Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/12/2008 9:59:50 PM 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! -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/12/2008 11:22:13 PM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > 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/double-clicking-an-image-opens-windows-photo-gallery-without-previewing-the-image/ Windows Vista - How to Turn Folder Preview Thumbnails On or Off in Windows Explorer in Vista http://tinyurl.com/yosu3b or... http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73715-thumbnails-windows-explorer.html -- 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

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/13/2008 12:13:34 AM 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! +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: Screen Shot.doc | |Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7204 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/13/2008 1:31:59 AM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > 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/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-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

Re:*More* Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/13/2008 1:35:23 AM 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 ============================================= [Quoted Text] > ruddervader wrote: >> 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/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-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.

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/13/2008 5:20:42 PM 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! +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: Screenshot 2.doc | |Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7211 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/13/2008 8:28:10 PM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > 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! > > > +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ >> Filename: Screenshot 2.doc | >> Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=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

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/13/2008 10:42:51 PM 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! -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/14/2008 12:07:44 AM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > 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... http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/83070-background-keeps-changing-back-black.html -- 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

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/14/2008 3:18:56 AM 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! -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view SIW2 <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/14/2008 3:26:39 AM ruddervader;860346 Wrote: > 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! Hi, This is a bit of effort, but useful to have for the future - and when SP2 arrives http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/151606-vista-sp1-slipstream-installation-dvd.html Hope it's of use SIW2 -- SIW2

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/14/2008 4:20:10 AM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > 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! ================================== "Hi Yo Silver, away!" Longshot...but I'm wondering if you might have an issue with corruption in your User Account. Might be worth a try to create a new user account just to see if the issue persists. Windows Vista - Create a user account http://tinyurl.com/27waj4 or... http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/68a1c4fd-b3f6-4cb9-93a1-8a6023836e531033.mspx -- 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

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/14/2008 1:28:27 PM John, Yup, tried that and had the same symptoms. MS Support is supposed to contact me again tomight for another chat session, maybe they can get it sorted out. I will post back any success! Thanks! -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/14/2008 1:33:04 PM SIW2;860347 Wrote: > > ruddervader;860346 Wrote: > > 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!> > > > > Hi, > > This is a bit of effort, but useful to have for the future - and when > SP2 arrives > > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/151606-vista-sp1-slipstream-installation-dvd.html > > Hope it's of use > > SIW2 SIW2, I had already looked at Shawn's tutorial and may try that when I have time. It looks like a great resource! Unfortunately I don't have the original DVD for this machine so I would have to sort out the SATA drivers as well. Thanks for the suggestion! -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/14/2008 1:37:07 PM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > John, > Yup, tried that and had the same symptoms. MS Support is supposed to > contact me again tomight for another chat session, maybe they can get > it sorted out. I will post back any success! > > Thanks! =============================== Yes...please let us know if you find a fix. -- 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

