cannot open pictures

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Guest

I have 1 folder stored in My Documents that have some pictures that cannot be
opened. Within that folder I have about 10 subfolders and only one of those
subfolders is affected and it is about 80% of the pics within that subfolder
that will not open.
In Thumbnail/Filmstrip views the thumbnails show white boxes with a sailboat
but under each white box the original name of each pic is still there. When
I double click the white box it open a window that states 'Generating
Preview" but it dissapears within a second. When I highlight the box in
Filmstrip view it says 'No File Selected' or the last (viewable) pic
highlighted just stays put. In Detail view all appears normal: names are the
same, they are all jpeg images, but the dimensions are listed only on the
viewable pics. I have saved some new pictures tried to name them, but a
window popped saying 'Name Is Too Long' and only allowed 8 characters for
title - this was not the case before.
I have NOT recently rearranged, organized or dragged these pictures, only
added new ones to the folder.
When I highlight several nonviewable pictures and right click on properties
the READ ONLY box and the HIDDEN box is filled in (or highlighted) when I
unhighlight them and click apply, the apply button turns gray and nothing
else happens. When I unhighlight them and click okay, nothing happens. On
the viewable pictures these boxes are not filled in.
I recently had to send a report that required me to open applications data
and highlight show hidden files but do not know if this is related.
I have already run "REGSVR32 SHIMGVW.DLL", I do not use AOL or CompuServe,
I have restored to an earlier date and checked for viruses.
Any info wil be greatly appreciated!
 
The thumbs.db file in your affected subfolder may be incorrectly set. Delete
it and let XP create a new one automatically.
Open the subfolder and scroll down to find the thumbs.db file and delete it.
This is a hidden file, so you may not see it. If so, click on Tools>Folder
Options>View and scroll down to select "Show hidden files"
Press F5 (refresh) and you should now see this file listed. Delete it. Close
the subfolder and open it again. You should now see a new thumbs.db file.
Now try to open the photos and then return your system to "do not show
hidden files".
 
I am not able to find the thumbs.db file.
I opened the subfolder and there was no thumbs.db file. I clicked on
Tools>Folder Options>View and "Show hidden files" was already selected. I
continued to reselect anyway refreshed and closed/reopened folder. No
changes/No thumbs.db file.
I went back and clicked "Do not show hidden files" refreshed/closed/opened
and found no changes or file thumbs.db. and went back again with the "Show
hidden files". Again no changes or thumbs.db file.
thanks for your response.
 
1. Can you find the thumbs.db file in your other subfolders?
2. Are you sure you ran REGSVR32 SHIMGVW.DLL properly? Did you get a
"success" message after running it.
3. Create a new subfolder and then copy your pictures there and try to open
them.
4. Try another viewer. Two available here for free:

www.irfanview.com
www.faststone.org

After you download and install these photos viewer/editor, open them and try
to open your subfolder with them. What kind of message to you get when you
try to open the "faulty" pictures, particularly with irfanview.
 
1. I am not able to find thumbs.db file in any other subfolder either.
2. I clicked Start>Run>and copied and pasted REGSVR32 SHIMGVW.DLL then>OK.
I did get a "success" message.
3. In a new subfolder, I was not able to copy the faulty pics into it.
when i right click on a faulty thumbnail, there is no "copy" option.
when i select several faulty thumbnails there is a copy option and then a
paste into the new subfolder but it is still an empty folder.
when i tried to drag a faulty thumbnail to the new subfolder it appears as
tho it is working but it does not stick and the folder is empty.
i am able to copy the good pictures from the affected folder to the new
folder.
4. When I click on the faulty pics in irfanview, there are no changes... no
message and the screen stays black. when i open on a 'good' picture in the
affected subfolder, the picture appears in the irfanviewer but the whole
viewer/screen closes after 1 second.
I can view all other folders normally with irfanview.
With faststone no changes or messages when trying to open faulty pictures.
Can view 'good' pics and other folders with no problem.
thanks for you support!
 
I am having the same problem. This happened when I tried to copy my pics to a
cd but windows burning wizard sayed there was no cd. I had to use Nero
Express to burn to cd. After I did this the problem occured.
I have down as suggested in Yves posts but all have failed. I have learned
that Nero may have a conflict with the Roxio software windows uses to burn
to cd. I am using Nero 7 Ultra, running Windows XP SP2.
 
I was able to recover my pics from a back up on another HDD. I am curious as
to why this happens and any solutions.
 
Well recovering the pics was only a temp fix. As soon as I rebooted the
problem occurs again.
Is it possible there is a problem in the registry?
 
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