Picture format mysteriously changed!

[SGreen]

All of my saved pictures prior to 11/07/05 are no longer accessible. I
am unable to open any of these files in any of my photo editing
programs or in Windows Image and Fax Viewer. I have noticed that all
of the affected files have the same modified time and date of 11/07/05.
Could this be a virus? Although, I have McAfee and have updated and
scanned, with none found.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bxf]

All of my saved pictures prior to 11/07/05 are no longer accessible. I
am unable to open any of these files in any of my photo editing
programs or in Windows Image and Fax Viewer.

So what happens when you try?

Are you trying to open by double-clicking the file or directly from the
application?

What type(s) of files (i.e. what are the extensions). Make sure you are
seeing the entire file name.

 

[SGreen]

SGreen wrote:
All of my saved pictures prior to 11/07/05 are no longer accessible.
I
am unable to open any of these files in any of my photo editing
programs or in Windows Image and Fax Viewer.

So what happens when you try?

Are you trying to open by double-clicking the file or directly from
the
application?

What type(s) of files (i.e. what are the extensions). Make sure you
are
seeing the entire file name.

I have tried opening them by double-clicking on the file and directly
from the applications.

The file type is JPEG and according to the properties they are still
that format, but when I try to open them with my photo editing program
I get message "Format Invalid or Not Supported" and with Windows Image
and Fax Viewer I get "No Preview Available". I also tried to upload
one of the photos to my camera memory card, and got error message
"Format Invalid or Not Supported".

 

[bxf]

I have tried opening them by double-clicking on the file and directly
from the applications.

The file type is JPEG and according to the properties they are still
that format, but when I try to open them with my photo editing program
I get message "Format Invalid or Not Supported" and with Windows Image
and Fax Viewer I get "No Preview Available". I also tried to upload
one of the photos to my camera memory card, and got error message
"Format Invalid or Not Supported".

I'm sorry, I wish I could help you but nothing comes to mind - neither
a reason nor a solution. I cannot imagine what happened on Nov. 7.
Silly question I suppose, but are you sure that the type was not
something other than JPEG and that you had not inadvertantly renamed
them to such? Is there ANY chance that these are not real JPEGs?

The only thing I can suggest is that if your files are on a device
other than your hard drive, copy some to your HDD and see if the
problem is still present.

Good luck.

 

[SGreen]

SGreen wrote:

I have tried opening them by double-clicking on the file and directly
from the applications.

The file type is JPEG and according to the properties they are still
that format, but when I try to open them with my photo editing
program
I get message "Format Invalid or Not Supported" and with Windows
Image
and Fax Viewer I get "No Preview Available". I also tried to upload
one of the photos to my camera memory card, and got error message
"Format Invalid or Not Supported".

I'm sorry, I wish I could help you but nothing comes to mind - neither
a reason nor a solution. I cannot imagine what happened on Nov. 7.
Silly question I suppose, but are you sure that the type was not
something other than JPEG and that you had not inadvertantly renamed
them to such? Is there ANY chance that these are not real JPEGs?

The only thing I can suggest is that if your files are on a device
other than your hard drive, copy some to your HDD and see if the
problem is still present.

Good luck.

I only realized about 2 weeks ago that these files were unaccessable.
I have downloaded photos from my camera since Nov. 7 and they have no
problems. As far as them being JPEG, I have not renamed them, and when
I view properties it shows JPEG file. It appears to me, that whatever
happened on Nov. 7 changed the format. I have not installed any
software other than Windows updates or changed anything.
No, I do not have these files saved anywhere other than my hard drive.
Thank you for your assistance.
SGreen

 

[Chelsea]

Hello
You have quite a mystery here. One thing that does come to mind is a
security fix released this year by Microsoft. Someone discovered that it was
possible to insert destructive code into jpeg images-presumably as metadata.
Microsoft flagged this as a high risk problem and released a patch that
prevented such code from gaining control over Windows XP. I'm guessing but
it is likely that any infected jpegs would be prevented from opening by the
OS so your favorite paint program would not open them either. You could have
infected jpegs or there may be something about your images that has caused
the security patch to inactivate them by mistake. The only way to tell if my
theory is right would be to remove the patch.

Chelsea

 

[Sharon F]

All of my saved pictures prior to 11/07/05 are no longer accessible. I
am unable to open any of these files in any of my photo editing
programs or in Windows Image and Fax Viewer. I have noticed that all
of the affected files have the same modified time and date of 11/07/05.
Could this be a virus? Although, I have McAfee and have updated and
scanned, with none found.
Any help would be appreciated.

