The * of death (.fla*)

hey guys,
i’m been working on a flash file for a while now and at some point it aquires a "" at the end of the file same (exmp: GF600x450.fla)

this happens after i add a layer or a new object.

this usually is followed by a complete freeze of Flash and i watch in horror as my arrow turns into the animated circular swirl Mac uses to signify it’s ‘thinking’. i can’t do anything but shut the program down.

i’ve done tests with completely new documents and it still gets the .fla* at the end when i work with it…

has this happened to you?
what would you guys do?