To open a C: prompt, do the following:
1a. Click Start on the desktop.
1b. Click Programs…
1c. Click Accessories
1d. Click Command Prompt (if this isn’t visible, scroll down the menu until all the options become visible).
Command Prompt typically opens a command-line window located in your user directory – for example, mine opens in c:\Documents and Settings\lizardling.
Windows Explorer is… exactly what everyone else said. Another way of firing up Windows Explorer is to hold the flag key, then the E key. (that’s if you’ve got a keyboard that has a flag key)
In XP, you can also search from the Search button on the Start menu. Just click Start and look for Search. If you don’t see it, right-click My Computer & choose Explore to get Windows Explorer.
pseudotriton ruber ruber, you probably lost the file as the OLK files/folders are used for the temporary storage of email attachments (as mentioned several times in this thread). Since it is used for temporary storage, it was probably automatically deleted by windows at the end of the session.
Regarding viewing hidden files, when in Windows explorer or after you have double clikced on My Computer or even entered “c:” (without quotes) in place of the “http://boards.straightdope.com/…” in the address bar of Internet explorer, go to to the tools menu and select the following:
Tools->Folder Options->View->Show Hidden Files and Folders
You may be right, although I never closed Windows (to keep the session alive) nor exited the e-mail program I had downloaded the attachment from. In fact, the current “New Windows” window in my currently open “Document 1” (after hitting “file” and then “open”) still shows the very document I want to open, so I’m thinking it’s still somewhere on my hard drive.
Besides, if the whole “OLK4” folder gets empty, how come there are a zillion files on it, dating back months and month–virtually everything except the file I seem to have lost this morning?
Honestly, I don’t see what the function of such a folder is, or why it stays so thoroughly hidden. If I were designing a system, and a file’s prompt appeared to tell a user that something could be Saved, I would think that means that it was saved, somehwere, somehow, even if difficult to find. But when I hit the prompt asking “Save?” and it gets permanently lost, I’ve got to think that’s some pretty shitty design there, no? I mean, if they had something called “Destroy forever?” and I hit THAT, I would take some responsibility, but this strikes me as seriously nutty.
The folder is so that Windows has a place to open things that it needs to do its job, without cluttering up folders that you create. It’s not permanently lost if you hit save, as long as you don’t clear temporary internet files. I asked this before, but I’ll ask this again.
Did you follow my step by step instructions above to try and find it? If so, what happened.
Sorry to seem unresponsive. I finally did perform the steps you suggested, DMC , but after a long search it said “No Files Found”–yet the exact file, with the location specified still shows up on the Open New Document prompt when I open a new document in word. Maybe I should shut down the system and see if it then turnhs up? It sure isn’t showing up this way.
I appreciate your (ALL your) patience as I go through this frustrating process, which was supposed to be the first thing I got done today and looks like it’s going to be the last, if I’m lucky.
Did you make sure and check that box I said to check? If you entered everything like I said, and if it shows up in the Open File dialog box but not as a result of that search, either I told you something wrong, or you’re doing something wrong.
Twice. Both times “No Files Found”–I’m wondering if the problem could be that I’m still in the (not-yet-closed) program. If I were to close it, maybe that would PUT it in the Temporary Internet folder? At this point, that seems like all I’ve got left to try.
Hmmmm… I think you are right. Does the open file dialog box point to a shortcut of the same name (like the Recent folder)? The search should have at least found this…
pseudotriton ruber ruber, sorry windows sucks! I feel for you.
If you have a way to host images, a screenshot of Windows Explorer right before you hit the “Search” button would probably allow us to narrow it down.
As an alternative, do you still have the e-mail? Depending on how it’s configured, you can quite possibly open the e-mail and right click on the attachment icon, and select to save the file to a place of your choosing.
This is a useful thread for me even if (as I suspect )I end up re-creating the lost file from scratch. (It’s an article revision, and my editor needs it yesterday, which is why I was trying to send my revisions off this morning first thing.) I don’t think I can host images, at least not easily, and the e-mail is still on my server, but I never actually attached my (revised) version of the attachment to my response. I have the attachment that the editor sent me, but that’s the one containing all sorts of errors and questions, which I’ll probably have to fix all over again. (I’ve spent much more time trying to find the lost file than I would have if I just re-did the corrections in the first place, of course, but don’t think this hasn’t been interesting.) Unless I hear a “God, No!” from someone, I think I’ll just shut down and then re-boot the computer, and see if any of the methods for finding my file work out better in that situation.
If it appears in Open New Documents, it’s there, but without a method for us to see a screenshot, I have no idea how we can help you further, as the method I outlined above should work. As one final attempt, what’s the actual name (please be VERY specific, including spaces, special characters, etc.) of the file that are wanting to retrieve and that you see in Open New Documents.
Here’s exactly what I see when I let the cursor rest over the underlined file name in the “Open New Documents” window:
C:\Documents and Settings[myusername]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK4\Presidential Elections1.doc
Other than substituting [myusername] for my actual username, that’s it: all spaces, capitalizations, etc. are as exact as I can make them. Thanks for all your help.
Open up Windows Explorer, and select “Folder Options” from the “Tools” menu. Click on the “View” tab, and select “Show hidden files and folders”. Also, put a check next to (if not checked already) “Display the contents of system folders” and **uncheck[/] the option named “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)”. While not necessary, I’d also recommend you uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types” while you’re in there. Click “Okay” to close this box when those are done.
We’ve now made you dangerous.
Once all of that is done, copy that “C:\Documents and Settings[myusername]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK4\Presidential Elections1.doc” line and paste it into the box that says “Address” next to it near the top of Windows Explorer. Hit enter, and if this worked, you’ll see your file. At this point, you can copy it elsewhere and then work with that copy.
Remove everything from the line after the OLK4 before hitting enter. You just want the directory now, not the file itself. So “C:\Documents and Settings[myusername]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK4”
Also rember to use the actual line, not the one with “myusername” in it. It must match exactly to what that Open File dialog box says.
Nope. A long list of files showed up, but when I arranged them in order of date, the most recent was from 5/38/2005, not this morning. Looks like it’s gone, though it’s still showing up on the Open New Documents window. I can’t figure out how it’s there, with this morning’s date, but not on the hard drive.
When I click on the file name in the window, part of the error message reads “check the files permission for document or drive”–does that mean anything to you? I have no idea what “the files permission” is.
Try one more thing. Right click on the “Presidiential Elections1.doc” file and see if “Copy” is available in the menu. If so, then you can open up some other folder and paste it there.
