Re: Windows Explorer crashing

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

I had the same problem, and the fix is much simpler than un-installing
PhotoShop. Simply speaking, Photoshop's thumbnail feature has a bug
that causes it to directly conflict with Windows Explorer thumbnails.


After 3-4 years of working just fine, my Windows Explorer (XP upgraded
with SP2) started dragging its feet a month or so ago. I didn't
associate this with PhotoShop 7, which I had been using for a few
months. It was crashing in some folders containing graphics files,
but not all of them. Clicking on a folder containing graphic files
would first "hang" the screen, while the HD was obviously working
hard doing something related to thumbnails. Sometimes the thumbnails
would be scrambled or partially there, sometimes (slowly) they'd all
come up, and sometimes it would just stop cold and have to be closed
with Windows Task Manager. --Yet other graphics folders would be just
fine. I'm no novice, but this was looking like corrupted system files
because normal troubleshooting just didn't work.

I finally called Microsoft for help, and after half an hour of
troubleshooting my system the technician (a very patient and helpful
fellow in India) did a Google search (!!) and found this solution to
the above problem:

-- Start Windows Explorer and by whatever means, successfully click on
ANY folder that has at least one JPG file, so as to see the file
listed in the right-hand window, preferably with the DETAIL view so
as to avoid any thumbnail hang-ups. Right-click on that file and
select PROPERTIES. You'll then see three tabs available: GENERAL,
PHOTOSHOP IMAGE, and SUMMARY.

Click on the PHOTOSHOP IMAGE tab, and un-click the box labeled
GENERATE THUMBNAILS.

Problem over!

I haven't looked into this any further (frankly because I don't need
to), so I don't know if the "JPG THUMBNAIL" thang is also possibly a
"TIF THUMBNAIL" thang on other PhotoShop installations, but my TIF
files don't have the above PHOTOSHOP IMAGE tab choice in PROPERTIES,
it's just my JPG files that have it available.

My Windows Explorer thumbnail feature has been working wonderfully
well, very responsive and non-crashing, since we handled that one
thing, so that was what was wrong. If you have PhotoShop 7 (I don't
know about other versions) and Windows Explorer is acting up, try
this for a fix.

Tamron

.

Relevant Pages

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