Hi all: I'm on Vista HP. Recently I'm experiecing a strange problem. Daily I open "Temp" folder (by typing %tmp%) and clear the temporary files. Now I found a strange problem. Some files with .tmp extension keep on writing to "temp" folder. The count is increasing every second. I tried to delete *.tmp files from command line. But the next second the count starts again. So I removed "write" access to my username (I'm the sole administrator of my PC) and then files stopped writing! First when I noticed, the file count was 26,000 . When I tried to delete them all, Explorer hanged.I had to restart to keep it working again. From then I started to use command line I think it is because of some Virus. Someone give mea solution for this, because denying "write" permissions for "temp" folder is causing some apps like "Chrome" to behave abnormal (all the previous bookmarks are deleted and newly saved bookmakrs are deleted soon after restart). Please help me. Thanks!

Hi, Indeed, it may be a virus. Download MalwareBytes Antimalware from here, update it and do a full scan with it.

Hi, Indeed, it may be a virus. Download MalwareBytes Antimalware from here, update it and do a full scan with it.

Thanks YounGun for the reply and solution. I will try and update the status here. Priyatam K

Thanks YounGun for the reply and solution. I will try and update the status here. Priyatam K

Do these files start with "VER", have 4 miscellaneous alpha/numerical characters, and end with ".TMP"? The file size is 0. If so, my husband & I have fought with this for months. When we noticed it, we had 64,000 files & as soon as we would delete them, they would start reproducing again. They were appearing at about 4 per minute. We finally found, about a week ago, that our wireless bluetooth speakers were causing the problem. It was quite by accident. The transformer plug broke & we had to disconnect the satelite speaker. As soon as we did that, the "VER" files stopped. This past week, there has been NO new VER????.tmp files what so ever. I haven't found a solution to the problem, short of unplugging the speaker, but now I know what is causing it. In tracing down the problem, there is practically no info on the internet about this. I would bet that others are having the same problem & don't even know it. I came across one other person on a board that was experiencing the same thing & there was no solution given. I hope this helps because I know how frustrating it can be. If you don't keep the files deleted, eventually your computer will become very sluggish - that's how we discovered the problem in the first place. Bev

Do these files start with "VER", have 4 miscellaneous alpha/numerical characters, and end with ".TMP"? The file size is 0. If so, my husband & I have fought with this for months. When we noticed it, we had 64,000 files & as soon as we would delete them, they would start reproducing again. They were appearing at about 4 per minute. We finally found, about a week ago, that our wireless bluetooth speakers were causing the problem. It was quite by accident. The transformer plug broke & we had to disconnect the satelite speaker. As soon as we did that, the "VER" files stopped. This past week, there has been NO new VER????.tmp files what so ever. I haven't found a solution to the problem, short of unplugging the speaker, but now I know what is causing it. In tracing down the problem, there is practically no info on the internet about this. I would bet that others are having the same problem & don't even know it. I came across one other person on a board that was experiencing the same thing & there was no solution given. I hope this helps because I know how frustrating it can be. If you don't keep the files deleted, eventually your computer will become very sluggish - that's how we discovered the problem in the first place. Bev

bmz wrote: Do these files start with "VER", have 4 miscellaneous alpha/numerical characters, and end with ".TMP"? The file size is 0. If so, my husband & I have fought with this for months. When we noticed it, we had 64,000 files & as soon as we would delete them, they would start reproducing again. They were appearing at about 4 per minute. We finally found, about a week ago, that our wireless bluetooth speakers were causing the problem. It was quite by accident. The transformer plug broke & we had to disconnect the satelite speaker. As soon as we did that, the "VER" files stopped. This past week, there has been NO new VER????.tmp files what so ever. I haven't found a solution to the problem, short of unplugging the speaker, but now I know what is causing it. In tracing down the problem, there is practically no info on the internet about this. I would bet that others are having the same problem & don't even know it. I came across one other person on a board that was experiencing the same thing & there was no solution given. I hope this helps because I know how frustrating it can be. If you don't keep the files deleted, eventually your computer will become very sluggish - that's how we discovered the problem in the first place. BevYes, the file name starts with ver and extension is .tmp. I downloaded and installed MalwareBytes Antimalware as suggested by YounGun and scanned complete PC. It detected two trojans and quarantined 'em, but still those weird files kept writing. I then un-installed free AVG antivirus and installed Norton Interent Security 2009 trial version. It didn't detect any virus, but .tmp files stopped writing to temp directory soon after NIS 2009 installation.Finally, still I don't know the reason for this kind of behaviour

