Vista - Thumbnails won't display in folder view

**ruddervader** · 10-12-2008

My thumbnails won't display correctly in folder view. I have recovered from Adware-Alert attack and feel my machine is clean ( Ran Malwarebytes Anti Malware, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot S&D, Smitfraudfix and Spyware DR.)
My antivirus is F-prot for Windows.

I can't set a picture as desktop background but it's because I can't see the picture in the browse folder. If I move the cursor over the browse folders window I get an outline of a file with the file information but it's like the picture is invisible.

I have tried all the suggestions and tutorials by Brink with no result.

Incidentally, I just had an automatic update to SP1 just before this happened.

I have spent a couple of days haunting various forums and support sites without coming across these exact symptoms.

I have attached a srceen shot of the file window and browse file window.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

10-12-2008

ruddervader wrote:

Quote:

> My thumbnails won't display correctly in folder view. I have recovered
> from Adware-Alert attack and feel my machine is clean ( Ran
> Malwarebytes Anti Malware, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot S&D, Smitfraudfix
> and Spyware DR.)
> My antivirus is F-prot for Windows.
>
> I can't set a picture as desktop background but it's because I can't
> see the picture in the browse folder. If I move the cursor over the
> browse folders window I get an outline of a file with the file
> information but it's like the picture is invisible.
>
> I have tried all the suggestions and tutorials by Brink with no
> result.
>
>
> Incidentally, I just had an automatic update to SP1 just before this
> happened.
>
> I have spent a couple of days haunting various forums and support
> sites without coming across these exact symptoms.
>
> I have attached a srceen shot of the file window and browse file
> window.
>
> Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

====================
Do the following articles offer anything new:

Windows Vista -
Double clicking an image opens
Windows Photo Gallery without
Previewing the image
http://tinyurl.com/6ferwq
or...
http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/do...ing-the-image/

Windows Vista -
How to Turn Folder Preview Thumbnails
On or Off in Windows Explorer in Vista
http://tinyurl.com/yosu3b
or...
Thumbnails in Windows Explorer

--

John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

**ruddervader** · 10-12-2008

John,
Thank you for your help. I had actually already been to both the places you suggested and tried those solutions. If I open my pictures folder the files are all there and they look like they should if they were thumbnails but there is no image, not even a generic placeholder. If I double click where the thumbnail should be it opens Windows Photo Gallery and the picture displays fine. Let me see if I can successfully attach a screen shot so you can see what I mean. I really appreciate your help!

10-12-2008

ruddervader wrote:

Quote:

> John,
> Thank you for your help. I had actually already been to both the
> places you suggested and tried those solutions. If I open my pictures
> folder the files are all there and they look like they should if they
> were thumbnails but there is no image, not even a generic
> placeholder. If I double click where the thumbnail should be it opens
> Windows Photo Gallery and the picture displays fine. Let me see if I
> can successfully attach a screen shot so you can see what I mean. I
> really appreciate your help!

=====================================
Try the following fix:

File association fixes for Windows Vista
http://tinyurl.com/2xsewp
or...
http://www.winhelponline.com/article...ows-Vista.html

If that fails...have a look at the following article
and rename or delete Pictures.pd4 as instructed.

(944221) Windows Live Photo Gallery stops
responding or will not start
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944221/en-us

Here's the path if you are using Windows Photo
Gallery.

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\
Windows Photo Gallery\Pictures.pd4

The file can also be found with an Advanced
Search for pd4.

Go to...Start / Search / Advanced Search.

Check the box..."Include non-indexed, hidden,
and system files" Enter pd4 in the Name field
and left click the Search button.

--

John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

10-12-2008

FWIW...

Renaming or deleting Pictures.pd4 will
revert Photo Gallery to what is was the
first time you opened it. Your pictures will
have to be cataloged again.

--

John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

=============================================

Quote:

> ruddervader wrote:

Quote:

>> John,
>> Thank you for your help. I had actually already been to both the
>> places you suggested and tried those solutions. If I open my pictures
>> folder the files are all there and they look like they should if they
>> were thumbnails but there is no image, not even a generic
>> placeholder. If I double click where the thumbnail should be it opens
>> Windows Photo Gallery and the picture displays fine. Let me see if I
>> can successfully attach a screen shot so you can see what I mean. I
>> really appreciate your help!