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "zachd [MSFT]" <zachd[ at ]nomailplz.online.microsoft.com> 10/15/2008 8:25:36 AM Is your problem isolated right now to JPGs simply not working correctly? Or is there more to it than that? -- Speaking for myself only. See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. -- "ruddervader" <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> wrote in message news:3332cbad72b95a508e896a9b2d593250[ at ]nntp-gateway.com... [Quoted Text] > > John, > Yup, tried that and had the same symptoms. MS Support is supposed to > contact me again tomight for another chat session, maybe they can get it > sorted out. I will post back any success! > > Thanks! > > > -- > ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/19/2008 2:40:44 AM John, Well, after a week of beating my head against the keyboard I still have not found a solution that works. I spent three nights with our friends from India at MS Support and while they were very supportive they could not figure out a fix. At their suggestion I uninstalled Vista SP1 and my anti-virus (F-Prot). I have gone to Organize, View, Folder Options and checked and unchecked "Always show icons, never thumbnails" about a hundred times (With and without restart). I have gone to Control Panel, Ease of Acess, Make it easier to focus on tasks, and checked and unchecked "Remove background Images" as well. I have posted HJT logs on What The Tech, run spyare, adware and anti-virus scans in normal and safe mode and "As Administrator". I think I had an "Adware-Alert" attack which I cleaned up with MBAM. All scans are clean now. I ran Regedit and checked in "Windows Current Version", "Policies", "System" in both Local Machine and Current User and found no reference to wallpaper or desktop background. This problem affects all users (created new user and Administrator). This issue seems to have migrated into a desktop background issue. I can see thumbnails in all my file folders now but I can't see thumbnails if I "Personalize ", "Desktop Background". I can see Solid Colors (and can change them) but if I choose Windows Wallpaper from the Drop Down I only see generic icons or place holders. They are highly pixelated icons. If I choose Pictures folder I get the same thing. If I click on browse I can see the thunbnail view but no matter what I click on I can't set it as background. (Except for the few bmp files I have in My Picures). I can never right click on a thumnail or any image and "Set as Desktop Background". I have Adobe Photoshop and Gimp installed but they were on here long before this problem started. BTW WindowsMedia Player seems to function normally. I still feel that there is some obscure basic setting that I am overlooking or the malware attack changed some fundamental Registry Setting that I am not aware of. There seems to be scores of similar issues posted around the net but I have failed to discover a definitive answer for this particular combination. Maybe I should start a new thread as "Can't change Desktop Background"? I apoligize about the lengthy rant. ruddervader -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/19/2008 6:45:05 AM Thanks for the update. When you discover the fix please share it with this newsgroup. -- 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 ================================= [Quoted Text] > John, > Well, after a week of beating my head against the keyboard I still > have not found a solution that works. I spent three nights with our > friends from India at MS Support and while they were very supportive > they could not figure out a fix. At their suggestion I uninstalled > Vista SP1 and my anti-virus (F-Prot). > > I have gone to Organize, View, Folder Options and checked and > unchecked "Always show icons, never thumbnails" about a hundred times > (With and without restart). > > I have gone to Control Panel, Ease of Acess, Make it easier to focus > on tasks, and checked and unchecked "Remove background Images" as > well. > > I have posted HJT logs on What The Tech, run spyare, adware and > anti-virus scans in normal and safe mode and "As Administrator". I > think I had an "Adware-Alert" attack which I cleaned up with MBAM. > All scans are clean now. > > I ran Regedit and checked in "Windows Current Version", "Policies", > "System" in both Local Machine and Current User and found no reference > to wallpaper or desktop background. > > This problem affects all users (created new user and Administrator). > > This issue seems to have migrated into a desktop background issue. I > can see thumbnails in all my file folders now but I can't see > thumbnails if I "Personalize ", > "Desktop Background". I can see Solid Colors (and can change them) but > if I choose Windows Wallpaper from the Drop Down I only see generic > icons or place holders. They are highly pixelated icons. If I choose > Pictures folder I get the same thing. If I click on browse I can see > the thunbnail view but no matter what I click on I can't set it as > background. (Except for the few bmp files I have in My Picures). > I can never right click on a thumnail or any image and "Set as Desktop > Background". > > I have Adobe Photoshop and Gimp installed but they were on here long > before this problem started. > BTW WindowsMedia Player seems to function normally. > > I still feel that there is some obscure basic setting that I am > overlooking or the malware attack changed some fundamental Registry > Setting that I am not aware of. > > There seems to be scores of similar issues posted around the net but I > have failed to discover a definitive answer for this particular > combination. > > Maybe I should start a new thread as "Can't change Desktop > Background"? > > I apoligize about the lengthy rant. > > ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view ruddervader <guest[ at ]unknown-email.com> 10/21/2008 2:26:02 AM John, Fix? Is no fix! Sorry John, I fold. I backed up my files to an external hard drive and restored the Dell to factory settings. I had two weeks of my life invested in this little fiasco and just had to move on. Happy to report that the little beast is chuckling along and I have almost got it back to where it should be. Sorry I couldn't find a soultion to share with the forum. "Sadder but wiser" ruddervader -- ruddervader

Re: Thumbnails won't display in folder view "John Inzer" <oobie[ at ]doobie.xyz> 10/21/2008 3:24:49 AM ruddervader wrote: [Quoted Text] > John, > Fix? Is no fix! > Sorry John, I fold. > I backed up my files to an external hard drive and restored the Dell > to factory settings. I had two weeks of my life invested in this > little fiasco and just had to move on. > Happy to report that the little beast is chuckling along and I have > almost got it back to where it should be. > Sorry I couldn't find a soultion to share with the forum. > > "Sadder but wiser" > > ruddervader =========================== Well...at least you are back in shape. Thanks for the update. -- 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