Hi berserker,

Unecessarily editing the Registry isn't a wise thing to do and I'm not sure what the value of this is, given that you can set the recent-document count to 0 for any version of any Office program. And yes, you'd need to change the path reference for other Office versions.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hello Macropod.

Setting the recent-document count to 0 (at least for Office 2000) just hides the recent files list from the user in the Office program interface. The office programs still create the files on disk when a document is opened.

I don't want the files being created at all - they are annoying and a security/privacy risk (if you're wondering, I don't use the "cloud" either.)

(I shouldn't have to run cleanup programs, scripts, or batches to correct what shouldn't be an issue in the first place. Also I use Everything - a real time disk indexer/searcher to find most of my documents prior to editing, and I see the .lnk recent document shortcut files appearing every time I open a document with an office program - it messes with my workflow as it bumps and confuses the searchlist in realtime.

The simple regedit fixes all the above.

All you're doing is killing of the recent document shortcuts. Those files don't contain any actual data. Word creates numerous other files (eg *.tmp, *.asd) regardless of what you do to the recent files setting.
As I said those files are just shortcuts with no data; what's the supposed security risk? Only that someone with access to your user account can see what files you've been working on. If there's any security issue here, it's that your user account isn't properly secured.
If you need a 3rd-party program to find your documents prior to editing, that suggests you've got some file management issues to deal with.
All it does is delete a set of shortcuts. Big deal. If you don't set the MRU count to 0 in every Office program, anyone can still see what you've been working on. Of course, if you do, that helps explain why you then need a 3rd-party program to find your files. Seems like you've made a rod for your own back and you're now trying to find ways of making it less painful.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]