> =====================================
> Try the following fix:
>
> File association fixes for Windows Vista
> http://tinyurl.com/2xsewp
> or...
> http://www.winhelponline.com/article...ows-Vista.html
>
> If that fails...have a look at the following article
> and rename or delete Pictures.pd4 as instructed.
>
> (944221) Windows Live Photo Gallery stops
> responding or will not start
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944221/en-us
>
> Here's the path if you are using Windows Photo
> Gallery.
>
> C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\
> Windows Photo Gallery\Pictures.pd4
>
> The file can also be found with an Advanced
> Search for pd4.
>
> Go to...Start / Search / Advanced Search.
>
> Check the box..."Include non-indexed, hidden,
> and system files" Enter pd4 in the Name field
> and left click the Search button.

**ruddervader** · 10-13-2008

John,
Well, I am making progress or maybe just muddling the problem. I tried your last two suggestions and then went through all my picture folders and set the "Views" button to "extra large icons" and made sure the "View" on the menu bar was set the same. (I did the file association fixes for jpg, jpeg, mpg, bmp, gif, and tif)
Now I have picture thumbnails in all my picture folders and subfolders. All my other folders are set to "Details". So far, so good!
Now when I go to personalize my desktop the browse window shows placeholder icons for the images. (Blueish ones for .jpg and orangeish ones for .bmp)(See screenshot 2). Now I can set .bmp files as background but not .jpg.
I am grateful for your patience and expertise!

10-13-2008

ruddervader wrote:

Quote:

> John,
> Well, I am making progress or maybe just muddling the problem. I tried
> your last two suggestions and then went through all my picture folders
> and set the "Views" button to "extra large icons" and made sure the
> "View" on the menu bar was set the same. (I did the file association
> fixes for jpg, jpeg, mpg, bmp, gif, and tif)
> Now I have picture thumbnails in all my picture folders and
> subfolders. All my other folders are set to "Details". So far, so
> good!
> Now when I go to personalize my desktop the browse window shows
> placeholder icons for the images. (Blueish ones for .jpg and orangeish
> ones for .bmp)(See screenshot 2). Now I can set .bmp files as
> background but not .jpg.
> I am grateful for your patience and expertise!
>
>
> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

Quote:

>> Filename: Screenshot 2.doc |
>> Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7211 |

> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

==================================
What happens if you right click a picture
in one of your folders or in Windows Photo
Gallery and choose... "Set as desktop
background"?

--

John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

**ruddervader** · 10-13-2008

John,
If I have one of the few bmp images up as desktop background, open photo gallery, right click on an image and click "set as background" the existing background dissappears and is replaced with a solid black backgound. Right clicking on any other image including bmp files and clicking on "set as background" produces no results.
If I right click on the desktop and select personalize and select a bmp file it will set as background but no jpg file will. For example, if I open desktop background and change location to "Windows Wallpaper" I only see placeholder icons in the file viewer pane. If I click on browse I can see the thumbnails in the browse viewer pane but if I select one and click "open" the background switches to the background color but no image is displayed.
I can't help but feel that there is some obscure setting I am overlooking but it escapes me completely!
P.S. Out of desperation I installed an old SofStuff screen saver program and it works perfectly, setting wallpaper and running the screensaver. (I have uninstalled it now)
P.P.S. Yes, the Vista screen saver works, if I choose Photos it displays them normally.

10-13-2008

ruddervader wrote:

Quote:

> John,
> If I have one of the few bmp images up as desktop background, open
> photo gallery, right click on an image and click "set as background"
> the existing background dissappears and is replaced with a solid black
> backgound. Right clicking on any other image including bmp files and
> clicking on "set as background" produces no results.
> If I right click on the desktop and select personalize and select a
> bmp file it will set as background but no jpg file will. For example,
> if I open desktop background and change location to "Windows
> Wallpaper" I only see placeholder icons in the file viewer pane. If I
> click on browse I can see the thumbnails in the browse viewer pane
> but if I select one and click "open" the background switches to the
> background color but no image is displayed.
> I can't help but feel that there is some obscure setting I am
> overlooking but it escapes me completely!

=========================================
I'm running out of ideas.

Maybe the following link would be worth a look.

Background keeps changing back to Black
http://tinyurl.com/4p3vlh
or...
Background keeps changing back to Black

--

John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

**ruddervader** · 10-13-2008

John,
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I just spent 4 hrs. in a chat with Microswamp Support and got nada. I was going to try a repair installation but don't have a Vista SP1 dvd. I guess I could uninstall SP1 and try the repair. Man this is frustrating!
Thanks again for all your hard work!