bmz wrote: Do these files start with "VER", have 4 miscellaneous alpha/numerical characters, and end with ".TMP"? The file size is 0. If so, my husband & I have fought with this for months. When we noticed it, we had 64,000 files & as soon as we would delete them, they would start reproducing again. They were appearing at about 4 per minute. We finally found, about a week ago, that our wireless bluetooth speakers were causing the problem. It was quite by accident. The transformer plug broke & we had to disconnect the satelite speaker. As soon as we did that, the "VER" files stopped. This past week, there has been NO new VER????.tmp files what so ever. I haven't found a solution to the problem, short of unplugging the speaker, but now I know what is causing it. In tracing down the problem, there is practically no info on the internet about this. I would bet that others are having the same problem & don't even know it. I came across one other person on a board that was experiencing the same thing & there was no solution given. I hope this helps because I know how frustrating it can be. If you don't keep the files deleted, eventually your computer will become very sluggish - that's how we discovered the problem in the first place. BevYes, the file name starts with ver and extension is .tmp. I downloaded and installed MalwareBytes Antimalware as suggested by YounGun and scanned complete PC. It detected two trojans and quarantined 'em, but still those weird files kept writing. I then un-installed free AVG antivirus and installed Norton Interent Security 2009 trial version. It didn't detect any virus, but .tmp files stopped writing to temp directory soon after NIS 2009 installation.Finally, still I don't know the reason for this kind of behaviour

I have just solved this very issue. A couple weeks ago I accepted an invitation from HP to participate in a customer feedback program. I said yes and it asked a couple questions and that was the end of it. A week ago I noticed the "verXXXX.tmp" files being created in the Windows temp folder because I use Window Washer on bootup and it was obvious something was wrong when it was deleting 1000s of tmp files on bootup. I didn't even realize that an application was being installed when I said yes to the HP customer feedback program but sure enough, there was an application called HP Customer Feedback Program (or something similar). I uninstalled it and it cleared up the issue.

I have just solved this very issue. A couple weeks ago I accepted an invitation from HP to participate in a customer feedback program. I said yes and it asked a couple questions and that was the end of it. A week ago I noticed the "verXXXX.tmp" files being created in the Windows temp folder because I use Window Washer on bootup and it was obvious something was wrong when it was deleting 1000s of tmp files on bootup. I didn't even realize that an application was being installed when I said yes to the HP customer feedback program but sure enough, there was an application called HP Customer Feedback Program (or something similar). I uninstalled it and it cleared up the issue.

thanks for the great information. but when I try to uninstall hp customer participation program, explorer keeps saying program stopped working.. and uninstall is not happening.... pl. help me .... thanks

thanks for the great information. but when I try to uninstall hp customer participation program, explorer keeps saying program stopped working.. and uninstall is not happening.... pl. help me .... thanks

When you say "explorer keeps saying program stopped working" are you trying to uninstall the application from Control Panel > Add/Remove Program Files ? This should be the method you should use. "Explorer" should not enter the picture when uninstalling an application. If you are indeed using Add/Remove Program Files to uninstall and you get your stated response, I would manually search the Registry to clean it out and then clean out all references to the installed application in Windows Explorer. I do not know where that is since I uninstalled the application without looking for its install location but I would assume it is somewhere under C:/Program Files/HP <something or other>. Messing around with the Registry can be tricky so unless you are very comortable/experianced with this you might want to think twice about doing this.

When you say "explorer keeps saying program stopped working" are you trying to uninstall the application from Control Panel > Add/Remove Program Files ? This should be the method you should use. "Explorer" should not enter the picture when uninstalling an application. If you are indeed using Add/Remove Program Files to uninstall and you get your stated response, I would manually search the Registry to clean it out and then clean out all references to the installed application in Windows Explorer. I do not know where that is since I uninstalled the application without looking for its install location but I would assume it is somewhere under C:/Program Files/HP <something or other>. Messing around with the Registry can be tricky so unless you are very comortable/experianced with this you might want to think twice about doing this.

Yes.. I'm using Add/Remove programs to uninstall. I stopped all the HP related services and files stopped writing to temp folder. I will find a way to uninstall. Thanks very much for the help.

Yes.. I'm using Add/Remove programs to uninstall. I stopped all the HP related services and files stopped writing to temp folder. I will find a way to uninstall. Thanks very much for the help.

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} Thanks for the update. Dont know why you are having trouble uninstalling the HP software but I am not at all surprised. I see this happen from time to time on various software whether it is HP or not and I have to manually clean it out of the registry. Its a very tedious and dangerous process. Too bad I like the HP printer as much as I do because this is not the first time I have read about holes in their security. Good luck cleaning up this problem. At least you know the root of your problem (the verXXXX.tmp files) and can concentrate on the issue where the problem is generated.

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} Thanks for the update. Dont know why you are having trouble uninstalling the HP software but I am not at all surprised. I see this happen from time to time on various software whether it is HP or not and I have to manually clean it out of the registry. Its a very tedious and dangerous process. Too bad I like the HP printer as much as I do because this is not the first time I have read about holes in their security. Good luck cleaning up this problem. At least you know the root of your problem (the verXXXX.tmp files) and can concentrate on the issue where the problem is generated.

Thanks for the wishes. I'm still trying to find out a way to uninstall that ***! Anyways I know the root cause now and can stop it manually

Thanks for the wishes. I'm still trying to find out a way to uninstall that ***! Anyways I know the root cause now and can stop it manually

I have just found that I have the same problem. I went to my temp folder (computer was going sluggish, and I couldn't find any malware despite running 10 different AV scans lol) and it had 30K worth of the files, all with 0kb file size and different names (ver????.tmp). I've just checked and I have HP customer participation enabled, I've clicked stop participating, and I'll delete my temp files and reboot, then see whether or not the issue is resolved. Has everyone who has had this problem got an HP MFC?

