microsoft office - Avoid Powerpoint(/Word) 2010 creating temporary files in working directory

When opening a temporary file, Powerpoint 2010 usually creates a temporary, hidden file called ~$filename.pptx in the same directory. This is undesirable, since it can cause unnecessary activity with e.g. Dropbox. Furthermore, the "Documents" folder should not be used for temporary files -- we have the %TEMP% folder for that.

So, is it possible to have Powerpoint create its temporary files in %TEMP% instead? The following link suggests that it might not be possible: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211632

Also, why does Microsoft not use the %TEMP% folder?

Answer

The reason Office doesnt use the temp folder any more is due to the fact that Office documents are commonly shared and stored on network drives. If I was editing a Word doc off a network share right now and my hard drive died, I could move to another computer and pick up at, or close to, the point when the drive died. If the file was being edited locally, all the work I had done would have been lost.