Just a curious question...

Why do two different MS Word docs (using 2003 here) with the exact same contents (same text, same graphics, same preferences... basically I highlighted the entire doc and pasted it into a blank document and saved) have different sizes? The original had and still has a file size of 4+ mb. The new "copy" has a file size of only 1.2 mb. What are the other 3 megs? Hidden temp files or something?

right click on the document and check properties. There's maybe an answer.

It depends on how it was saved. Also it depends on how the content is formatted. As txt or rtf.

Thats my guess

A word document contains alot more than you can see. Things like revision history, and also information about formatting, for example if you have pasted something from a website or similar you have probably seen that Word tries to replicate the text-style as it was in the original.

So when you create a new document it does not come with a revision history (or well a very short one) and when you copy from word to word then the formatting is saved differently and takes up less space.

I would bet that if you deleted everything inside your "old" document and saved it, it would still come up alot bigger than the other document.

I believe a lot of this is due to the editing history ao that you have multipe levels of undo, but if anybody has a more definite answer I would love to hear it.

It is indeed a file that I have made dozens of saves to every single day for years now, so that could explain it.

See the "How to Turn Off Fast Saves" reference, and maybe some others here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825576

Sloppy M$ code

Bubba