Ahh. That's different.

(I was thinking that you saw that 8 character (often numeric) file name and saw
it as a serial number.)

This sounds like the file is opened in readonly mode.

When you open one of those troublesome workbooks, what do you see in the title
bar?

Do you see something like:
Microsoft Excel - Book1.xls [Read-Only]

If you do, then hitting File|Save will pop up the File|SaveAs dialog. And the
suggested name will be prefixed with "Copy of", like "Copy of Book1.xls".

That's the only time I've seen the "copy of" prefix added to a suggested name.

===
There can be a few reasons that a workbook opens in readonly mode.

The file could be marked readonly (usually via Windows Explorer).

The file could be password protected (Password to modify--not password to open).

The file could reside on a drive that the user only has readonly rights. Excel
and windows will work together so that you might not even notice that the file
is opened in readonly mode.

You could change the readonly mode via code or via a button on a customized
toolbar.

But in any case, you'd see [Read-Only] in that title bar.

Do you see that?


JsGuero wrote:

I appreciate your input Mr. Peterson, however, I have not given an accurate
enough description of my difficulty. It is not a backup/temp file with the
associated funny name, it names the file "copy of" whatever, number (insert
appropriate number in paretheses).xls

Once again, thank you for your time and attention.

"Dave Peterson" wrote:

Something is happening that isn't good.

When excel saves the file, it saves it as a temporary file with afunny name (8
characters--no extension) in the same folder.

If the save is successful, xl will delete the original (or rename it to its
backup name (like "backup of book1.xlk)) and if that's successful, xl will
rename the funny named file to the original's name.

If you're seeing that funny named file, then something is going wrong.

Common things that get blamed for interruptions to this process are antivirus
software poking its head in or network errors--either permissions or physical
problems.

JsGuero wrote:

Just as my subject suggests, instead of asking me if I want to replace the
original file when saving, excel is simply creating a file with a duplicate
name, with a serialized number. It is really confusing because if I make a
change to an incoming document (received numerous times a day) and
subsequently save it to my pre-existing folder established specifically for
that document, then go back to reference said document, there are numerous
copies, all with different content, none with a complete data set.
How do I get excel to prompt to overwright?

--

Dave Peterson


--

Dave Peterson