Solved WLM 2011-no animated photos

Hi all friends :D
after installing WLM 2011- all animations worked fine. after the first time i exit it and turn it on again -i do not see animated(moving) photos
i tried 3 times install/uninstall(with revo even) ,ran as admin- all the same:
Right after the installation i see all animated photo but upon exit WLM and turn it on again for the second time and further -i do not see animated photos like in the screen shot below.
-animated emoticons/winks works fine both way with my contact and i can see them moving
-my contact (with xp) can see my display photo animation(the swimming fish) but i cannot see mine nor his display photo animation.
- i do not know if it is .gif issue -but i tried to associate it with IE and photo editor-nothing helped.
1-is it a known bug with vista and WLM 2011 ?
2-any idea how to restore the photos animation?
Thanks

Welcome
I think the 4th point made, make give us a lead
Windows Live Essentials 2011 release notes
Although I have never used those terms myself, I think that this may explain why you dont have animations in WLM; you are not in the right mode.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...g&sa=X&ei=oMosTe2DMcH6lwe039ymCw&ved=0CBoQkAE

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/hardware+rendering

Hardware rendering is more efficient.

richc46 said:

Welcome
I think the 4th point made, make give us a lead
Windows Live Essentials 2011 release notes

Click to expand...

Hi Richard ,
the point stats:
"If your computer uses software rendering instead of hardware rendering, you won't see any animations in Windows Live.
This includes animated GIFs used in display pictures and animated emoticons in Messenger "

-well, animated emoticons work fine.
Render = direct X?
if yes, i checked dxdiag -all direct x features(3) enabled on the display tab

I have already added to my post above.

I do know that I have Windows Live Mail 2011 and found out recently, that I have the same problem with animations.

Dear Richard i use and installed only the messenger part (WLM ). I did not install Windows Live Mail.
But again it is strange because Right after the installation i see all animated photo..

Can someone with vista+WLM 2011 confirm this issue/or not?

I do not have messenger, but the same is true with Live Mail.. You probably cannot see the animation because of the limitation of the software rendering. It is clearly stated that there are no animations with with software rendering, so I have to assume that is what you have.
The article that I sent you includes all of the Live Essentials ie Mail and messnger.

Thanks again,
i read the above links-
still i do not understand what "limitation of the software rendering" means ...
i never had any problems with CPU, and i know that directx is enable and acts as hardware acceleration
should i enable/disable something on my pc?

Edit:

->I install/uninstall again NOW, i do not think the issue is rendering related.
as emoticons/winks/video chat all works fine except the animated GIFs used in display pictures.
Further discussion will be appreciated

Hi prukeyhi,

I'm researching the issue with the WLM support group and hope to have some information soon - I'll let you know if/when I do. They may want some additional information or details, and since I don't have the problem I'll need to get that from you to pass on to them. If you can see animated emoticons but not animated photos, I do not believe rendering is the problem (or you would not be able to see the animated emoticons either).

I found the following suggestion for someone who suddenly couldn't see animated photos (not the problem you describe, but at least similar) and this is what a forum support person replied (which I find hard to believe if you installed/uninstalled several times, especially using Revo, but I suppose it is possible and may be worth a shot - but I'm not sure about all this deleting as it seems to be more than just cache files so I'd backup and/or export the contacts to somewhere else just to be on the safe side):

I suggest that you do the following steps to delete corrupted cache files:
For Windows Vista and Windows 7:
1. Close Windows Live Messenger. Beside the time and date of your computer, right-click the Windows Live Messenger icon, and then click Exit.
2. Click Start, copy and paste this message in the Start Search box %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ and then press Enter. Delete the Windows Live Contacts folder.
3. Click Start, copy and paste this message in the Start Search box %userprofile%\ and the press Enter. Delete the Contacts folder.
4. Try to sign in and verify if the issue is resolved.

Another reply to a similar problem in another thread (again, no mention of it working the first time only - the post wasn't that detailed) suggested the issue had to do with Adobe Flash Player and/or the Active-X controls and settings for using it properly. The following link was recommended as a potential solution: Adobe - Common Flash Player download and installation issues (Windows). Of course, the fact that it works the first time makes it hard to believe this is the issue, but I suppose it may be worth a shot as it was suggested by a Live Support person to someone else with a problem seeing animated photos (and I guess it can't hurt even if it may not help).

I'll keep looking and await any helpful replies, but that's all I have at this point.

I hope it helps.

Good luck!

