Viewing WinXP thumbnails in something other than Windows Picture and Fax Viewer ('cuz it's gone)

[Tom]

Does anyone know what program is used to view WinXp thumbnails by default?
('cuz mine is gone)

I think I did get rid of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but, now I can't
see thumbnails in Windows XP! Can we set the program to view thumbnails?

Here's what happened so far (drat):
0. Here is what I still HAVE in my menu when right clicking on a JPEG

Open With:
- Windows picture and fax viewer
- Irfanview
- Paint.Net
- Paint
- Choose Program

Here's what I WANT in that JPEG context menu:
Open With:
- Irfanview
- Paint.Net
- Paint
- FastoneFS
- Choose Program

NOTE: I'd never open with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer so that's why I
want it out of that JPG context menu!

How do we replace "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" with "FastoneFS" without
losing the ability to view thumbnails in Windows XP?

 

[Tom]

Does anyone know what program is used to view WinXp thumbnails by default?
('cuz mine is gone)

How do we replace "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" with "FastoneFS" without
losing the ability to view thumbnails in Windows XP?

Here's what I had TRIED to get rid of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

BTW, I think I did get rid of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but, now I
can't see thumbnails in Windows XP!

1. I got really tired of always having to scroll when right clicking on
photos to open them up in secondary freeware photo editors such as
FastoneFS so I wanted to put FastoneFS on this "Open With" context menu.

2. Since I never use "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" (or so I had
thought), I looked up how to delete the "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer".

3. Now that I've deleted the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, I don't see my
thumbnails in Windows XP anymore. Sigh.

Two questions:
What does Windows use to view thumbnails? (Windows Picture & Fax Viewer???)
How should I have added FastoneFX to the JPG context menu anyway?
Can we change the Windows default thumbnail viewer to Irfanview???

 

[Tom]

Two questions:
What does Windows use to view thumbnails? (Windows Picture & Fax Viewer???)
How should I have added FastoneFX to the JPG context menu anyway?
Can we change the Windows default thumbnail viewer to Irfanview???

OK. That's THREE questions!

To help you help me, here is the advice I had followed to get rid of the
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in my JPG OpenWith context menu.

Start -> Run -> regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

But that didn't work to remove Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from the JPG
openwith context menu.

Googling some more, I found this page:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/...windows-picture-and-fax-viewer-in-windows-xp/
titled How to Turn Off Image Preview Thumbnail and Disable Windows Picture
and Fax Viewer in Windows XP

But, I didn't want to remove the thumbnail preview ...... I just wanted to
remove the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from my JPG congtext menu!

I just ran:
Start -> Run -> regsvr32 shimgvw.

And my thumbnails are back!

That leaves two questions:

How can I add FastoneFX freeware to the JPG context menu to replace
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer?

Can we change the Windows default thumbnail viewer to Irfanview freeware?

 

[Tom]

That leaves two questions:
How can I add FastoneFX freeware to the JPG context menu to replace
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer?
Can we change the Windows default thumbnail viewer to Irfanview freeware?

I tried removing the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer but it doesn't show up
in the CCLeaner remove programs GUI.

It didn't work (nothing changed) to delete the "ShellImagePreview" key in
the registry as described in a lot of web pages (so I had to put it back).
HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\image\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers\ShellImagePreview

Does everyone have a (rather useless) Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in
their open with context menu when they right click on a JPG in Windows?

Did YOU replace that context menu item with something more useful?

How?

 

[tony cooper]

Here's what I had TRIED to get rid of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

BTW, I think I did get rid of Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but, now I
can't see thumbnails in Windows XP!

1. I got really tired of always having to scroll when right clicking on
photos to open them up in secondary freeware photo editors such as
FastoneFS so I wanted to put FastoneFS on this "Open With" context menu.

2. Since I never use "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer" (or so I had
thought), I looked up how to delete the "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer".

3. Now that I've deleted the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, I don't see my
thumbnails in Windows XP anymore. Sigh.

Two questions:
What does Windows use to view thumbnails? (Windows Picture & Fax Viewer???)
How should I have added FastoneFX to the JPG context menu anyway?
Can we change the Windows default thumbnail viewer to Irfanview???

If you are in "My Computer" (XP), and you want to open a .jpg file in
FastStone, find any image in the list of .jpgs, right click on that
file, in the drop-down go to OPEN WITH. Choose "FSViewer" and the
image will open in FastStone.

