New Temporary Backup Files in Office 2010 Can Save Your Bacon—or Cook Your Goose

04
Aug
2010

Jan Berinstein

One of the most intriguing new features in Word 2010 is its automatic retention of temporary copies of files that users close without saving, either accidentally or deliberately. 

Word 2010 creates these temporary backups, as do the new versions of Excel and PowerPoint, if you have had a document (whether saved or unsaved) open on your screen long enough for the AutoRecover utility to kick in, typically ten minutes.  When you close an autosaved document, you’ll be prompted to save the document, to cancel the “close” operation and resume editing, or to close without saving.  If you choose the “Don’t Save” option, Word will save a temporary copy of the document anyway—just in case you change your mind later on. 

According to Microsoft, the backups are retained for four days.  During that time period, users can retrieve the temporary files and, if they so choose, save them permanently.

Everyone who has erroneously closed a file without saving it—which probably means practically all of us—will be heartened to learn of this innovative new feature.  It has the potential to spare users untold hours of work that otherwise would have to be re-created from scratch.  However, the automatic storage of unsaved backup files can have other, unintended and potentially damaging, consequences that both Office 2010 users and IT departments need to consider. 

First and most obvious, the temporary backup files can pose challenging security and privacy issues for a company. 

Secondly, individuals who ever use public or quasi-public communal computers—such as in a law library, a cyber café, a classroom, or a hotel business center—need to be aware that their casual notes and “doodles” won’t be deleted when they close out of Word.  In fact, those scribbles might be available for several days afterwards.

And thirdly, individuals as well as firms that are using or have used the beta version of Office 2010 need to be aware that the temporary backups saved while the beta is/was in place probably will not be removed when the firm uninstalls the beta (which expires on October 31, 2010) and installs the official version of the program. 

Background:  Three Types of Temporary Backup Files
As it happens, there are three different types of temporary backup (“autosaved”) files in Office 2010.  First, there are the AutoRecover files, created automatically in the background every ten minutes (or at an interval specified by the user) if AutoRecover is enabled in the Options, as it is by default.  The AutoRecover files are not new; indeed, autorecovery is a long-standing feature of MS Office.  What distinguishes these files from the new type of temporary backup files, which I’ll refer to as the “Unsaved Documents,” is that, under normal circumstances, the AutoRecover files are deleted when you exit from the program.  They become available only in the event of a computer crash or other abnormal occurrence.  By contrast, as mentioned earlier, the Unsaved Documents remain on the hard drive for four days. 

In addition to the AutoRecover files, there are two variants of the Unsaved Documents:  (1) files that the user never has saved prior to closing (which I’ll call the “Never-Saved Documents”); and (2) files that the user has saved at least once, but then edited and closed without saving the edits (the “Previously Saved Documents”).  These two types of Unsaved Documents are stored in different locations in the computer; moreover, the location of the “Never-Saved Documents” has changed between the beta and the official release of Office 2010 (the RTM version).  In the RTM version, the Never-Saved Documents are stored in a Local Settings subfolder called “UnsavedFiles,” whereas the Previously Saved Documents are stored in an Application Data subfolder under Microsoft \ Word (the same place the AutoRecover files are stored).  In the beta version, the Never-Saved Documents are stored in a Local Settings subfolder Settings called “DraftFiles.”  The significance of this information will become apparent momentarily.

Security and Privacy Issues
The persistence of temporary backup files for four days presents obvious security and privacy issues.  If such files contain sensitive, confidential, or otherwise privileged information, their existence can expose a law firm to malpractice risk, court sanctions, or other serious problems / penalties.  Imagine the damage a disgruntled employee—or even a corporate mole—could do if he or she discovered “discarded” notes about settlement negotiations or litigation strategy.

Worst-case scenarios aside, it is easy to imagine other types of writings that could be embarrassing at the least, and highly damaging at worst:  negative comments, personal remarks, curse words or invective, expressions of affection or ardor, daydreaming / fantasy—the sorts of frivolous scritch-scratching people do when they are brainstorming, taking notes, practicing in a classroom setting, making what they intend as private asides to co-workers.  Discretion might be the better part of valor, but who among us is as discreet as we know we should be?  And even the most rigorous self-restraint won’t necessarily prevent an occasional problem.

Employees of large organizations that have on-site IT departments and/or well-established policies for cleaning out temporary files might not need to worry about the Unsaved Documents.  But small- to medium-sized firms and sole practitioners, many of which/whom do not scrub their computers on a regular basis, could face greater risks.  More to the point, absolutely everyone is vulnerable unless and until they (1) become aware of the existence of the Unsaved Documents and (2) institute firm-wide policies that address the potential problems this new feature creates.

At a minimum, organizations and individuals concerned about the persistence of the temporary backup files will have to implement a new best practice, to wit:  Don’t put anything in writing, even momentarily, that you don’t want preserved for posterity.  Also, since prevention alone can be unreliable, they will need to remove the Unsaved Documents on a regular basis.   

Public or Communal Computers
Individuals who use computers in places such as law libraries, other public libraries, cyber cafés (including, perhaps, those set up at technical trade shows), computer labs, and hotel business centers could unintentionally leave behind a paper trail.  Again, keep in mind that the AutoSave function typically operates every ten minutes, which means that anything on the screen for at least that period of time will end up as a temporary backup file in either the UnsavedFiles folder or the DraftFiles folder, depending on the version of the software loaded on the computer in question. 

It is possible that users will be able to gain access to that folder and delete the temporary files themselves, but it’s also possible, even likely, that their access will be blocked.  And whether someone else will erase the temporary files—and if so, how frequently—is anybody’s guess.  Even in institutions that practice good “computer hygiene,” the cleaning routines might take place infrequently (once a day or less).  That lag could allow other crafty, motivated individuals to view your temporary files before the computer gets scrubbed.

Moving From the Beta Version to the RTM
This particular cautionary tale is based on my own personal experience.  For various reasons, I wanted to obtain the official release of Office 2010 as early as possible so that I could base my book on that version of the software rather than on the beta.  I had been working with the beta for a few months prior to purchasing the RTM (via a TechNet subscription).  I dutifully uninstalled the beta before installing the RTM on my primary laptop. 

At some point, I noticed that Microsoft had changed the name/location of the folder where the unsaved files are stored—from DraftFiles to UnsavedFiles.  I decided to take a look at the old DraftFiles folder, and I found that unsaved files that had not been deleted at the time I uninstalled the beta were still in the folder.  That fact is not particularly surprising when you think about it, but it’s worth pointing out explicitly so that both individual users and members of IT departments can take corrective steps.

Conclusion
On the whole, the automatic preservation of unsaved files for a few days is a positive development, one that will save legal staff a great deal of time and effort.  But individual users and IT departments need to be aware of this new feature of Office 2010 and take pro-active measures to protect against its unintended—and potentially damaging—consequences.