A '~$ (1K)' version & .tmp file appear upon opening documents

[Enigma]

??? Upon opening any document, a ~$ (1K) version of the document appears in
the folder menu. When a document is saved, the document and a ~WRL3436.tmp
file appear in the folder menu. When the original document is closed the ~$
and temporary file also disappear. This just started happening a few days
ago. I have WinXP Student P4 with Word 2007. Is my PC infected or is this a
program error? How can this be corrected or should it be left alone? Could
this be caused by a recent automatic update installed? Has anyone else had
this problem? Please help.

 

[garfield-n-odie [MVP]]

It is, and always has been, normal behavior for Word to create these
temporary files. See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=211632
"Description of how Word creates temporary files" for more information.
You cannot prevent Word from creating these temporary files. Like you
said, the temporary files are automatically deleted when you close Word,
so why does it matter to you one way or the other what Word does behind
the scenes?

You can stop Windows from displaying the temporary files by starting
Windows Explorer or My Computer and clicking on Tools | Folder Options |
View tab | select the "Do not show hidden files and folders" radio
button | OK.