If "FSViewer" is not on the list, and it won't be until you add it, go
to CHOOSE PROGRAM in the drop-down, pick "FSViewer" and check the box
that says "Always open with this program".

Now, every time you click on a .jpg file name or icon in MY COMPUTER,
the image will open in FastStone.

You don't delete Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. You merely choose
another program to automatically open .jpg files. WP&FV is the
default.

 

[Paul Furman]

If you are in "My Computer" (XP), and you want to open a .jpg file in
FastStone, find any image in the list of .jpgs, right click on that
file, in the drop-down go to OPEN WITH. Choose "FSViewer" and the
image will open in FastStone.

If "FSViewer" is not on the list, and it won't be until you add it, go
to CHOOSE PROGRAM in the drop-down, pick "FSViewer" and check the box
that says "Always open with this program".

Now, every time you click on a .jpg file name or icon in MY COMPUTER,
the image will open in FastStone.

You don't delete Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. You merely choose
another program to automatically open .jpg files. WP&FV is the
default.

One other possibility is adding shortcuts to the "Send To" menu which
can be found here: C:\Users\paul\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo\

What I do is set irfanview as the default then set up Alt-F-E in
irfanview to open the file in photoshop.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

 

[Tom]

You don't delete Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. You merely choose
another program to automatically open .jpg files. WP&FV is the
default.

That's the whole point. Apparently we only get four (4) slots for programs
in the short list of the Windows JPEG context menu.

The top slot is taken by Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, which I've never
used so I don't want WPAFV to take up the premier menu position.

If I try your method to make FastoneFX in that top-four list, it simply
kicks out one of the other three (3) programs, such as the tried and true
Irfanview! That's not what I want. I want to kick out Windows Picture and
Fax Viewer.

There must be some way to replace the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer slot
in the JPEG context menu with a useful program (such as Irfanview,
Paint.Net, FastoneFX, Exifer, etc.)

Does someone know how to remove Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from the jpg
context m

 

[Tom]

You get get rid of the pesky default Win Pix & Fax View by entering
the following on a RUN Command Line, then return:
regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

I tried that. It did all the wrong things. I had to undo it. See prior
post.

There MUST be some way to replace the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in the
JPEG context menu with Irfanview or FastoneFX or Exifer or some other
useful program, isn't there?

 

[Paul Furman]

That's the whole point. Apparently we only get four (4) slots for programs
in the short list of the Windows JPEG context menu.

I've got 11 options for 'Open With' right-clicking a jpeg.

The top slot is taken by Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, which I've never
used so I don't want WPAFV to take up the premier menu position.

It's option number 8 on my system. Maybe that's a bonus with the Vista
Ultimate edition?

If I try your method to make FastoneFX in that top-four list, it simply
kicks out one of the other three (3) programs, such as the tried and true
Irfanview! That's not what I want. I want to kick out Windows Picture and
Fax Viewer.

There must be some way to replace the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer slot
in the JPEG context menu with a useful program (such as Irfanview,
Paint.Net, FastoneFX, Exifer, etc.)

Does someone know how to remove Windows Picture and Fax Viewer from the jpg
context m

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

 

[tony cooper]

That's the whole point. Apparently we only get four (4) slots for programs
in the short list of the Windows JPEG context menu.

Look, I'm on Windows XP on a PC. What I described works. If you
can't make the same thing work, I suggest you start over and try it
again because you're leaving out a step somewhere. You are not
limited to four slots. Four are showing because your computer, as it
is set up, just recognizes four programs that open .jpgs.

The top slot is taken by Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, which I've never
used so I don't want WPAFV to take up the premier menu position.

If I try your method to make FastoneFX in that top-four list, it simply
kicks out one of the other three (3) programs, such as the tried and true
Irfanview! That's not what I want. I want to kick out Windows Picture and
Fax Viewer.

But you don't. You just don't want the WP&FV to be the default as it
comes in the factory setting.

You can't have *both* Irfanview and FastStone to be the default. You
can have one or the other. You can still open in anything that your
computer recognizes as a .jpg viewer, but only one can be set as the
default.

If you want Irfanview as the default, follow my instructions and pick
Irfanview. Personally, I think FastStone is better as the default
because it allows you to see thumbnails of all the images in the
folder that is opened.

You never want to "kick out" Windows-installed a program by deleting
it. You don't know what that program is linked to. Just change the
default.