10-12-2008	#1 (permalink)
ruddervader Vista Home Premium 32bit 10 posts	Thumbnails won't display in folder view My thumbnails won't display correctly in folder view. I have recovered from Adware-Alert attack and feel my machine is clean ( Ran Malwarebytes Anti Malware, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot S&D, Smitfraudfix and Spyware DR.) My antivirus is F-prot for Windows. I can't set a picture as desktop background but it's because I can't see the picture in the browse folder. If I move the cursor over the browse folders window I get an outline of a file with the file information but it's like the picture is invisible. I have tried all the suggestions and tutorials by Brink with no result. Incidentally, I just had an automatic update to SP1 just before this happened. I have spent a couple of days haunting various forums and support sites without coming across these exact symptoms. I have attached a srceen shot of the file window and browse file window. Any help would be gratefully appreciated!
My System Specs

10-12-2008	#2 (permalink)
John Inzer n/a posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader wrote: Quote: > My thumbnails won't display correctly in folder view. I have recovered > from Adware-Alert attack and feel my machine is clean ( Ran > Malwarebytes Anti Malware, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot S&D, Smitfraudfix > and Spyware DR.) > My antivirus is F-prot for Windows. > > I can't set a picture as desktop background but it's because I can't > see the picture in the browse folder. If I move the cursor over the > browse folders window I get an outline of a file with the file > information but it's like the picture is invisible. > > I have tried all the suggestions and tutorials by Brink with no > result. > > > Incidentally, I just had an automatic update to SP1 just before this > happened. > > I have spent a couple of days haunting various forums and support > sites without coming across these exact symptoms. > > I have attached a srceen shot of the file window and browse file > window. > > Any help would be gratefully appreciated! ==================== Do the following articles offer anything new: Windows Vista - Double clicking an image opens Windows Photo Gallery without Previewing the image http://tinyurl.com/6ferwq or... http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/do...ing-the-image/ Windows Vista - How to Turn Folder Preview Thumbnails On or Off in Windows Explorer in Vista http://tinyurl.com/yosu3b or... Thumbnails in Windows Explorer -- John Inzer MS-MVP Digital Media Experience Notice This is not tech support I am a volunteer Solutions that work for me may not work for you Proceed at your own risk
My System Specs

10-12-2008	#4 (permalink)
John Inzer n/a posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader wrote: Quote: > John, > Thank you for your help. I had actually already been to both the > places you suggested and tried those solutions. If I open my pictures > folder the files are all there and they look like they should if they > were thumbnails but there is no image, not even a generic > placeholder. If I double click where the thumbnail should be it opens > Windows Photo Gallery and the picture displays fine. Let me see if I > can successfully attach a screen shot so you can see what I mean. I > really appreciate your help! ===================================== Try the following fix: File association fixes for Windows Vista http://tinyurl.com/2xsewp or... http://www.winhelponline.com/article...ows-Vista.html If that fails...have a look at the following article and rename or delete Pictures.pd4 as instructed. (944221) Windows Live Photo Gallery stops responding or will not start http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944221/en-us Here's the path if you are using Windows Photo Gallery. C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ Windows Photo Gallery\Pictures.pd4 The file can also be found with an Advanced Search for pd4. Go to...Start / Search / Advanced Search. Check the box..."Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files" Enter pd4 in the Name field and left click the Search button. -- John Inzer MS-MVP Digital Media Experience Notice This is not tech support I am a volunteer Solutions that work for me may not work for you Proceed at your own risk
My System Specs

10-12-2008	#5 (permalink)
John Inzer n/a posts	*Re:More* Thumbnails won't display in folder view** FWIW... Renaming or deleting Pictures.pd4 will revert Photo Gallery to what is was the first time you opened it. Your pictures will have to be cataloged again. -- John Inzer MS-MVP Digital Media Experience Notice This is not tech support I am a volunteer Solutions that work for me may not work for you Proceed at your own risk ============================================= Quote: > ruddervader wrote: Quote: >> John, >> Thank you for your help. I had actually already been to both the >> places you suggested and tried those solutions. If I open my pictures >> folder the files are all there and they look like they should if they >> were thumbnails but there is no image, not even a generic >> placeholder. If I double click where the thumbnail should be it opens >> Windows Photo Gallery and the picture displays fine. Let me see if I >> can successfully attach a screen shot so you can see what I mean. I >> really appreciate your help! > ===================================== > Try the following fix: > > File association fixes for Windows Vista > http://tinyurl.com/2xsewp > or... > http://www.winhelponline.com/article...ows-Vista.html > > If that fails...have a look at the following article > and rename or delete Pictures.pd4 as instructed. > > (944221) Windows Live Photo Gallery stops > responding or will not start > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944221/en-us > > Here's the path if you are using Windows Photo > Gallery. > > C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ > Windows Photo Gallery\Pictures.pd4 > > The file can also be found with an Advanced > Search for pd4. > > Go to...Start / Search / Advanced Search. > > Check the box..."Include non-indexed, hidden, > and system files" Enter pd4 in the Name field > and left click the Search button.
My System Specs

