Annoying jpg thumbnail problem

fatcap · Jan 5, 2011

I have a really baffling problem at the moment with my Windows Explorer not showing .jpg thumbnails anymore.

I have gone through multiple sites suggesting workarounds and ways to fix it such as - unchecking the folder options, setting performance to "adjust for best performance" and deleting thumbnails from disk cleanup then doing a reset even down to changing registry setting all to no avail. I uninstalled various image browsing programs such as irfanview and ACDSee (both of which show the thumbnails fine inside their browser) but still no joy.

The strange thing is that it looks like there is thumbnails available for the jpgs just they are not shown for some reason. To test this I navigated to my "inspiration folder" - a folder containing thousands of jpgs and, switching to VIEW> LARGE ICONS - I see the images refresh and show me their thumbnail correctly... however they quickly revert back to the Photoshop Icon. Scrolling down through the folder, this happens again - the thumbnails show correctly then refresh back to their Photoshop Icon. This happens with all folders - the proper thumbnails show up when I refresh the folder view by changing to a different View> ICON SIZE but then revert back to the Photoshop Icon.

Can anybody help me with this as it is driving me crazy! Having to use ACDSee or Adobe bridge just to view a folder's thumbnails seems like total overkill for something which used to just "work".

I have tried all the follwing but still have no proper jpg thumbnails:

Vista not generating thumbnails - Vista Help
(clearing thumbnail cache etc)

Icon Cache Rebuild
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/1...he-rebuild.html

That also links to resetting file association
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/8...sociations.html

Totally Clear Cache
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/7...nail-cache.html

Manually reset folders
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/70819-windows-explorer-folder-view-settings.html

Another annoying thing I have run into since trying these fixes is that something I have done trying to fix this (I think maybe the regedit from the link above although could be wrong) has removed the "delete thumbnails" function from the disk cleanup

Imperfect1 · Jan 5, 2011

This was a suggestion from Brink a while back when I had the same problem: "Make sure that you have thumbnails turned on for Windows Explorer. In Default Programs and make sure that Windows Photo Gallery is set as the default program with all of its associations set to it as well."

fatcap · Jan 5, 2011

Thanks for the quick reply

Yep - I already have Windows Photo Gallery set as the default program to open .jpg .jpeg and .jpe files but explorer still only shows the windows Photo Gallery Icon instead of the thumbnail. Changing the program which defaults to open it to say Phtoshop or ACDSee just changes the icon - briefly flashing up the REAL thumbnails then instantly reverting back to teh program icon.

Lorien · Jan 5, 2011

Hi fatcap,

Welcome to Vista Forums!

Go to: Reset and Fix Broken Windows Vista File Ext and Type Associations (Include EXE, COM, SYS, ZIP, LNK, Folder, Drive) » My Digital Life and click on .jpg, .jpeg, and .jpe each in turn to reset the associations. Reboot. See if that on its own fixes the problem. If not, go to File Associations and change them to Photoshop (I'm not sure if you mean photoshop or photo gallery, but whatever you want it to be) and see if that resolves the problem. If not, make sure that the other information in the articles you listed remains correct after making this change (it may have changed some of the other settings when it corrected the associations).

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

fatcap · Jan 5, 2011

Hi - I went through the steps on teh page you linked to and downloaded the registry fixes for each jpg filetype, applied them, reset and still no thumbnails. I checked that the other changes I had made were still applied and they were.

Thanks for the suggestions though

derekimo · Jan 5, 2011

Hi fatcap,

See if this helps, it sounds like you may have show icons instead of thumbnails.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73715-thumbnails-windows-explorer.html

fatcap · Jan 5, 2011

Hi derekimo

Yep I have tried all of those. Just to double check I went through them again just now but still no luck.

derekimo · Jan 5, 2011

fatcap said:
Hi derekimo

Yep I have tried all of those. Just to double check I went through them again just now but still no luck.

OK, Since you've tried quite a few things already, you can try this to see if it finds and fixes any corrupt files.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/66978-system-files-sfc-command.html

Remember to right click, run as admin on the command prompt.

fatcap · Jan 5, 2011

OK so I ran the sfc /scannow as suggested in the link and it found and fixed some files - not sure if any of them related to the jpg problem though.

Unfortuanatley .jpg thumbnails still appear as icons only. All other filetypes still work correctly (.gif, .png etc) which is the puzzling part.

fatcap · Jan 26, 2011

OK - just as an update to this problem...

I have just plugged in my Iphone 4 to backup some of the photographs onto my computer and lo and behold - browsing the phone I can see the JPG thumbnails fine.

If I drag these pictures onto any of my internal or external harddrives however they default back to the icon and don't show th ethumbnail preview anymore... aaagh!

What could be causing this and why is it not affecting my Iphone when plugged in?

MrNeeds · Jan 26, 2011

have you tried to right click an empty part of the folder you have the .jpg files in and clicking on refresh? this usually re-reads the pictures and displays the correct thumbnails.

MrNeeds

fatcap · Jan 26, 2011

Thanks for the reply

I hadn't tried that (didn't even know there was a right click refresh) but after a refresh it seems to reload the thumbnails, show them for a fraction of a second then go back to the icons.

I think this has something to do with the thumbnail cache (but could be completely wrong) as I have no thumbnail databases stored in either

C:\Users\(My UserName)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
or

(after I deleted them today)
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

There is also no option to delete the thumbnail cache from Disk Cleanup either.

MrNeeds · Jan 27, 2011

can you do something for me? hold the windows key and R together, this will open up the run dialog, type in there "regsvr32 shimgvw.dll" and see if that fixes the problem.

if you get an error, type this "cd \windows\syswow64 regsvr32 shimgvw.dll"
Dave

fatcap · Jan 28, 2011

Thanks for the suggestion

When I try the steps you outline - and enter "regsvr32 shimgvw.dll" into the run dialog box and press enter, I get a RegSvr32 error message box pop up saying

"The module "shimgvw.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found.

