Topic: Strange file appearing on my desktop

[Sandra]

For a few weeks now I have noticed a file appearing on my desktop.
It has no name and is identified only by a  ~ and will not open by double clicking it.
With Adepts help I found out that it is an address book file and if I rename it as a .wab file then it opens as my address book on OE.
If I delete it,it reappears the next time I add a new contact to my address book  

Any ideas as to why this is happening and how to stop it  

My AV (Norton 2003)is up to date and I run daily scans so I doubt that it is connected to a virus  

[Clive]

I have always understood that a file with ~ in front of it is one which is already open.

[Sandra]

This was just in place of a file name Clive no name or file extension or a full stop  

[Adept]

I believe it is a temporary file used by an application that has the Address Book open.

What I don't know is; which application is the culprit (Outlook Express and Messenger are candidates) and why should any application place a temporary file on the desktop?

[Adept]

Sandra, I've done some Googling and found this. It would appear that Outlook Express is the culprit and that there is no known cure at the moment.

It's just one of those things that Microsoft have to fix

[Sandra]

Thanks for clearing that up Adept,its a bit worrying when mysterious files apear containg your adress book.
My first thought was that some kind of virus was doing it in order be able to contact everyone in my address book to propgate itself  

From the following pasted bit,it looks like it was one of the windows updates I installed after April,that would explain why I hadnt had it before I installed XP and updated recently :

That "~" (tilde) file is most probably appearing as the result of installing the "April 2003, Cumulative Patch for Outlook Express (330994)". Microsoft is aware of the problem and is supposedly working on a fix. Many people are experiencing this problem and from what I've read about this problem that icon will also reappear when you reply to an e-mail and you have your Outlook Express set up to enter the persons e-mail address to your address book whenever you reply to an e-mail. You can either just put up with it or follow the uninstall directions for the patch at the link below.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/330994/default.asp

[Simon]

Well... oddly enough, I had just the same file appear when I was trying to back up my address books earlier.  I couldn't seem to extract the address book from Outlook, so I imported it to Outlook Express, then saved the OE .wab file.  I've also got the same address book in Mozilla Mail, which saved much more easily.

Anyway, this ~ appeared, but when I deleted it, it hasn't come back.  Can you not use Outlook instead, Sandra?  It might save some annoyance until they fix it.

[Sandra]

I didnt like Outlook Simon.
It does delete ok for me unlike the guy said in that thread.
It just reappears if I add a new contact to my address book.
All I do is just delete it now if I see it again  

[Clive]

The lesson is don't install any patches!    Wait till Longhorn comes out and maybe he will get it right this time.      

[Sandra]

How are the fairies doing at the bottom of your garden these days Clive  

[Clive]

Funny you should ask but I've just been talking to them!  Isn't that a strange coincidence!   :heehee:

[Adept]

Did you see one of these too Clive