Note that you are spelling "FastStone" incorrectly. I don't think
that makes a difference because it comes up "FSViewer", you may be
trying to find "Fastone" and that won't work.

 

[Tom]

Dunno what you did, but SHIMGVW.DLL is used ONLY for viewing images and
fax images. Removing it, or disabling it as originally written does
not do any other strange stuff. Most experienced users will have done
away with this 'system service' a long time ago

Isn't SHIMGVW.DLL what shows thumbnail views of the JPEG files in the
Windows explorer? When I disabled SHIMGVW.DLL, I lost the ability to see
the thumbnail view in the Windows explorer.

I'd love it if I could set Irfanview or some other program to be that which
views the thumbnails in Windows explorer windows!

What do the experienced users use for viewing picture thumbnails in Windows
explorer?

 

[Tom]

I've got 11 options for 'Open With' right-clicking a jpeg.

When I open with another program, it still has only 4 options.

What do I do to get another program on that option list?

 

[Tom]

You never want to "kick out" Windows-installed a program by deleting
it. You don't know what that program is linked to. Just change the
default.

I found out, the hard way, the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is the
program that displays thumbnails in the Windows explorer window .....

But, I still have only 4 options in my context menu when I right click on a
JPEG file, even though I've pointed it to open with many other programs.

What is the trick to get the context menu to show more than 4 programs?

 

[tony cooper]

I found out, the hard way, the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is the
program that displays thumbnails in the Windows explorer window .....

But, I still have only 4 options in my context menu when I right click on a
JPEG file, even though I've pointed it to open with many other programs.

What is the trick to get the context menu to show more than 4 programs?

Jeez...what are you up to now? Thirty posts on this?

Why are you talking about "right clicking"? If you follow the steps
provided to you, when you *double click* on the thumbnail, the .jpg
will open in whatever program you set as the default: Irfanview or
FastStone.

You set the default once by right clicking on any thumbnail>Open
With>Choose Program> and navigate to either Irfanview or FastStone
with Browse. Check the box marked "Always Use The Selected Program"
and all future double-clicks on thumbnails will open the .jpg in that
program.

If this doesn't work for you, ask a 9 year-old neighbor kid to do it
for you.

If it bothers you so terribly to see those thumbnails provided in
WP&FV, don't even go to Explorer. Open FastStone and go directly to
the folder using their browser. I never open Explorer to see the
thumbnails. I go direct to FastStone and have a Function Key shortcut
to FastStone. There's no reason to use Explorer.

 

[Tom]

Why are you talking about "right clicking"?

Because I'm trying to ADD programs to the openwith list.

when you *double click* on the thumbnail, the .jpg
will open in whatever program you set as the default

This was NEVER the problem; the default is and always was and should be
Irfanview (because of its inherent speed).

You set the default once by ... Check the box marked
"Always Use The Selected Program" and all future double-clicks
on thumbnails will open the .jpg in that program.

This always worked; doubleclick opens up in Irfanview.

If this doesn't work for you, ask a 9 year-old neighbor
kid to do it for you.

Everything that you are talking about was never the problem.

If it bothers you so terribly to see those thumbnails provided in
WP&FV, don't even go to Explorer.

That isn't the problem at all.

Hi Tony,
I thank you for trying to help but you missed the entire point as
everything you spoke about isn't the problem. The problem is merely that
the LIST of programs when I right click is limited, for some reason, to 4
programs. When I add a new program to that list, it kicks off an existing
program from that openwith list.

There must be some way to manually add a program to that list that doesn't
kick off the existing programs on that list. Do you know how?

 

[tony cooper]

Because I'm trying to ADD programs to the openwith list.

This was NEVER the problem; the default is and always was and should be
Irfanview (because of its inherent speed).

This always worked; doubleclick opens up in Irfanview.

Everything that you are talking about was never the problem.

That isn't the problem at all.

Then what is the problem? Why do you object to the thumbnails in
Explorer being generated by WP&FV if you don't use Explorer?

Hi Tony,
I thank you for trying to help but you missed the entire point as
everything you spoke about isn't the problem. The problem is merely that
the LIST of programs when I right click is limited, for some reason, to 4
programs. When I add a new program to that list, it kicks off an existing
program from that openwith list.

There must be some way to manually add a program to that list that doesn't
kick off the existing programs on that list. Do you know how?

