Vista - Photo gallery can't open this picture.....

When I try to open a jpg file I get the message "Photo gallery can't open this picture or video. This file format is not supported, or you don't have the latest updates to Windows Gallery." Only some folders are affected and they have been saved in exactly the same way as the files that do open. I have all the latest updates. I have tried opening them in other programmes but no joy. As a photographer I really need to solve this problem asap as I don't know what is causing it and whether it is going to keep happening if I continue using my laptop for my photos.

I googled the problem and found similar cases but they seemed to have been affected by anti-virus software and managed to fix the problem by removing the software. I tried that but it didn't work either! Having just lost 1000's of shots when one of my external hard drives died I am desperate to fix this problem. Has anybody else suffered the same problem and have you managed to solve it? If so, HOW???? Please help!!

Do the "problem" photos open successfully on any other machine that you have access to? In other words, if you copy them onto a USB stick (or burn to a CD, or copy across the network...) and try to open them on a different machine, does that work?

If not, it is likely that the files are corrupted in some way. Can you see their EXIF data? Do their sizes roughly match other JPGs (that can be opened) created by the same camera at the same resolution settings? They'll never be exactly the same, but if "normal" JPGs are somewhere say around 3MB and these files are consistently 50KB, that's an obvious truncation issue.

If get a very similar error if I change the extension of a TXT file to JPG and try to open that, although curiously I don't get the "format is not supported" bit, so maybe it does come down to JPG versions.

Thanks for your reply! Firstly, I haven't tried what you suggested with the USB stick and another machine, but will do so asap. Secondly, yes the exif data is available and the file size is about average so the files are still there in some form. If they are corrupt what is the best way of repairing them if they can be repaired at all? There are so many data recovery software variations making amazing claims it's is difficult to know what to choose and I don't really want to pay out money if the data is irrepairable or the software just isn't going to work.

Thanks again!

Woooah, put the wallet away, please

If it turns out the photos don't open on other computers either, it still might be possible to fix things without paying for recovery.

Do all photos taken by the same camera now exhibit the same symptoms?

Did you perhaps use a different CF/SD/xD card for this batch of photos?

If you copy one of the "broken" photos back onto the card and shove that into the same camera, can the camera display the photo correctly?

Given the bulk of the JPG body appears to be present and accounted for, I expect you'll be able to get these photos back.

No, not all pictures taken on the same camera exhibit the same symptoms, and yes they were probably taken on different CF cards as I have dozens of them. I have been able to open the files before and some are shots that have been edited in Photoshop.

I just copied a few files onto a CF card and although they show up when the card is inserted into the card reader there is no image registering on the camera.

Thanks you have given me renewed confidence in the possibility of retrieving my pictures! I will get there in the end!

As mentioned by ArsenalMum, I have also similar problem. Few pictures are able to open but not rest and getting the same error in photo gallery (“Photo gallery can't open this picture or video. This file format is not supported, or you don't have the latest updates to Windows Gallery”). I tried getting pictures back on my memory stick but even after getting it back, it doesn’t work. I tried all different software to open the pictures but it didn’t work. Can you please tell me any solution (On Saturday, I have done Shift + Delete for my picture folder so I can’t get it back now)

Can you upload an image for us to examine?
Problems with other formats?

Some folks have upgrades their video driver as a solution.

I tried to upload the image in the forum but I got message "invalid image type" and upload error. I also tried recovery tools online but it didn't work. Those are very important pictures for me, so please let me know if any other chances are there.
I copied the pictures from memory card to computer and then to flash drive (from computer). Once copy was done, I shift deleted the pictures (On Sep 12th night) so I can't recover it from recycle bin. Do you have any other solution so I can recover shift deleted pictures?
Thanks.

I tried to upload the image in the forum but I got message "invalid image type" and upload error. I also tried recovery tools online but it didn't work. Those are very important pictures for me, so please let me know if any other chances are there.
I copied the pictures from memory card to computer and then to flash drive (from computer). Once copy was done, I shift deleted the pictures (On Sep 12th night) so I can't recover it from recycle bin. Do you have any other solution so I can recover shift deleted pictures?
Thanks.