Fix for Nikon NEF explorer thumbnails in Windows XP SP2

  • Thread starter Shaun Ivory [MS]
  • Start date
S

Shaun Ivory [MS]

First, an explanation:

For Windows XP SP2, Microsoft made a change in the way thumbnails are
retrieved for image files.

Before Windows XP SP2, a Microsoft-supplied default thumbnail
extractor was used for any file which identified in the registry as
having the perceived type "image".

In Windows XP SP2, this was restricted to images with known file
extensions, such as JPG, TIF, TIFF, BMP, etc.

Because NEF files are valid TIFF/EP files, this thumbnail extractor is
capable of extracting the thumbnail image, but because Nikon raw files
have the extension NEF, the extractor no longer has the opportunity to
do so.

Following is a fix for the problem of NEF thumbnails not being visible
in Windows XP SP2. But before we get there, a disclaimer:

Microsoft provides this information AS IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS, and
disclaims all warranties and conditions, whether express, implied or
statutory, including, but not limited to, any (if any) implied
warranties, duties or conditions of merchantability, of fitness for a
particular purpose, of reliability or availability, of accuracy or
completeness of responses, of results, of workmanlike effort, and of
lack of negligence all with regard to the information.

Now, the fix:

To restore this component's ability to extract thumbnails from NEF
files, there is a simple registry change.

Under this registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.nef

Create this key (note there are two levels of keys):


HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.nef\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}

And set the default (unnamed) value to:

{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B}

Explanation:

{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1} is the string version of the
interface ID IID_IExtractImage.

{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B} is the string version of the
class ID for the GDI+ thumbnail extractor.

Or, if you don't want to manually edit the registry (who does?), you
can use the .REG file contained within the .ZIP file at this address:

http://www.ivory.org/nef.zip

To apply this change to the registry, just open that file and
double-click on the .REG file within. When you are asked if you want
to add the information to the registry, select "Yes," and thumbnails
will now show up for NEF files.

Happy shooting!

Shaun Ivory ([email protected])
Software Design Engineer
Microsoft, Inc.
 
J

John Inzer

Thanks for the information, I'm sure this will
be useful to many Nikon owners.

--

John Inzer
Picture It! MVP
return e-mail disabled

Picture It! Support Center
http://tinyurl.com/2po2o

Digital Image Support Center
http://tinyurl.com/3xxqg

First, an explanation:

For Windows XP SP2, Microsoft made a change in the way
thumbnails are retrieved for image files.

Before Windows XP SP2, a Microsoft-supplied default
thumbnail extractor was used for any file which
identified in the registry as having the perceived type
"image".

In Windows XP SP2, this was restricted to images with
known file extensions, such as JPG, TIF, TIFF, BMP, etc.

Because NEF files are valid TIFF/EP files, this thumbnail
extractor is capable of extracting the thumbnail image,
but because Nikon raw files have the extension NEF, the
extractor no longer has the opportunity to do so.

Following is a fix for the problem of NEF thumbnails not
being visible in Windows XP SP2. But before we get
there, a disclaimer:

Microsoft provides this information AS IS AND WITH ALL
FAULTS, and disclaims all warranties and conditions,
whether express, implied or statutory, including, but not
limited to, any (if any) implied warranties, duties or
conditions of merchantability, of fitness for a
particular purpose, of reliability or availability, of
accuracy or completeness of responses, of results, of
workmanlike effort, and of lack of negligence all with
regard to the information.

Now, the fix:

To restore this component's ability to extract thumbnails
from NEF files, there is a simple registry change.

Under this registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.nef

Create this key (note there are two levels of keys):


HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.nef\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}

And set the default (unnamed) value to:

{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B}

Explanation:

{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1} is the string
version of the interface ID IID_IExtractImage.

{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B} is the string
version of the class ID for the GDI+ thumbnail extractor.

Or, if you don't want to manually edit the registry (who
does?), you can use the .REG file contained within the
.ZIP file at this address:

http://www.ivory.org/nef.zip

To apply this change to the registry, just open that file
and double-click on the .REG file within. When you are
asked if you want to add the information to the registry,
select "Yes," and thumbnails will now show up for NEF
files.

Happy shooting!

Shaun Ivory ([email protected])
Software Design Engineer
Microsoft, Inc.
========================================
 

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