Thumbnail Display Problem (WinXP – SP2)

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For reasons unknown to me, Windows XP started displaying the same 2 or 3 images for all image files when viewing files using the Thumbnail view. Switching back and forth among the various views has no effect. I’ve tried holding the shift/control/alt keys (individually and in combination) in each view and while changing views to no effect. Sometimes it displays the Windows tropical sunset thumbnail and sometimes it’s The Gimp rat.

Can anyone tell me what to do to set WinXP back so that it will display a thumbnail of the actual file images?

TIA

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Try deleting the file called Thumbs.db, this is where the thumbnails are stored, if the file doesn’t exist then Windows will create a new one and create new thumbnails.

StuartR

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Thanks for the response, StuartR!

I searched My Computer without finding any file with ‘thum’ in it. Any other tips?

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Did you include Hidden files in your search?

StuartR

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Make sure that you not only display hidden files and folders, but also turn off “Hide protected operating system files” in the View tab of Tools | Folder Options…

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Thank you both!

After slapping myself in the forehead a coupla times, I reran the search and found a BUNCH of thumbs.db files scattered in directories all over the hard drive. I deleted all of them, rebooted and STILL have the same Gimp and sunset thumbnails.

Anything else I can try.

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That seems very odd.

Let’s get a bit more data here, in case I have made an incorrect assumption.

• What program is displaying these thumbnails? I assumed it was Windows Explorer.
• What View do you have applied to the folder where the pictures are stored? I assumed thumbnails.
• Have you definitely deleted the file Thumbs.db from the folder where you have a problem?
• Have you double checked that the files in this folder really are the pictures you think, and not pictures of Gimp and sunset?
  [/list]StuartR

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The way I navigate to the files list is Start/My_Computer/C:.

(First posted as: I don’t know what the program name is — the title bar shows just the pathname.)

Dummy here, looked at the system tray and saw that the files are displayed by Windows Explorer.

The files in question are definitely image files — mostly JPEG’s but some are GIF’s and some are PSD’s. I can open them with Irfanview or Photoshop or The GImp. They used to display because that’s how I selected the images I wanted to manipulate. Other types of files do show the correct icon (ex. Open Office files, notepad).

I’m definitely looking at View/Thumbnails; although switching to Tiles or Icons does NOT change the icon displayed; only the text and layout changes.

Thanks again for the help. I’m sure it’s something I did unintentionally but I don’t recall having done anything to change the options.

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This doesn’t make any sense to me, but I do have a few more suggestions.

• Under View > Customize this folder…, can you try switching between the templates for Pictures and Photo Album (try both).
• If you select View > Filmstrip do you get correct images for your pictures?
• In Tools > Folder Options > View please make sure that you have enabled “Show hidden files and folders” and cleared “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” – this will make sure you can see the Thumbs.db file. Then delete Thumbs.db from the problem folder again.
• Create a completely new folder, View > Customize this folder… select the Photo Album template, copy one or two of your pictures to this new folder, View > Thumbnails. Does this display correctly?

  StuartR

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Howdy StuartR!

First I searched for (using advanced search options) and displayed all thumbs.db files and deleted them all, again.

In Windows Explorer, under the View menu option, I do NOT have a ‘Customize this folder’ option. From the context of the rest of your first suggestion, I selected a .jpg file and right-clicked it then chose Properties. On the General tab, I changed Opens WIth from Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to Irfanview. This changed all the thumbnail view icons to The Gimp rat icon. Changing it back WP&FV gave me the same sunset sailboat icons that I started with.

Changing the View to Filmstrip has no effect on the images nor does changing View to Tiles or Icons.

Tools>Folder Options>View allows hidden files to be shown and the box for hidng protected OS files is UNCHECKED

I created a new folder and set the option to view with WP&FV then copied a coupla jpg files into the folder. Windows Explorer displays the sailboat at sunset thumbnail instead of the one for the image.

Thanks again for you help. This has been a real puzzler to me.

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This gets stranger by the moment.

Is this a standward Windows XP installation? Is it Home or Pro?
When you say there is no Customize this folder… on the View menu, is that for every single folder, I can’t imagine what you can do to stop this appearing!

Anyone else got any ideas?

StuartR

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If in fact there is no “Customize this folder” option, then I would suspect that something has become corrupt. A “repair installation” perhaps? Looks like Bob is currently seeing the icon for the programs which are associated with the file types.

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Before doing anything drastic, try uninstalling Irfanview and The Gimp, one at a time, and checking the result after each uninstall. These are the two programs that seem to be at odds with how Windows is handling the pictures. If removing one or both of these programs resolves the issue, then try reinstalling it and see if the behaviour returns. This may be a bit simplistic, but the problem is strange enough that it might be something a simple as a corrupt program installation. If this doesn’t solve things, a screenshot of the way these folders look might be helpful.