What happens when you try to open the files? This is important information
and necessary for anyone trying to help with this problem.

If getting "access denied" messages, you may need to take ownership of the
files before they are accessible again. If that is the case, the following
article should help (do not do the steps in the article if the "Symptoms"
section does not match your situation):
How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

ASIDE: There is an old virus (Pretty Park) that damaged jpg files but have
not seen mention of it in the newsgroups for years. If running any
antivirus program that was released about the same time as Windows XP or
after - even one where updating definitions was neglected - Pretty Park
should have been detected and would not have damaged the images.

 

[SGreen]

Hello
You have quite a mystery here. One thing that does come to mind is a
security fix released this year by Microsoft. Someone discovered that
it was
possible to insert destructive code into jpeg images-presumably as
metadata.
Microsoft flagged this as a high risk problem and released a patch
that
prevented such code from gaining control over Windows XP. I'm guessing
but
it is likely that any infected jpegs would be prevented from opening by
the
OS so your favorite paint program would not open them either. You could
have
infected jpegs or there may be something about your images that has
caused
the security patch to inactivate them by mistake. The only way to tell
if my
theory is right would be to remove the patch.

Chelsea

"SGreen" (e-mail address removed) wrote in message

bxf Wrote:
SGreen wrote:

I have tried opening them by double-clicking on the file and directly
from the applications.

The file type is JPEG and according to the properties they are still
that format, but when I try to open them with my photo editing
program
I get message "Format Invalid or Not Supported" and with Windows
Image
and Fax Viewer I get "No Preview Available". I also tried to upload
one of the photos to my camera memory card, and got error message
"Format Invalid or Not Supported".

I'm sorry, I wish I could help you but nothing comes to mind -
neither
a reason nor a solution. I cannot imagine what happened on Nov. 7.
Silly question I suppose, but are you sure that the type was not
something other than JPEG and that you had not inadvertantly renamed
them to such? Is there ANY chance that these are not real JPEGs?

The only thing I can suggest is that if your files are on a device
other than your hard drive, copy some to your HDD and see if the
problem is still present.

Good luck.

I only realized about 2 weeks ago that these files were unaccessable.
I have downloaded photos from my camera since Nov. 7 and they have no
problems. As far as them being JPEG, I have not renamed them, and
when
I view properties it shows JPEG file. It appears to me, that
whatever
happened on Nov. 7 changed the format. I have not installed any
software other than Windows updates or changed anything.
No, I do not have these files saved anywhere other than my hard
drive.
Thank you for your assistance.
SGreen

Chelsea
Thank you for your help. I am willing to try anything, but I am
unfamiliar on how to remove the patch. Can you instruct me?
SGreen

 

[SGreen]

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 06:12:59 +0000, SGreen wrote:

All of my saved pictures prior to 11/07/05 are no longer accessible.
I
am unable to open any of these files in any of my photo editing
programs or in Windows Image and Fax Viewer. I have noticed that all
of the affected files have the same modified time and date of
11/07/05.
Could this be a virus? Although, I have McAfee and have updated and
scanned, with none found.
Any help would be appreciated.

What happens when you try to open the files? This is important
information
and necessary for anyone trying to help with this problem.

If getting "access denied" messages, you may need to take ownership of
the
files before they are accessible again. If that is the case, the
following
article should help (do not do the steps in the article if the
"Symptoms"
section does not match your situation):
How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder
http://tinyurl.com/3aw7

ASIDE: There is an old virus (Pretty Park) that damaged jpg files but
have
not seen mention of it in the newsgroups for years. If running any
antivirus program that was released about the same time as Windows XP
or
after - even one where updating definitions was neglected - Pretty
Park
should have been detected and would not have damaged the images.

Thank you Sharon for the information. I am not getting an "access
denied" message. The message I am getting is "no preview available"
"incorrect format".
Thank you for your assistance.
SGreen

 

[Sharon F]

Thank you Sharon for the information. I am not getting an "access
denied" message. The message I am getting is "no preview available"
"incorrect format".
Thank you for your assistance.

"Access Denied" could mean there is an ownership problem. Often shows up
when Windows has been repaired or reinstalled. Windows XP can protect a
user's personal files from being casually accessed by other users. An ID is
attached to the files to tell Windows who they belong to.

When you reinstall Windows, your new user account (even with the same exact
name), is viewed as a different user because it is assigned a different ID.
So Windows continues to guard the files owned by the "old you" from being
accessed by the "new you" and give an "access denied" message. Access to
the files is regained by taking ownership as I described before.