Hi Lorien and thanks for your very detailed answer !
i tried your recommended fix's- it did not help
1-Just to be sure: Do you have WLM 2011 installed and you have no animation problem?
2-i opened a post in WML support as well- i hope i put it in the right forum ?
Vista 32bit->WLM 2011-no animated photos
3-again i'd like to emphasize : all animation worked in the first time only.
Thanks!

prukeyhi said:

Hi Lorien and thanks for your very detailed answer !
i tried your recommended fix's- it did not help
1-Just to be sure: Do you have WLM 2011 installed and you have no animation problem?
2-i opened a post in WML support as well- i hope i put it in the right forum ?
Vista 32bit->WLM 2011-no animated photos
3-again i'd like to emphasize : all animation worked in the first time only.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

1. Yes, I do have it and I use it mostly just to get notified of new e-mail messages but haven't really used Messenger for chatting or anything like that in quite a while (though I do have a few friends I've not messaged in ages - and maybe I need to do something about that). I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even test to see if I had the problem before seeking a solution to yours. It turns out I can see animated gifs in WLM 2011 (I opened pictures from a friend and there was an animated gif included and I double clicked on it and it showed up and was animated inside Messenger). Then again, the animated pictures I posted online I could not get to see animated in Messenger (and so I copied and added this one that had worked and it didn't work in Messenger from my shared photos) - so I'm not quite sure what that means. I should note that her photos were NOT saved on SkyDrive but at some other web site and were in Photos and not Me (as I haven't yet figured out how to add anything to the Photos link but only as shared photos in the Me link). I'd give you access to see if you can see it animated but they're shared only with friends. During the process, I did get an error message at one point that said it couldn't view the animated gif because the file format wasn't supported by Windows Photo Gallery - and I'm not sure what that means either but suspect it may have something to do with the issue.

2. I used a different forum - I looked for one with similar issues posted (and essentially copied what you posted here with some minor edits) - but that's good because now the issue is in two different forums and being different names they won't be seen as duplicates (unless the same person responds to both). Mine is :Unable to see animated photos - animated gif's (but can see animated emoticons). I will track your thread as well so we can see which gets a response first and what it recommends. Those suggestions I provided came from the forum in which I posted.

3. Yes, I understand that. That's what makes it the most confusing to me. It suggests the feature works and there's no hardware or software problem - but SOMETHING changes after it is initially closed that causes it to never appear again. I have not uninstalled/reinstalled to test whether or not this is also the case for me - even if we found it to be true, I'm not sure how it would help resolve the problem (except to be able to say it has been replicated on another computer).

Hopefully, we'll get lucky and get a response that figures this out. It's probably something so simple eveyone is missing it.

Good luck to us both!

You are a very kind person Lorien i appreciate it!!!
1-if it is possible please try in your WLM to select animated display picture (like the swimming fish )
and see after signing out of WLM and resigning, if you have a problem.
as in my screenshot , in Tab "select a picture" animation is ok But does not work on the conversation window and on the left upper corner of the messenger it self.
2- gif files default association program in vista is IE, they will animate with it But not with windows photo gallery . can you please check on your vista machine (and report back) what's the default association program for gif?
3-maybe it's worthwhile to add 2 points: from all windows live ess. i installed only the messenger part. WLM 2009 had no animation problem at all.
4-i'll wait for your answers 1+2 and the 2 threads we opened in WLM support forum(they have some forum server problem right now).
Thank you very much !

Hi prukeyhi,

I just got the following message from the WLM forum. Can you please help me respond (In fact, respond here as if to it - separated from the rest of your response and with the files attached - and I'll just edit and send that to them). And let's do so quickly while the iron is hot. They obviously misunderstood a bit, but asking for the gifs is a good sign.

Hi Lorien,

To isolate this issue, please try creating an emoticon on Windows Live Messenger by following the steps below:

1. On the Tools menu, click Emoticons.
2. Click Create.
3. Find the file on your computer that you want to use, and then click Open.
4. Enter a keyboard shortcut for your emoticon.
5. Enter a name for your emoticon, and then click OK.

After creating a new emoticon, please sign out and sign in and see whether the emoticon is on Windows Live Messenger.

If it did, we would like to request for .gif files that you were trying to add. Also, can you please clarify if this only occurs with your emoticons only or with display pictures as well?

You can attach the sample emoticons by clicking on the 'Upload file' file button on my private message below.

Thanks,

Corinne V.

Click to expand...

I'll get back to you on first question later (and as I said I don't really use Messenger, so opening a conversation window is somewhat of a challenge as I have almost nobody with whom to converse, but I'll see what I can do even if I need to create another account on my other computer) - but I just checked and .gif is associated with Internet Explorer (despite that strange Photo Gallery error message (see below) I got when playing around with it trying to download pictures from SkyDrive).

