[Solved] MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

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JMHanko
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[Solved] MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by JMHanko »

I've noticed that when I open an Open Office document, the MS Office app is making a copy of those documents. I see this in my "recent files" list. The location of those copies is AppData/local/packages/Microsoft.Office.Desktop_8weckyb3d8b...\Content.MSO That location is inaccessible. Should I be concerned? Should I uninstall MS Office? Thanks in advance.
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Sun May 21, 2023 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged solved.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: MS Office making copies of my Open Office documents

Post by Hagar Delest »

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Do you mean that the file is created when you open it with AOO? or with MS Office?
It may come from a MS process that records the recent files list.
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Cazer
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by Cazer »

Hello @JMHanko,

It sounds like MS Office might be creating a temporary copy of your files for its recent files list or for backup purposes, which is pretty standard. However, it's strange that the location is inaccessible.

You shouldn't necessarily have to uninstall MS Office. Maybe you could try changing the default app for opening these files to Open Office? That might prevent MS Office from interacting with them.

It's always a good idea to keep your files backed up externally, too. Just in case!
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JMHanko
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by JMHanko »

Thanks for the replies. I do use AOO as the default program to open spreadsheets. In fact, I've never used the MS Office software on this computer. I certainly haven't paid for it, so why would it be doing anything? Spying perhaps? I tend to agree about it being a standard function in MS Office, but this is something new, and I've been using AOO for many years. I found today that if I delete the copied file from the recent files list, it stops making copies of that particular file on subsequent openings. That kind of confirms your suspicion perhaps. Of course, all my files are backed up daily. I learned the hard way many many years ago. So I'm not going to worry at this point. I guess I'll just keep an eye on things and see what happens. Thanks again!
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Hagar Delest
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by Hagar Delest »

Well, it is rather strange that MS Office would cache the files if they are not opened by MS Office. I agree it could record the path of the files for the recent files list but the whole files fully copied in that configuration folder?
If you don't use MS Office, can you uninstall what is linked to it on your machine? Maybe it's a remnant of a pre-installed configuration.
I would not be comfortable with letting files copied this way in a configuration folder. It could take a lot of space on your hard drive (several discussions about that on the web) and it may be a problem privacy point of view. Who knows what could be done with these files?
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RoryOF
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by RoryOF »

It might be the Indexing mechanism of Windows noting that a file is being altered and making a copy?
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Villeroy
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by Villeroy »

JMHanko wrote: Tue May 16, 2023 1:28 am I've noticed that when I open an Open Office document, the MS Office app is making a copy of those documents. I see this in my "recent files" list. The location of those copies is AppData/local/packages/Microsoft.Office.Desktop_8weckyb3d8b...\Content.MSO That location is inaccessible. Should I be concerned? Should I uninstall MS Office? Thanks in advance.
Yes, of course you should be concerned. Just uninstall that malware which constantly tries to manage your personal preferences.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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JMHanko
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by JMHanko »

Hagar Delest, your concerns and mine are the same. I've uninstalled MS Office. I left the config folder in place since it's in C:/Users, so that I can see if the process is still happening. I'll let you know tomorrow. Thanks so much for your input.
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JMHanko
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by JMHanko »

I uninstalled MS Office. I then tried opening an old Open Office spreadsheet that I have not yet opened on this computer, made a minor change, and saved it. That file showed up in the recent files folder, but there was no suspicious copy of it. I then followed the path to the suspect folder, and that folder is now gone. I suspect that the uninstall process also deleted that folder? As a security measure, I changed the name of the folder that holds all my financial information. I think uninstalling MS Office solved the problem. Going forward, I should probably buy a second computer as a "sacrificial lamb" for internet use only, and keep personal information on the computer that isn't connected to the internet.
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RoryOF
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by RoryOF »

A less expensive option might be to change operating systems to some flavour of Linux; for trial, many versions of linux can be run from a "Live USB". The various Ubuntu and Debian flavours can be tried from a "persistent USB", which allows one do continuing work over sessions.
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JMHanko
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by JMHanko »

RoryOF, that's an interesting idea. I'm not THAT knowledgeable about computers, but I think I could learn enough to understand and make it work. Another benefit would be that it wouldn't take up so much room on my desk! Thank you for the idea.
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RoryOF
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Re: MS Office making copies of my OpenOffice documents

Post by RoryOF »

I transferred all my computers to linux in 2007/2008; I have standardised on Xubuntu for my computers, but that is my choice, yours may differ. One can ask Google or DuckDuckGo if one has problems.
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