Member Avatar for pwdrpuff53

I am using WIN2000 Pro. At one time, when I would open my WINDOWS explorer, I could select to view thumbnails, and it worked fine, even if I wanted to open a photo with Photoshop or ACDC. But now, for some reason, I cannot view thumbnails in WINDOWS explorer, except for GIF files, which I also have selected to open with ACDC. I have still selected to open my photos individually, with ACDC, or I can select Photoshop, but still cannot view thumbnails in WINDOWS explorer. If I deselect those 2 programs in folder options, what would I select? Why can't I view them both ways anymore? I want to be able to view thumbnails when I browse with my WINDOWS explorer. Thanks. :confused:

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 135 Views
  • 6 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by JR85023

Dani AI

Generated

Brief, practical checklist for — building on points from and but focused on concrete tests and fixes that weren't spelled out in the replies.

  1. Quick UI checks
  • In Explorer choose Thumbnails (View menu) and verify the Explorer/Display option that forces icons instead of thumbnails is off.
  • If that setting is correct, restart Explorer (Task Manager -> End Process explorer.exe, then New Task -> explorer.exe) and re-check.
  1. Clear thumbnail cache and corrupted caches
  • Search your drives for thumbs.db and delete those files (they are hidden). A corrupted thumbs.db can stop thumbnails from showing.
  1. Isolate user/profile or shell-extension problems
  • Log in with a different user account (or create one) and test. If thumbnails appear there, the problem is in the original profile.
  • Do a clean boot (disable non-Microsoft startup items/services with msconfig) and test again to find a conflicting shell extension.
  1. Test/remove third-party image handlers
  • Temporarily uninstall or repair imaging apps (ACDSee, Photoshop) or disable their shell/thumbnail extensions. If removing them restores thumbnails, reinstall or use their repair option. (If uncomfortable editing shell extensions, leave the app installed and do the clean-boot/profile test first.)
  1. Reset file-type handling if needed
  • In Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types, locate .jpg/.jpeg (and others) and remove or reset any custom action that replaced the default handler, then test thumbnails again.

Cautions and next steps

  • Back up the registry before making registry edits. If none of the above works, note which formats show thumbnails and which do not (that helps pinpoint the handler/codec). After each change, log off/log on (or restart Explorer) to confirm results.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for Monte

Try changing the default windows program for opening JPEG and other types of imaging files. You can download the Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000 and it comes with a built in feature that allows you to change the image default opening program. Good luck.

Member Avatar for JR85023

Do you have Adobe Photoshop 7 or Elements installed they are known for causing this issue when you have generate thumbnails selected.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.