Thumbnail preview in explorer not showing thumbnails, instead default program icon

Anonymous

I have tried and checked all things commonly being refered in forum,

windows explorer is not displaying thumbnails ( as it was earlier) instead it is showing default program icon ( windows photo viewer, set as default for all pictures) for all picture files like jpgs, bmps.

when I browse folder containing pictures. at first it displays thumbnails ( as it should ) and then immediately all thumbnails change to default icon.

when I double click any icon, it opens in its associated program correctly

I have checked all the common places like organize folder -> view -> 'always show icons never thumbnails' is unchecked

I have chekced group policy settings

I believe it is some little change in registery, perhaps after running a portable program RIOT -Radical Image Optimization Tool. that is a doubt anyway.

please help

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Anonymous

Hi Sunny,

Windows keeps a copy of all of your picture, video, and document thumbnails so they can be displayed quickly when you open a folder. The thumbnail preview problems can be resolved by clearing the thumbnail database and let the system rebuild it as and when required. To do so, use these steps:

Steps to Clear the Thumbnail Cache using Disk Cleanup

a. Click Start, type “cleanmgr” (or typedisk cleanup) without quotes and press {ENTER}

b. Select the system drive letter from the drop-down.

c. Uncheck all the entries, except Thumbnails

d. Click OK, and click Delete Files to confirm.

Alternatively, you can build thumbnail cache by going to the location below

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

The thumbnail database is stored globally in Windows 7 & Windows Vista, unlike Windows XP, where the thumbnail database is stored on a per-folder basis. In Windows 7 & Windows Vista, the default thumbnail cache location is as mentioned above.

Hope this information is helpful and let me know if you need any further assistance.

Mouneshwar R – Microsoft Support

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Anonymous

I found the solution in my case accidentally. My kids started to play Minecraft on this laptop and I realized immediately that they would do well to have more RAM. Lo and behold, after upgrading from the stock 2 GB to the max 8 GB, all the thumbnails suddenly appeared successfully and there has been no further problem! Yay. It seems to me Windows 7 uses a lot of RAM to the point that 2 GB is not enough for it to perform as advertised. HTH someone.

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40 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-03-31T05:34:43+00:00

I have the same exact problem.

unchecking always show icons things not worked for me.
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Anonymous

2014-03-24T17:43:58+00:00

I found the solution in my case accidentally. My kids started to play Minecraft on this laptop and I realized immediately that they would do well to have more RAM. Lo and behold, after upgrading from the stock 2 GB to the max 8 GB, all the thumbnails suddenly appeared successfully and there has been no further problem! Yay. It seems to me Windows 7 uses a lot of RAM to the point that 2 GB is not enough for it to perform as advertised. HTH someone.

Thank you for your solution hint, I have figured the solution from your answer.

the issue that the windows performance options is modified not to show the thumbnails.

to resolve that, right-click on my computer and choose properties, form the top left corner you will find "advanced system settings" click on it and in the performance part click on settings, check the option "show thumbnails instead of icons". And you can choose the option "adjust for best appearance".
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Anonymous

2013-10-30T15:43:30+00:00

I'm having the same problem. Every time this occurs, I have to reinstall win 7 to make it work. This is ridiculous. I go to forums and they tell me 'Microsoft knows best' when I say something's not working right. Well, it appears no one in Microsoft knows what's really in the windows code, because none of the supposed solutions works, I open the folder with my pictures in it, all jpg files, and 99% of them are icons, not thumbnails. This occurs on my computer as well as the NAS I have. But of course, if I access my NAS with a computer with a newly installed version of win 7 everything works fine, so it's definitely a problem with windows, not the NAS. My solution? I've created a bootable USB drive, and reformat and reinstall on an ssd. When microsoft created the registry, they made a monster that even they aren't able to figure out. Of course, buying a new computer with a newly purchased version of windows will always solve the problem, so that's now how they seem to keep the trough of money refilled. Shame on you, microsoft.
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