My version of Windows XP does not do this, my daughter's version does
not, and my son's version does not. I had them check.

Even if yours does, it is not "kicking off" existing programs. They
are still there but just not shown on the drop-down. I can't think of
any reason that you'd ever need to have more than one or two ways to
open a .jpg for viewing that would require that you have several
choices always in view. The list of four may not show program X, but
unless you delete program X in Control Panel or by some other step,
program X is still on your computer.

You also have a choice to go direct to editing a .jpg. That would
allow you to open a .jpg in Photoshop or PSP or whatever. Different
place on the list.

If no one here can help you, that's a pretty good indication that you
have not clearly stated the problem and what you want to accomplish,
and why you want to do it this way.

 

[Tom]

I can't think of any reason that you'd ever need to have more than
one or two ways to open a .jpg

I use mainly these freeware digital photo programs:
1. Irvanview (the default) for fast viewing & cropping
2. Fastone for the nicest text and arrows
3. Paint.Net for the easiest selection and curved line editing
4. MS Paint for the simplest erase of objectionable area
5. VicMan PhotoEdit for the best freeware face touchup
6. Exifer for the easiest EXIF editing (maybe MetaEditor will replace this)
7. The Gimp for the most comprehensive editing (when needed)

Every single day I use two or three or five of these freeware programs on
pictures, often in sequence (crop & resize with Irfanview, add text with
Fastone, erase an area with the MS Paint non-freeware eraser, touchup
blemishes with PhotoEdit, modify the EXIF with Exifer or MetaEditor, etc.

I NEVER use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

All I ask is to have these five to seven programs in the openwith list when
I right click on a JPEG.

 

[Tom]

If no one here can help you, that's a pretty good indication that you
have not clearly stated the problem and what you want to accomplish,
and why you want to do it this way.

This is a good point. I am at fault. I will try to summarize the problem
statement.

Most of you seem to be able to control exactly which programs show up in
the openwith menu when you right click on a JPG but I seem to be limited to
four programs no matter how many times I've edited the context menus in the
Windows registry.

Is there a way to manually add a new context menu item to the right click
on a JPEG?

And, can Windows Picture and Fax Viewer really be removed without losing
the thumbnail view in the Windows explorer?

 

[jimbo571]

This is a good point. I am at fault. I will try to summarize the problem
statement.

Most of you seem to be able to control exactly which programs show up in
the openwith menu when you right click on a JPG but I seem to be limited to
four programs no matter how many times I've edited the context menus in the
Windows registry.

Is there a way to manually add a new context menu item to the right click
on a JPEG?

And, can Windows Picture and Fax Viewer really be removed without losing
the thumbnail view in the Windows explorer?

Try using Xplorer2 lite . ( Free program - I haven`t used windows
explorer in years ) .

 

[tony cooper]

I use mainly these freeware digital photo programs:
1. Irvanview (the default) for fast viewing & cropping
2. Fastone for the nicest text and arrows
3. Paint.Net for the easiest selection and curved line editing
4. MS Paint for the simplest erase of objectionable area
5. VicMan PhotoEdit for the best freeware face touchup
6. Exifer for the easiest EXIF editing (maybe MetaEditor will replace this)
7. The Gimp for the most comprehensive editing (when needed)

Every single day I use two or three or five of these freeware programs on
pictures, often in sequence (crop & resize with Irfanview, add text with
Fastone, erase an area with the MS Paint non-freeware eraser, touchup
blemishes with PhotoEdit, modify the EXIF with Exifer or MetaEditor, etc.

I NEVER use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

All I ask is to have these five to seven programs in the openwith list when
I right click on a JPEG.

These are all programs you are using to Edit, not view, an image.
(Although two, at least, are also viewers with editing capabilities)
You haven't mentioned this before.

In Explorer, with the WP&FV thumbnail, the right-click drop-down shows
both "Edit With" and "Open With" choices. My previous steps have
dealt with the OPEN WITH because you haven't said you wanted to edit.
Try those same steps with the EDIT WITH bar. That may not restrict
you to four choices.

Also, FastStone has an EDIT WITH EXTERNAL PROGRAM in their right-click
drop-down. If you use FastStone instead of Explorer as a means to see
you thumbnails, you may be able to add the other edit programs.

I never use Explorer as my viewer. I use FastStone. It's a better
viewer since it allows you to drag images next to each other and put
both up together to compare. It also allows you to sort by tagging.