnn (where nnn representsup to three alpha/numeric characters).

It is usually impossible to re-open the new version of the file because any File/Open operation will fail to navigate to this hidden/system directory and re-opening the email will only provide access to the original version of the attachment. Changing the folder view options to show hidden and system folders makes no difference.

I have discovered that if you open another attachment of the same file type (.doc, .xls, .ppt etc) from within Outlook and use the source program menu File - Save As - it will default to the C:\documents and settings\username\local settings\temporary internet files\OLKnnn location - in my case OLK4.

Any files previously saved (inadvertantly or otherwise) to this location will be visible (but only from this dialogue box - no amount of searching from within Windows or even from the command prompt will locate this directory or the files in it most of the time). If you right click on any of the listed files, you can in fact use Send To - to send them to the desktop as a shortcut - their location will obviously still be the ......OLKnnnn folder. BUT - from there (desktop) you can actually open them in the source application and re-save them to another location.

"Happiness" is finding that which you thought was lost !!!!!