10-13-2008	#7 (permalink)
John Inzer n/a posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader wrote: Quote: > John, > Well, I am making progress or maybe just muddling the problem. I tried > your last two suggestions and then went through all my picture folders > and set the "Views" button to "extra large icons" and made sure the > "View" on the menu bar was set the same. (I did the file association > fixes for jpg, jpeg, mpg, bmp, gif, and tif) > Now I have picture thumbnails in all my picture folders and > subfolders. All my other folders are set to "Details". So far, so > good! > Now when I go to personalize my desktop the browse window shows > placeholder icons for the images. (Blueish ones for .jpg and orangeish > ones for .bmp)(See screenshot 2). Now I can set .bmp files as > background but not .jpg. > I am grateful for your patience and expertise! > > > +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Quote: >> Filename: Screenshot 2.doc \| >> Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7211 \| > +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ================================== What happens if you right click a picture in one of your folders or in Windows Photo Gallery and choose... "Set as desktop background"? -- John Inzer MS-MVP Digital Media Experience Notice This is not tech support I am a volunteer Solutions that work for me may not work for you Proceed at your own risk
My System Specs

10-13-2008	#8 (permalink)
ruddervader Vista Home Premium 32bit 10 posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view John, If I have one of the few bmp images up as desktop background, open photo gallery, right click on an image and click "set as background" the existing background dissappears and is replaced with a solid black backgound. Right clicking on any other image including bmp files and clicking on "set as background" produces no results. If I right click on the desktop and select personalize and select a bmp file it will set as background but no jpg file will. For example, if I open desktop background and change location to "Windows Wallpaper" I only see placeholder icons in the file viewer pane. If I click on browse I can see the thumbnails in the browse viewer pane but if I select one and click "open" the background switches to the background color but no image is displayed. I can't help but feel that there is some obscure setting I am overlooking but it escapes me completely! P.S. Out of desperation I installed an old SofStuff screen saver program and it works perfectly, setting wallpaper and running the screensaver. (I have uninstalled it now) P.P.S. Yes, the Vista screen saver works, if I choose Photos it displays them normally. Last edited by ruddervader; 10-13-2008 at 06:56 PM..
My System Specs

10-13-2008	#9 (permalink)
John Inzer n/a posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader wrote: Quote: > John, > If I have one of the few bmp images up as desktop background, open > photo gallery, right click on an image and click "set as background" > the existing background dissappears and is replaced with a solid black > backgound. Right clicking on any other image including bmp files and > clicking on "set as background" produces no results. > If I right click on the desktop and select personalize and select a > bmp file it will set as background but no jpg file will. For example, > if I open desktop background and change location to "Windows > Wallpaper" I only see placeholder icons in the file viewer pane. If I > click on browse I can see the thumbnails in the browse viewer pane > but if I select one and click "open" the background switches to the > background color but no image is displayed. > I can't help but feel that there is some obscure setting I am > overlooking but it escapes me completely! ========================================= I'm running out of ideas. Maybe the following link would be worth a look. Background keeps changing back to Black http://tinyurl.com/4p3vlh or... Background keeps changing back to Black -- John Inzer MS-MVP Digital Media Experience Notice This is not tech support I am a volunteer Solutions that work for me may not work for you Proceed at your own risk
My System Specs

10-13-2008	#10 (permalink)
ruddervader Vista Home Premium 32bit 10 posts	Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view John, Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I just spent 4 hrs. in a chat with Microswamp Support and got nada. I was going to try a repair installation but don't have a Vista SP1 dvd. I guess I could uninstall SP1 and try the repair. Man this is frustrating! Thanks again for all your hard work!
My System Specs

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