Windows with Multiple User Logs/Preference Files?

Hello All!
While taking a look around my Windows 7 HDD in Ubuntu, which can see tons of files that Windows won't show you, I went into my user account named "owner" and I saw a bunch of what appears to be Windows Log or preference files. They have long random names and with weird file extensions that Gedit (Like Notepad for Ubuntu but much more advanced) won't open. File sizes range from 0 bytes to 6.2MB with the average size at 64 or 512KB in size. I would like to know if 1. They are logging data and sending it to Microsoft. 2. They are old Preference files that need to be cleared out. 3. Why such crazy file names?
Thank you all for the help!

Bump. Once every 24 hours.
Also, I can see some log files in Windows, but they won't open.