Older picture files are no longer recognized/ won't open

[Guest]

I noticed recently that all of the photos in My Pictures that were loaded
prior to September are no longer recognized and will not open. The folders
still display a picture of the folder contents. And choosing properties
still shows the size of the files, but not the type (jpg, jpeg). They do not
open in Jasc or Picture It!

In September I installed Qwest DSL and Windows Live, but cannot think of any
other installations or changes taht have been made.

I have already tried system restore, but can only go back to November 3rd.
Dell tech support is suggesting I re-install XP.

Any suggestions?

Thank you! Dave

 

[John Inzer]

I noticed recently that all of the photos in My Pictures that were
loaded prior to September are no longer recognized and will not open.
The folders still display a picture of the folder contents. And
choosing properties still shows the size of the files, but not the
type (jpg, jpeg). They do not open in Jasc or Picture It!

In September I installed Qwest DSL and Windows Live, but cannot think
of any other installations or changes taht have been made.

I have already tried system restore, but can only go back to November
3rd. Dell tech support is suggesting I re-install XP.

Any suggestions?

Thank you! Dave

====================
To see file extensions try opening a folder and
go to...Tools / Folder Options / View tab...

Uncheck..."Hide extensions for known file types" / Apply / OK.

Resetting your associations may help the
other issue...

Repair image file type associations in Windows XP
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/imgassofix.htm

Windows® XP File Association Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

More info that may be worth a look:

(307859) HOW TO: Change File Associations
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307859

More info:

Try this...open an image folder and right click one
of your image files...from the menu, select...Open
With / Choose Program.

Make your choice from the list or Browse to the
correct program if it is not in the list.

If you want the default...choose..."Windows
Picture and Fax viewer"

Once you make your selection...be sure to check
the box that says: "Always use the selected program
to open this kind of file". (you will need to do this
for each format....jpg, .tif, .gif...etc.)

Also...you can right click an image and choose
Properties / Change Button...choose the program
you wish to use and click...OK / Apply / OK.

Also...in WinXP, you can go to...My Computer /
Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab...

Another possible:

===
run regedit

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\image/jpeg
"Extension"=".jpe"

replace .jpe with .jpg
save and do a reboot
===

Good luck.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Yves Alarie]

First, make sure your file names are displayed with extensions.
Open the folder containing the picture. Click on Tools on the top bar and
then Folder options and on the View tab.
Scroll down and make sure the box "Hide extensions..." is empty.
Close the folder, open the folder and give us the first file name in this
folder, with the extension.
It should be:

filename.jpg

If you do not see .jpg, right click on the filename and click on rename on
the opening list and then add .jpg to filename. Now try to open the file.
Does it work?

If you see:

filename.vbs
your photo files have been infected with a virus.

Re-install of XP will not help.

 

[Guest]

====================
To see file extensions try opening a folder and
go to...Tools / Folder Options / View tab...

Uncheck..."Hide extensions for known file types" / Apply / OK.

Resetting your associations may help the
other issue...

Repair image file type associations in Windows XP
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/imgassofix.htm

Windows® XP File Association Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

More info that may be worth a look:

(307859) HOW TO: Change File Associations
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307859

More info:

Try this...open an image folder and right click one
of your image files...from the menu, select...Open
With / Choose Program.

Make your choice from the list or Browse to the
correct program if it is not in the list.

If you want the default...choose..."Windows
Picture and Fax viewer"

Once you make your selection...be sure to check
the box that says: "Always use the selected program
to open this kind of file". (you will need to do this
for each format....jpg, .tif, .gif...etc.)

Also...you can right click an image and choose
Properties / Change Button...choose the program
you wish to use and click...OK / Apply / OK.

Also...in WinXP, you can go to...My Computer /
Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab...

Another possible:

===
run regedit

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\image/jpeg
"Extension"=".jpe"

replace .jpe with .jpg
save and do a reboot
===

Good luck.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk


John,

I tried everything you mentioned - no luck. The "extension" already = "jpg"
so I did not change the registry. Thanks anyway.
Dave

 

[Guest]

Yves,
Thank you for your help. My files appear in the folder with the jpg
extension. For example: Christmas 2006 001.jpg. The folder, before I open
it, shows some of its contents, so I know the files are still there.
Everything says they are there until I try to open the file. I'm at a loss.
Should I try the XP re-install?
Dave

 

[John Inzer]

I tried everything you mentioned - no luck. The "extension" already
= "jpg" so I did not change the registry. Thanks anyway.
Dave

==================================
A few more thoughts...good luck...