Make sure that "shimgvw.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again."

MrNeeds · Jan 28, 2011

Hmm, I forgot that vista doesn't deal with registering certain files compared to XP, ok, try this then, open up any folder, and click on tools>Folder options and click on the view tab, have a look through there for "Always show icons, never thumbnails" and make sure it's unchecked, hopefully that should solve the problem :-)

Dave

fatcap · Jan 28, 2011

Yep - "Always show icons, never thumbnails" is unticked on all folders of all levels.

This is getting really baffling :sa: I would just do a system restore or a complete re-install as this functionality is quite important to my day to day work (graphic artist) but, since I work from home, using this computer, I have so many specific work related programs\ plugins\ SDKs that reinstalling it all to get back up to speed would be a real pain in the backside and put me out of work for a good few days at least!

derekimo · Jan 28, 2011

I understand your frustration fatcap,

This does seem to be a common problem according to the search engines, here's a possible solution to try,

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/70819-windows-explorer-folder-view-settings.html

As mentioned here, http://www.vistax64.com/vista-music...t-show-jpeg-thumbnails-help-2.html#post617647

Let us know how that turns out.

fatcap · Jan 28, 2011

Yeah I have tried that as well.

The functionality of remembering folder types is working fine. The functionality of switching between icon view and thumbnail view is also working fine: switching to "always show icons" in folder options does indeed always show icons and even if I refresh, scroll a huge folder, I never get the actual thumbnails briefly flicking into view as I do when it is turned off.

I had almost given up the ghost on this one (had actually started converting all my jpgs to pngs which thumbnails do work for) until I pluggged my IPhone in and saw the jpg thumbnails working fine and remembererd what a needed featuere it was for me!

MrNeeds · Jan 28, 2011

fatcap said:
Yeah I have tried that as well.

The functionality of remembering folder types is working fine. The functionality of switching between icon view and thumbnail view is also working fine: switching to "always show icons" in folder options does indeed always show icons and even if I refresh, scroll a huge folder, I never get the actual thumbnails briefly flicking into view as I do when it is turned off.

I had almost given up the ghost on this one (had actually started converting all my jpgs to pngs which thumbnails do work for) until I pluggged my IPhone in and saw the jpg thumbnails working fine and remembererd what a needed featuere it was for me!

I completely understand, my PC used to do this, whenever I plugged in my iPhone, it worked fine but the normal pictures just didn't show the thumbnails (I fixed it by re-installing vista), it's definately looking like a cache error of sorts, however, with all the solutions you've tried, I'd have to admit defeat, unless another member has managed to solve this before without using the methods we've already gone through, theres not much else I can do apart from suggest a repair install of Vista (but it seems like an extreme measure to fix a minor annoyance)

sorry.

Dave

Lorien · Jan 28, 2011

Hi fatcap,

I've lost track of everything that's been tried and hasn't worked, so please forgive me if I'm bringing up some things that've already been mentioned (or tried in some link but not directly shown here).

Go to your pictures in Windows Explorer and right click on a .jpg file that isn't showing properly. Click on Open With and from the subsequent drop menu select "Choose Default Program" and then choose "Windows Photo Gallery" (even if you have to browse to find it which you shouldn't need to do). While there, check to see if there's an option for "Windows Photo Viewer" - but don't do anything with that for the time being (just make a note if it is there - I ask this because that rather than Windows Photo Gallery is the default for .jpg and the others in my system and my thumbnails work and if this doesn't work, we may want to come back and try that if it shows as an option)). Save or OK to set the default and see if that helps. It probably already has Windows Photo Gallery as the default so this may not help - but it's worth a look. If that doesn't work and you do have Windows Photo Viewer as an option, try setting that as the default and see if that makes any difference. I've also read that it may only work if the icons are set at medium or larger - so if set smaller, try changing the view size and see if that helps.

Another option (a bit of an annoyance, but it may work) is to go to Folder Options and click on the general and view tabs to reset them all to defaults. Then reboot. Then go in and make the changes you want to restore them as you want them to be (you'll probably have to tell it not to use files instead of thumbnails again among several or quite a few other changes). Then see if that helped.

Also, check the Default Program Associations: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/83196-default-programs-program-default-associations.html and pay particular attention to Windows Photo Gallery if it is listed. Click on it and then click on change defaults and check to see if the .jpg filetypes are checked as associated. If not, check them and save the changes and then see if that makes any difference.

Finally, you might want to try Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 and set it as the default for .jpg files (assuming it doesn't do so automatically) and see if that helps. I believe that's what my system is currently using as the default and is the longer name for "Windows Photo Viewer" that's listed as my default. Again, I don't have your problem so it's difficult to test if this will help, but it might (as it's an entirely new program and that may do the trick). If you don't like it or it doesn't resolve the problem and you prefer not to have or use it, just uninstall it and you should be back to normal.

If it is a thumbnail cache issue and Clean-up is missing the option for some reason, download and install CCleaner Piriform - Download CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Speccy - Millions of users worldwide! and it includes an option to clean up the thumbnail cache (you can uncheck everything else or run whatever else you want with it - however I strongly suggest you do not ever use any of the registry cleanup options). If it is the thumbnail cache and you can't delete it at present, perhaps this program will do the trick and potentially resolve the problem.

That's exhausts all the options I can come up with short of a repair/upgrade installation. After everything else that's been tried, I'm completely out of other alternatives and quite honestly do not understand why the problem is happening, why it works on your remote device, or how to otherwise repair it.

I hope something here helps.

Good luck!

Annoying jpg thumbnail problem

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