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Hello Doc! (Are you the picker from western NC?)

I uninstalled The Gimp with no effect, then uninstalled Irfanview with no effect.

Thanks for the help.

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Not the same Doc Watson. I took my nom de plume form the Windows diagnostic utility Doctor Watson.

Sorry that didn’t work out. To take a screenshot, you can download the utility HandySnap, or use the PrintScrn key to copy the screen you are seeing to the clipboard and then open Paint or another image editing program, paste the screenshot as a new file and save it to your desktop as a .jpg or .gif file. HTH.

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StuartR: I received an e-mail notice of response but don’t yet see the response here on the forum; however, here is some more information.

I run WinXP-HE as installed by Dell. I have not done a reinstall but have run Windows Update. Control Panel>System says I’m running Version 2002-SP 2.

When I click: Start>My Computer>Document and Settings>my folder>My Documents>My Pictures, I get a windows panel that has the following menu: File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help. The title on this panel is the pathname starting with “C::. When I click on the View menu option, I get a drop down menu that includes Toolbars, Status Bar, Exploryer Bar followed by a horizontal line then the six mode options (Filmstrip . . . Details) then another hor. line then Arrange Icons By … then another line then a Choose Details .. line and a Customize this folder … line then another hor. line then a Go to line then the Refresh line.

Sorry to be so verbose, but I don’t know how to take a screenshot and post it.

Thanks for the help.

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Bob,
What happens if you open My Computer, single click on your C: drive, then from the menu select Tools, Folder Options…, click on the View tab, and click on Reset All Folders? Then go to one of the folders where you have stored your pictures. Are you now able to view the thumbnails?

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> and a Customize this folder … line

That’s the line we were looking for. Can you open that menu and choose the options I suggested above, see if either of them makes a difference, delete the Thumbs.db file from this folder in between any tests.

StuartR

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This gets weirder and weirder. Now the drop down menu no longer shows the Customize this folder . . . option.

I downloaded and installed Handytools and tried to take a snap of the window with the drop down menu but it disappears as soon as I click on the Capture Window option of Handytools. If I could figure out how to insert a screenshot here, I could at least show you the thumbnails that are the same sailboat at sunset pic. I click on the copy to clipboard option in HT but when I come back here to do a paste, the paste option is grayed out.

I tried saving a screenshot file and attaching it to this post, but after awhile a got a File Too Big response. I think I have to have cookies enabled to even view or post here don’t I?

Maybe my head is a foggy as the weather outdoors.

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Screenshot cropped to 640×480 by HansV

One more try on the snapshot

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Guess I should have resized it.

Still can’t snap the View drop down menu. Any suggestions (other than to @#$!% off)?

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The “Customize this folder” option is not available on all folders. Looking at your screenshot, drop down to the first (or subsequent) folder below “My Pictures” (in this case 2005-06-16). It should be available on these folders. Then, try Stuart’s suggestions. If that doesn’t work, have you tried the suggestion in my post 558,551 . If that doesn’t work, go to this site . Scroll down and on the right side of the screen opposite #17, click on “Restore Thumbnail Views in XP”. Download and save the xp_thumbnail.exe file. Then run this file. Now what happens?

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Hi John!

Short Version: Been there; done that; no improvement.

I saw that the Customize this folder … option varies depending on the file you’ve selected. I tried going to the suggested folder (2005-06-18). It showed the Customize option. I followed StuartR’s instructions and there was no change. I tried resetting defaults; no change. I downloaded the Restore Thumbnail Views in XP program and ran it with all boxes checked (there was NO box for jpeg’s which I thought curious); no change. Strange thing now is that the same 2005-06-16 folder no longer shows the Customize option in VIew. Still get the same images in thumbnail view that I complained of originally.

Open to more suggestions.

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Running out of suggestions . Let’s try something else. In Windows Explorer, select your “My Pictures” folder (or any folder below it). Then, from the menu, Tools>Folder Options>File Types tab, scroll down to the .jpg extension, select it and tell us what application is listed opposite “Opens with:”

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John you’re a Miracle Worker!

Followed your instructions and discovered that all the files seemed to be associated with Audio CD type files. I clicked thru to JPG then the Advanced button and told it to use Windows P&F to view all files of that type and everything reverted to normal. I can now see thumbnails of my image files.

Can’t thank you, and everyone else who helped, enough!!!!

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Glad that worked. You’ll probably want to follow this same procedure for ALL picture type files – gif’s, png’s, bmp’s, etc.

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I know you’ll think this is a weird answer, but, have you tried deleting your Temporary Internet Files? There’s a folder-refresh bug in WinXP which occurs if your temp files are too numerous. I forgot the exact amount, but, whenever I have a refresh problem, I delete the files and the problem disappears.

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