You said you installed Windows Live in September...
it was Beta then...have a look at the following article:

Windows Live Photo Gallery BETA -
File type association issue:
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/243/1/

Also....maybe installing the latest version would
make a difference.

Windows Live
http://get.live.com/wl/all

Also, your Windows Live Photo Gallery database
may be corrupted...have a look at the following article:

(944221) Windows Live Photo Gallery stops
responding or will not start
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944221/en-us
(Applies to Vista and Windows XP)

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Jim Cladingboel]

You have a strange one there, Dave! Suggest you download the IrfanView
freeware (check Google) and try opening your pics in that software.
If no luck, press 'B' and see if you can perform a batch conversion into
..TIF or some other format. If that works, you can convert the .TIFs back to
..JPGs (in a new folder) which should definitely open.
I don't think re-installing XP will help.
Good luck.
HTH,

Jim.

 

[Yves Alarie]

Make a new folder, copy one of your photo file in this new folder and then
try to open it.
Does this work? If not, do you get an error message and if so what is the
error message.

As suggested previously, download and install irfanview:
www.irfanview.com
and try to open a photo file. Give us the error message you get if the file
does not open.

 

[Guest]

Yves,
I made a new folder ont he desktop, copied a file to it, tried to open the
file and got "No Preview Available" message from Windows Picture and Fax
viewer. I will download irfanview and get back to you.
Dave

 

[Guest]

I tried to open the files in Irfanview and still no luck. The error message
I get is "Can't read file header. Unknown file format or file not found!"

 

[Guest]

Jim, no luck opening them in Irfanview either. I am sorry but I don't
understand this: "If no luck, press 'B' and see if you can perform a batch
conversion into
...TIF or some other format. If that works, you can convert the .TIFs back to
...JPGs (in a new folder) which should definitely open. " Do I pre 'B' in
Irfanview or in My Pictures? Or elswhere?
Dave

 

[Yves Alarie]

If this is the message, then the file is corrupted. You can google "can't
read file header jpg file" and see if something new is available to repair
such. We have seen this message before posted here but nothing to repair.
Maybe something new is available.

 

[mscotgrove]

If this is the message, then the file is corrupted. You can google "can't
read file header jpg file" and see if something new is available to repair
such. We have seen this message before posted here but nothing to repair.
Maybe something new is available.







- Show quoted text -

I did recently come across a whole DVD where all the files were offset
by about 800 bytes, no standard program would read them. Funny things
can happen to files and directories. I did suggest earlier in a
direct e-mail to you that I would be happy to look at a sample failed
file and try and determine what the problem is - the offer is still
there if you can e-mail a duff photo.

Michael
www.cnwrecovery.com

 

[Guest]

Michael - I sent you an e-mail with one of the corrupted files just now.
Thank you for looking into this problem. I very much appreciate it.
Dave

 

[mscotgrove]

Michael - I sent you an e-mail with one of the corrupted files just now.
Thank you for looking into this problem. I very much appreciate it.
Dave






- Show quoted text -

Thanks for the file.

At first glance the data looks totally random, and I thought may be
encrypted. However, the same data repeats itself ( I think exactly)
every 0x8000 bytes (32K). I therefore conclude that the photo is 100%
lost.

The data could be random intialisation of a hard drive and so your
problem may be the disk drive pointing to the wrong location for the
files. Reinstalling XP will not help recover your photos.

The hope is that the files still exist on your hard drive, although
not accessible from the operating system.

Being in the business of writing data recovery software I would
suggest you take your drive out of your PC and set it up as a slave on
a different PC and then download my software www.cnwrecovery.com and
see if the files do exist. I would expect you will will need to do a
Image Raw recovery and then see if your missing photos are found. The
demo will not actually save your files, but by clicking on the file
within the log, and thumbnail will be displayed.

As you are probably aware, each JPEG file will always start with the
hex values FF D8 FF E0 or FF D9 FF E1. If this disk is compressed,
these start values will be shifted two bytes down.

Michael

 

[Jim Cladingboel]

Dave, In IrfanView, pressing the letter B takes you to the 'Batch
Conversion' page. However, from what others have written, it would appear
that your files are so badly corrupted that the process won't work. It's
worth giving it a try, but I'm not now as optimistic as I was.
Can only hope for your eventual success.
Best wishes,
Jim.

 

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[DaveDC]

Micheal,
Thank you for taking the time to look into my problem. I will do as you
suggested as time allows. You are assuming I know much more than I really
do, though.
At least I knew enough to back up the photos.
Dave