Why are there so many e08__ data files in a recording?

Hi. I am new at using Audacity (or any recording software) and noticed that it makes/generates a number of “e08___” data files - each one about 1 MB in size.
Is it supposed to do this or am I doing something wrong?
I am using Audacity to record raw voice overs.
I thought that the fact that I edit out breaths and other noises might create separate data files…

(I’m Using Audacity 2.2.2 in a Windows 8.1 platform)

Thanks for any input!

Don’t touch those files, they are the project’s audio data. The small “.AUP” file is a list of instructions that tell Audacity what to do with those “.AU” files.

See here for more information about Audacity projects: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/audacity_projects.html

You should probably not be using Audacity Projects. File > Export: WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit for preserving original performances and finals. Deliver to the client that way, too, unless they require a different format. Only Audacity users can open Projects, but everybody can open WAV files.

Audacity Projects are used if you need to save a complex show with multiple tracks and graphics. And note with all that, Projects do not save UNDO.

Export an original “raw” reading as WAV (Microsoft) and put it in a safe place. It’s a new user mistake to read and then step on original recordings with corrections and edits. If you correct the one and only copy of the performance and Something Happens to the machine or Audacity, it’s the end of the world; you have to read it again.

Koz

Thank you kindly Steve and Koz for your replies, they were very helpful. I certainly will not touch the .AUP or .AU files. On the coattails of your input I would like to ask:

You are suggesting that I export the finalized Audacity Project as a WAV file, which I then do send to the client.
But are you also suggesting that I then delete the original Audacity Project (in order to save disk space, for example)? If, later, the client needs me to alter the job in some way, can I simply import the WAV file and work on that - or is it best to keep and edit/adjust the original Audacity Project?

After reading “The benefits of saving an Audacity Project” in the Managing Audacity Projects linked by Steve, it would seem perhaps prudent to save the Audacity Project in case I need to make future edits (e.g., the client wants me to break the reading up into separate files, or I discovered that I left a few breaths or other noises in the recording) - even though I am only recording raw voice on a single track.

So far, when I voice an Audacity Project, I keep that “raw” version and then make a copy of the Audacity Project (using “Save Project As” adding “EDITED” to the name), which I use to edit, thus ending up with the original raw version plus an edited version. I then export a WAV of the finished product and send this to the client. I know it takes up more space on the hard drive, but it would seem to be safer…
Am I shooting myself in the foot with all this ‘prudence’ regarding my ‘dulcet tones’?

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my newbie query.

Best regards,
Kevin

Keep the project until you are sure that the job is entirely done, complete, ended.

What I do on completing important projects:

  1. Check for dependencies, and ensure that the project is self contained (all dependencies copied into the project)
  2. Create a new, appropriately named folder, and use “File menu > Save Project As” to make a backup copy of the project in the folder just created.
    (This creates an AUP file and its _data folder in the new folder.)
  3. Make a “ZIP” archive of the entire folder created in step 2.
  4. Make one or more backup copies of the ZIP file onto external media (external storage).

Thanks Steve,
That sounds very sensible to me. I appreciate your taking the time.
Best, Kevin