user516: In my %APPDATA%\Bitcoin folder (in Windows 7) I have a file called wallet.dat.rewrite
It was apparently last modified on 12th May 2011.
I don't think it's a file I created manually, so what is it?

user208: Sometimes the wallet file must be rewritten from scratch entirely (in particular when encrypthing it), to prevent unencrypted material to remain in old never-overwritten areas of the file. To do this, bitcoin writes a new file (wallet.dat.rewrite) and then renames it to wallet.dat. If this process is interrupted, it's possible that the wallet.dat.rewrite file remains. You can delete it safely.

516: <p>In my %APPDATA%\Bitcoin folder (in Windows 7) I have a file called wallet.dat.rewrite</p>

<p>It was apparently last modified on 12th May 2011.</p>

<p>I don't think it's a file I created manually, so what is it?</p>
 208: <p>Sometimes the wallet file must be rewritten from scratch entirely (in particular when encrypthing it), to prevent unencrypted material to remain in old never-overwritten areas of the file. To do this, bitcoin writes a new file (wallet.dat.rewrite) and then renames it to wallet.dat. If this process is interrupted, it's possible that the wallet.dat.rewrite file remains. You can delete it safely.</p>
