Explorer thumbnails

[fumei]

Can someone tell me how/where Windows stores (if indeed it does) the thumbnails in View > Thumbnails in Windows Explorer?

For some reason, Explorer will shows thumbnails up to a point, and then just displays a blank box for the rest of the files in that folder.

It used to show them all, but now it does not. If I copy "blank" files into a different folder, and set its view to Thumbnails, the thumbnails are there.

I am wondering if it is a storage issue, or are thumbnails generated dynamically? I have 15,000+ image files ( I am a photographer and have been using a digital camera for years and years). Is Windows simply choked with all the thumbnails I have asked it to make?

Gerry

 

[guitarzan]

I believe they are stored in a cache file called "thumbs.db" in the same folder that the images are in. You have to show hidden files to see it:

In Explorer, click Tools > Folder options > View tab > check "Show hidden files and folders"

If you delete this file, it believe it will recreate all the thumbnails for that folder the next time you open it. I don't know what the storage limits of this cache file is, or if 15000+ files is too much for XP (or your system) to handle.

 

[linney]

If Deleting Thumbs.db fails to fix your problem, there are more suggestions included in these that you can try.

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thread779-1188183

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thread779-1233124

 

[Sympology]

Are these photo's in a single folder?

If so break them down.

Deleting thumbs.db tends to do the job as sometimes zipping / encrypting can screw it up as well.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

 

[fumei]

Bump.

1. no, they are not in the same folder. Folders can have between 300 to 1000 files.

2. deleting thumbs.db does NOT work.

3. regsvr32 Shimgvw.dll does NOT work

4. registry changes (from th elinks) does NOT work.

Gerry

 

[guitarzan]

Strange, 1000 photos in a folder doesn't seem like a lot to me. Could it be a system resource issue? How much RAM is in the machine? Sufficient free drive space? How about "PF Usage" (Performance tab) in Task Manager?

 

[linney]

Are the thumbnails visible if you boot into Safe Mode, or if you log on as another user in Normal Mode?

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems. If it does, restart it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.


Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341/en-us

 

[BadBigBen]

THUMBS.DB only stores certain types of data files... so depending on the fileformat, e.g. TIFs would show, where as IFFs would not, neither would RAW...

now you could turn of the thumbnail DB function of explorer, and have it calculate the thumbnails as you open up a folder containing pictures, but a folder with 1000's of pix, this could take ages to complete...

some information to THUMBS.DB, read the following articles:

Windows thumbnail cache (thumbs.db)

http://www.thumbnailexpert.com/en/formats/windows-thumbnail-cache/

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"