what is "~"
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Thread: what is "~"

  1. March 26th, 2004, 12:04 PM #1
    marty1874
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    what is "~"

    every so often an icon appears on my desktop called "~".

    I look at the proporties but there is nothing to suggest what it is, I delete it but it appears a few days later

    any ideas
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  2. March 26th, 2004, 12:12 PM #2
    freddy
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    it,s summot to do with outlook , it appears after u have patched xp ,,,they are workin on a fix ...



    dont worry ,, have a look inside it with notepad




    freddy
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  3. March 26th, 2004, 12:29 PM #3
    Ya_know
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    Quote Originally Posted by freddy
    it,s summot to do with outlook , it appears after u have patched xp ,,,they are workin on a fix ...



    dont worry ,, have a look inside it with notepad




    freddy
    I remember a discussion here about that before, but you can't search the forum for a ~ so I can't find it. Are there any links to MS that explain more in detail what this is about?
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  4. March 26th, 2004, 01:59 PM #4
    drewmaztech
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    There's a certain service pack (I can't remember off the top of my head) which causes Outlook Express to "backup" the address book onto the desktop with the ~.
    I guess it's OK to delete. I actually heard Microsoft isn't working on a fix for that. More of a reson to go to their Outlook 7 whenever that comes along.
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  5. March 26th, 2004, 02:28 PM #5
    geoscomp
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    It gets replaced whenever you add anything to your OE address book. As you say, MS supposedly knows about it, but there is no fix as of yet.
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  6. March 27th, 2004, 12:40 AM #6
    Rellik
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    I tried a MSKB search for tilde and desktop but turned up nothing, but I did find this
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    Too many zeros, not enough ones.
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  7. March 27th, 2004, 11:38 AM #7
    Stalemate
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    It has reportedly been caused by the April, 2003 Microsoft Critical Security Update, Outlook Express Update Q330994 due to a a glitch in the code of this Security Update that affects the Outlook Express backup Address Book.

    MS03-014 is a Microsoft TechNet Security Bulletin with detailed information about the patch and the security risk that it mitigates.

    Q330994 is a Microsoft Knowledge Base article about the Patch.


    It's up to you to decide whether or not to remove the patch in question, or keep it and delete the file when it reappears on the desktop.
    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. -Douglas Adams
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  8. March 28th, 2004, 08:50 AM #8
    confus-ed
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    The character '~' is called a 'tilde' .. which you can google for

    File Named Tilde (~) on Desktop

    This gives three possible 'fixes' .. remove the 'errant' patch (don't do that !), just delete it each time it shows up (or ignore it) or change the startup location for the OE short cut (details all in the link )..
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