I can't get v2.19.900 to stop clearing Excel 2003 recent docs, even though none of the "Recent Documents" boxes (in either the "Windows" or "Applications" panes) are checked. Word 2003 recent docs are left alone. I don't use Powerpoint, so I don't know which behavior it's exhibiting.
Curiously, Office 2003 isn't listed in the "Applications" pane. That may be part of the problem, but I have no idea how to force Office 2003 (or the individual apps) to appear.
Another forum newbie has reported the exact same problem in a recent update to an old thread:
I can't get v2.19.900 to stop clearing Excel 2003 recent docs, even though none of the "Recent Documents" boxes (in either the "Windows" or "Applications" panes) are checked.
Your lucking I can't get it to clean any Office recent files. My Other Explorer MRU's is ticked.
Try adding an exclusion in CC not to remove the recently saved/opened items in Excel. Options > Exclude > Add Registry. Select 'HKCU' from the drop down list and copy and paste the following text into the box:
Try adding an exclusion in CC not to remove the recently saved/opened items in Excel. Options > Exclude > Add Registry. Select 'HKCU' from the drop down list and copy and paste the following text into the box:
Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel\Recent Files
Then click the 'Ok' button.
Hmm...I'd like to give this a try, but curiously the "Add Registry" dialog's <OK> button stayed grayed out after I entered the string. Any thoughts on that, anyone?
When the Ok button is greyed out it means the registry key dosent exist on your system. I have to ask and mean no insult, but... You did change the drop down from HKCR to HKCU?
Another thought. If you ran CC and cleared all your Excel recent files, then the registry key would have been deleted. It wont be regenerated again until you open Excel and save or open a spreadsheet.
When the Ok button is greyed out it means the registry key dosent exist on your system. I have to ask and mean no insult, but... You did change the drop down from HKCR to HKCU?
Another thought. If you ran CC and cleared all your Excel recent files, then the registry key would have been deleted. It wont be regenerated again until you open Excel and save or open a spreadsheet.
As a test try pasting the following into the box
Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel
No offense taken! Yes, I'd selected HKCU. After thinking about it for a while longer, I tried the very test you suggested and came to the same conclusion that you did, so I opened Regedit and navigated to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel." As we both suspected, "Recent Files" didn't exist--after creating it, I was able to set the Registry exception in CCleaner.
Strangely, this had happened after I had intentionally opened a file in Excel, closed Excel, then reopened Excel to confirm that the file was listed in the "File" menu (which it was). Even after all that, the "Recent Files" key didn't exist. Puzzling.
Any way, the story has a happy ending--in my latest test, my Excel recent files were preserved! Thanks for the help, Disk4mat.
Im happy that worked out for you! Seems you we were thinking along the same lines. Depending on your Windows version I have another exclude you can add to CC. But this one covers all Office apps and not just specific ones. (Word, Excel, ClipArt Catalog, Picture Viewer, etc)
In CC, options, exclude, click the 'Add Folder' button and navigate to the following location...
For Win XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user profile>\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent
This folder catches all Office files opened or saved. There is a specific purpose for Office saving lnk files in the folder as well as the registry (I researched it a while back). But I havent had my morning coffee yet so it escapes me