Windows Photo Viewer can't open this picture because either Photo Viewer doesn't support this file format, or you don't have the latest updates to Photo Viewer

Anonymous
2010-02-16T02:21:05+00:00

New PC with Windows 7.  Photos taken before new PC either cannot be viewer, or can be viewed but are in the wrong folder with the wrong file names (i.e. picture of CAT is labeled as DOG)

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2010-02-17T00:12:23+00:00

Hi mmtap10,

This seems to be an issue with some corrupt system file. For now I would suggest you to follow the steps and link below to perform a System File Checker (SFC) scan and that should probably take care of the issue.

  1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

sfc /scannow

The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

**http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833**

Let us know if that fixes the issue or for further asssitance on the issue.

Varun J: MICROSOFT SUPPORT

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Anonymous
2014-09-06T05:07:28+00:00

In my case, when I plugged my phone into my desktop, it prompted me to update the software allowing it to communicate with my phone more effectively. Immediately after it finished updating was when I lost the ability to open images in the photo viewer.

To solve the issue, I went to Control Panel, then Uninstall a program, and then uninstalled the most recent program associated with my phone. It was easy since I knew exactly when it started acting up. Some of you may need to do some trial and error to find the issue.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-07-23T03:05:35+00:00

    I tried the solution above. It did not work. I'll try to find some other solution on this site. I do not understand why a codec under a previous version of Windows (I used XP) does not work on current versions (updated, if necessary, of course).

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-24T23:41:49+00:00

    How do you do this in Windows 10?      thanks, Rick Formosa....

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-09-25T00:25:44+00:00

    The only way I did it was to install 2 very old programs: Microsoft Photo Editor and Microsoft Paint.

    When I opened my picture file, if there were any pictures that I could not open in Windows Photo Viewer, I opened them in Microsoft Photo Editor first, and I saw them there, then under editor in Microsoft Photo Editor I made a copy and I put it in Microsoft Paint. Then from Microsoft Paint, I saved it in my picture file, and then I was able to see it in my Windows Photo Viewer.

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