I look forward to your reply. Be as detailed as possible and give her a few examples. Add anything you think will help her understand (even if it means repeating what was already said).

Thanks and good luck!

thank you Lorien!
1-i'll wait on first question later
2-answer to WLM forum:
emoticons works fine .this only occurs with display pictures as in my screenshot , in Tab "select a picture" animation is ok But does not work on the conversation window and on the left upper corner of the messenger it self. the contact can see my animation photo fine.

Hi prukeyhi,

A response has been posted (almost exactly what you said along with the screenshot from your first post). Now we wait (and I'll try to get to the first question ASAP and get back to you).

Take care!

Lorien said:

Hi prukeyhi,

A response has been posted (almost exactly what you said along with the screenshot from your first post). Now we wait (and I'll try to get to the first question ASAP and get back to you).

Take care!

Click to expand...

Thank you !
i also watching the subject there

Hi prukeyhi,

I selected an animated picture and signed out and signed back in and it was still animated. I then opened IM to send an offline message to someone who wasn't there (so I wouldn't get trapped in a conversation) and the picture at the bottom left (my picture) was fully animated. I then actually closed WLM (versus just signing out) and when I came back both were still fully animated. I'm now back to my normal picture again. I am not having the same problem as you. If you get an animated picture from someone (say an attached file or a link to SkyDrive or some other online site), can you see those animated in Messenger or not?

I do have an animation problem, but it's different than yours. I think our problems sound similar on the surface, but are completely different when we get to the nuts and bolts of the issue.

Now we wait to see if Corinne has something to offer. Then when this is all over, maybe I'll repost my own problem there - but I use it so rarely it seems almost a waste of time.

Take care and let's hope we get some good news.

-Thanks for your test results,
-Then it's not a GENERAL bug -something wrong with my machine...
-

If you get an animated picture from someone (say an attached file or a link to SkyDrive or some other online site), can you see those animated in Messenger or not?

Click to expand...

if i get link to animated .gif photos generally -they are animated as seen in IE.
in WLM 2011 they are not animated , though emoticons i received are animated..

Hi prukeyhi,

I meant shared photos from a SkyDrive link which should show up in WLM as shared photos and hopefully not open up IE (though they may unless sent through Messenger which we can't do at the moment as we haven't shared addresses). In any event, see if you can view any of the following animated gifs in WLM: Test Album - Windows Live.

If that just opens IE (as I suspect it will), and you can't download them to Messenger to view inside Messenger (I think it's possible) then to test we may need to exchange addresses by PM (with the agreement we both keep that information private and also not add each other to our publicly-shared lists) and then I can send them to you that way and they should open inside Messenger and we'll know if you can see the animation or not. Of course, I myself can't even see these as animated inside Messenger (though I was able to see the one of roses I got by going to the pictures shared by someone else (and no, I don't know her version of WLM and no I can't connect you directly as they are only shared with friends)) but not once I saved it myself and then tried to view it inside Messenger - for some reason it worked entirely different and I've no clue why (except for that bizarre screenshot I posted indicating it was trying to use Photo Gallery despite the association defaults to IE). But I have nobody I could find sharing animated gifs with everyone - so no way to really test that by giving you the information to get to them. Then again, I'm not entirely sure if this is or isn't an issue for you - can you see animated gifs from shared photos from other people inside Messenger?

I don't know if this will help, but if we don't get anything helpful from Corinne, then maybe this additional information will assist her in finding your problem.

Thanks!

excellent idea! and thanks for your offer!
I tested the issue since on my xp machine i use WLM2009 (2011 not for xp)
the photos are not animated inside WLM2011 THOUGH they are animated on WLM2009...
I do not have any clue to the problem source yet

I was wondering (and the decision is entirely yours), but perhaps if you downloaded and installed everything from Essentials 2011 the problem would resolve, as the issue may be some file (or the lack of some file) in one of the other programs. I don't seem to have your problem and I did download everything. This is a complete guess and there's nothing I've seen or read to support it (then again, there's very little about the problem you're having either). I suppose if it doesn't work, you could always uninstall the programs you don't want and be back where you started - or just leave them there in case you ever want or need them and have the space (though I will admit that uninstalling Essentials 2011 can be problematic from what I've read and some threads I've seen relating to that issue - so think about that when you make your decision). I don't want to make things worse than they are, but this shouldn't do that (I'm pretty sure). I'm pretty much running out of ideas until this one just occurred to me.

Anyway, it was just a passing thought that I wanted to pass on for your consideration (while we wait). You can give it a try or ignore it as you see fit. I do not recommend it and I don't say it shouldn't be done - it's a choice you have to make on your own.

Good luck!