Hi All - I wanted to share a solution to a problem I was having since I've gotten SO much help from the great folks here at Castlecops.

When I went to My Pictures - I used to be able to see thumbnails of the photos I stored there. I also used to be able to see a preview of the pictures (or a slideshow if I chose to), but for some reason, recently - it all stopped working. I was only seeing some generic icon for each picture instead of the picture. And when I clicked on a picture - it wouldn't open - nothing would happen. I had to go to a photo program and force open my pictures that way. And I just couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong.

Anyway, I found the solution to restore Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Very simple:

Click START.
Click RUN.
Type (or copy/paste exactly - the space is important):
regsvr32 /i shimgvw.dll

Click OK.
Click OK again once successfully done.

I was immediately able to view my thumbnails again and everything worked (slideshow, preview) beautifully.

Not sure how it got corrupted in the first place - but after much frustrating time spent trying to solve the problem I stumbled on that quick solution and wanted to share it. (Most of the 'solutions' I found involved associating file types - but I quickly realised that wasn't the problem I was having!). Hope this is helpful to someone who might be having the same problem.

Lisaa

thx for shareing that!!!

i made a uname for the sole purpose of thanking you for this post - i had had the problem for the last couple months and nothing anyone was telling me was working! then i did what you posted, and it works again! thanks alot, now i dont have to open pictures with firefox one at a time

Welcome to CastleCops, kiyuukast
Glad you solved your problem!

And thanks for sharing your solution, Lisaa - you have one happy customer indebted to you!

Same technique (from Command Prompt or "Run..."):

regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

to disable it.
One of the first things I do after installing XP!

Hey = glad I could offer something helpful since so many helpers here have, well - helped me!

oh my god Lisaa! that really worked!
i've been having the same problem on my computer for the past month and no one, not even my brother who is a network technician is able to help me with it.

with your solution, i took me all 5 secs to fix the issue!

thanks a million!

I've been going around in circles for days with that problem... I had to download another app to be able to view my photos...
I hit this forum while browsing for a solution... i had to register to be able to thank you... Thank you!!

I, too, had this problem for some time...
thank you for finding a solution.
now all i wonder is what caused it to happen in the first place?

thanks Lisaa it was doing my head in wondering what was going on ! thanks for the info

amazin how google can help to

Hey - it did my head in for days. You're most welcome;).

Do you happen to know if there is a fix for Windows Picture and Fax Viewer for VISTA?

Amazing tip!
Thanks a ton!

That is just fantastic! I've suffered this problem for over a year and had no idea how easy it was to fix!

Thank you so much! Luv ya XX