PI 12: Odd "$" files - are these temps?

[alweho]

I'm a long-time user of PI from several versions back; this is the first time with version 12 I'm seeing what appear to be some kinds of temp files left over in image directories after I work on some shots.

They don't always pop up, but are more likely to show after I've done more than a few pictures. They appear listed as this: 㩅呜䵅®j啌䥍䅎䥒䉁Ô}䕃䑜䍓㌰㘰⸴⌤$ in the Windows Explorer. It looks like I can delete them without any harm, but ideally I would like not to get them anymore.

I'm running a self-built P4 2.8 with XP SP2, and 1 GB of RAM. As I mentioned before this is the first time with any version of PI that I've had this happen.

BTW, I've just gone ahead and added PI to the DEP list - and will monitor that.

Thanks in advance for any help/answers/suggestions that can be provided...