Resolved Is this safe to delete? (Word 2007) ~$[...partial name of file...].docx

OS: Windows XP SP3 (up-to-date) (ample CPU and RAM)
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

I am having intermittent problems with word mostly reverting (spontaneously) to read-only mode.

I guess Word crashed but I did not notice it, only 1 of the files I was working on reverted to read-only.
I have found the following in the folder I was using:
~$ […partial name of file…].docx
Explanation of partial: the first 2 letters of the name are replaced by: "~$â€. If the file is named Index.docx the partial name is: ~$dex.docx.

When I tried to open one, it stated it was corrupt and if I want to try to save it, I can if I trust the source.
(I use avast! which is completely up to date).

Question: Are these files safe to delete?
The source files are not even in the folders. I moved them to another folder when they had reverted to read-only.

 

Hi Tanya, When you open MS Word do you have Detect and Repair under Help?
If it says the File is corrupt, I would try the Repair first and see if it shows up afterwards.
I use MS Office S & T 2003 and it has the option to Detect & Repair. You may have to have your CD available in case it asks for it. Neil.

 

Hi and thank you for replying.

I have Microsoft Office Diagnostics. I have not run it yet.

The files are from February and March and they could not be repaired. They have all been updated via "Save As" when they became "read-only" (quite a few times) so I did not lose anything.
I realize that instead of "saving asâ€, I should (have) or should create new files. (Copy and paste from each current file)
Do you agree?

Regarding the files in question, I moved them to a new folder outside of Office.
I also found this:

“What to do when Word crashesâ€
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

“Next step is to find the remaining problem files and delete them. To this end Explorer's search function will locate them all. The files (including those for Word 2007) all fall in the pattern ~$*.do* so these are the strings to search forâ€

I have Office 2003 on a different computer and it has the "Detect & repair" tool.

Thank you again!

 

Hi,
Sorry for leaving this. This question was solved "“ removing the files caused no adverse effects but has not resolved the problem of the files becoming read-only.

I was waiting to see if re-creating the files each time they became read only (instead of only "saving as" the original file) improves things (so far so good) but I will post this elsewhere.