I have just found that I have the same problem. I went to my temp folder (computer was going sluggish, and I couldn't find any malware despite running 10 different AV scans lol) and it had 30K worth of the files, all with 0kb file size and different names (ver????.tmp). I've just checked and I have HP customer participation enabled, I've clicked stop participating, and I'll delete my temp files and reboot, then see whether or not the issue is resolved. Has everyone who has had this problem got an HP MFC?

I discovered the problem this morning. 40,000 0-byte temp files. Checking creation file dates, creation started when I installed an HP C4400 MFC: 4/29/2009. After reading this forum, using Windows Vista Control Panel Software Uninstall, I uninstalled HP Customer Participation and the VERxx.tmp stopped immediately. Interesting that I got an HP warning box that uninstalling Customer Participation will negatively impact the device performance. I did waste my time with 2 anti-virus full scans but then my system needed full sccans anyway. ANY HP software that I have EVER installed has had some negative side effect. I retired from telecommunications engineering. Managment always felt "safe" buying HP test equipment. Any such test equipment always had some "gotcha" as you discovered that HP did not support some necessary feature of the target equiment or HP gave incorrect analysis. For example, the HP 8048-8052 emulators did not support the processor internal registers. Register usage was not honored and HP did not display register status. HP reaction: don't use those registers. Similar problems with the Z80 emulator. HP lives on a different planet: their prices are now competitive but their attitude is not. HP still thinks that close is good enough.

Finding 32K of 0-byte temp files also, I removed the HP Customer Participation application per the forum discussion. It did not solve my problem. After reboot, I found a new 9K 0-byte temp files as described above. I proceeded to remove the remaining HP applications, (Web Print, HP Solutions Center, Imaging app), leaving only the printer driver application which is for a HP OfficeJet 6400 series (all-in-one) printer. Problem of temp files solved. I can print, I can fax, I can scan, but ONLY while printer is attached via cable to laptop. Perhaps related to these application issues, my "wireless printer" stopped working wirelessly about two days after the warranty expired (May). Numerous tech support efforts, driver downloads, HP Patch installations did not solve. The entire point of having a wireless printer in my home is wasted because it doesn't work. HP does not admit there is a problem, even tho the internet forums are littered with complaints about the wireless printer (esp 6480 model) that no longer will maintain a wireless connection. I tend to agree that HP is far less trustworthy in its printer products - agree with RolmOne post. BTW, I looked on HP support pages for any mention of this Verxxxx.tmp files problem and found nothing.

Finding 32K of 0-byte temp files also, I removed the HP Customer Participation application per the forum discussion. It did not solve my problem. After reboot, I found a new 9K 0-byte temp files as described above. I proceeded to remove the remaining HP applications, (Web Print, HP Solutions Center, Imaging app), leaving only the printer driver application which is for a HP OfficeJet 6400 series (all-in-one) printer. Problem of temp files solved. I can print, I can fax, I can scan, but ONLY while printer is attached via cable to laptop. Perhaps related to these application issues, my "wireless printer" stopped working wirelessly about two days after the warranty expired (May). Numerous tech support efforts, driver downloads, HP Patch installations did not solve. The entire point of having a wireless printer in my home is wasted because it doesn't work. HP does not admit there is a problem, even tho the internet forums are littered with complaints about the wireless printer (esp 6480 model) that no longer will maintain a wireless connection. I tend to agree that HP is far less trustworthy in its printer products - agree with RolmOne post. BTW, I looked on HP support pages for any mention of this Verxxxx.tmp files problem and found nothing.

hi dude.Look on to your "ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMMS" . You might have MISTAKINGLY installed or participated in "HP FEEDBACK PROGRAMME " . I too did the same .Just "UNINSTALL" it and you are out of the problem .

hi dude.Look on to your "ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMMS" . You might have MISTAKINGLY installed or participated in "HP FEEDBACK PROGRAMME " . I too did the same .Just "UNINSTALL" it and you are out of the problem .

Because I've gone through that experience a few times in the past, I created a file dd.cmd to zap them as they appear and I run it from my Start Menu everytime the Computer starts. Below is the contents of the file. No more of those verxxxx.tmp buggers have appear ever since. @echo off :start cd\ cd c:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temp rem dir *.* /w if exist Ver?????*.tmp goto yes1 echo c:\Docs and Sets\Rolo\Local Sets\Temp is empty goto no1 :yes1 del Ver*.* /S goto end :no1 cd\ cd c:\WINDOWS\temp rem dir *.* /w if exist Ver*.tmp goto yes2 echo c:\WINDOWS\temp is empty goto end :yes2 del Ver*.* /S goto end :end cd c:\ echo " " sleep 600 time /T goto start You'll also need a file named sleep.exe or any time delay file.