I keep losing work...

[kinook]

Not sure. Did you possibly open for external editing before removing the URL attribute? The following steps worked as expected here (UR Pro 3.1.1, Win XP SP2):

1) Create new Word document "C:\Specification - Phase 1.doc" with text of abc
2) Import into UR stored (not linked) in a new .urd file (ItemID 1026)
3) Right-drag, copy that item in UR (ItemID 1027)
4) Rename item 1027 to Phase 1 Work Statement and clear its URL attribute
5) Open item 1027 externally (Ctrl+J) creates "C:\Temp\UltraRecall\1027\Phase 1 Work Statement.doc", change text to def, save, and close Word
6) Save in UR
7) Ctrl+J opens again in Word with text def
8) Select item 1026, Ctrl+J creates "C:\Temp\UltraRecall\1026\Specification - Phase 1.doc" with text abc, change text to xyz, save, and close Word
9) Save in UR
10) Select item 1027, Ctrl+J opens "C:\Temp\UltraRecall\1027\Phase 1 Work Statement.doc" with text def