"No preview available" and "incorrect format" means that you do not have a
program installed that can read these file types or that the files are
damaged.

Since these files are jpg files, Paint should be able to open them. Try
opening paint and using File>Open. Same problem?

Do you have Paint Shop Pro installed? If yes, have you recently reinstalled
the program and - most important - applied the available updates to it? A
version of this program had a terrible time with JPG images and often
damaged files. An update was released to correct the problem.

 

[SGreen]

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 18:01:21 +0000, SGreen wrote:

Thank you Sharon for the information. I am not getting an "access
denied" message. The message I am getting is "no preview available"
"incorrect format".
Thank you for your assistance.

"Access Denied" could mean there is an ownership problem. Often shows
up
when Windows has been repaired or reinstalled. Windows XP can protect
a
user's personal files from being casually accessed by other users. An
ID is
attached to the files to tell Windows who they belong to.

When you reinstall Windows, your new user account (even with the same
exact
name), is viewed as a different user because it is assigned a different
ID.
So Windows continues to guard the files owned by the "old you" from
being
accessed by the "new you" and give an "access denied" message. Access
to
the files is regained by taking ownership as I described before.

"No preview available" and "incorrect format" means that you do not
have a
program installed that can read these file types or that the files are
damaged.

Since these files are jpg files, Paint should be able to open them.
Try
opening paint and using FileOpen. Same problem?

Do you have Paint Shop Pro installed? If yes, have you recently
reinstalled
the program and - most important - applied the available updates to it?
A
version of this program had a terrible time with JPG images and often
damaged files. An update was released to correct the problem.

Sharon,
Thank you for all of your assistance. I do not have Paint Shop Pro
installed. I tried again to open these files in Paint, and received
message "format not currently supported". The file extension is .jpg,
if these files are damaged is there any way to repair them?
SGreen

 

[Sharon F]

Thank you for all of your assistance. I do not have Paint Shop Pro
installed. I tried again to open these files in Paint, and received
message "format not currently supported". The file extension is .jpg,
if these files are damaged is there any way to repair them?

You're welcome but I'm sorry to say that there's no way to repair them that
I know of.

Some more things for you to try though. MVP Doug Knox has file association
fixes on his website. There is one specifically for .JPG. If your jpg
association is messed up, it will fix it. If it's not messed up, there will
be no difference from where you're at now. You'll find the fix and
directions for using it on this page:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

There is also a command that fixes anything broken between the Fax and
Picture Viewer and image types:

Click Start> Run and type:
regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

Click OK. You should get a message that the registering of the DLL
succeeded. Click OK to dismiss the message.

Another thought.... Try using Search and search for files by date. Leave
the file name blank. Insert the date that's on all of these images for both
the start and end dates. Make the selection to Search all folders including
system folders. Then let search run. This may take a while to run and the
list may be quite lengthy. When it's finished, look to see what programs
were added or updated on that date.

TIP: Changing the View in Search to Details and then clicking on the "File
Type" column header will sort the files according to type. These actions
will make it easier to locate "Application" files easier.

It's possible something like Adobe or Corel "stole" the JPG association.
The above steps (Doug's fix and the DLL registering) *should* correct this
situation but if there is no change, you may have some luck by opening
whatever program was installed on that date. Then use its menus to
"release" the JPG file association (this type of setting is usually under
menus titled "Preferences" or "Options." Afterwards, check to see if JPG is
working and if not, try running the fix again and repeat the registering of
the DLL.

 

[SGreen]

On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 04:55:03 +0000, SGreen wrote:

Thank you for all of your assistance. I do not have Paint Shop Pro
installed. I tried again to open these files in Paint, and received
message "format not currently supported". The file extension is
.jpg,
if these files are damaged is there any way to repair them?

You're welcome but I'm sorry to say that there's no way to repair them
that
I know of.

Some more things for you to try though. MVP Doug Knox has file
association
fixes on his website. There is one specifically for .JPG. If your jpg
association is messed up, it will fix it. If it's not messed up, there
will
be no difference from where you're at now. You'll find the fix and
directions for using it on this page:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

There is also a command that fixes anything broken between the Fax and
Picture Viewer and image types:

Click Start Run and type:
regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

Click OK. You should get a message that the registering of the DLL
succeeded. Click OK to dismiss the message.

Another thought.... Try using Search and search for files by date.
Leave
the file name blank. Insert the date that's on all of these images for
both
the start and end dates. Make the selection to Search all folders
including
system folders. Then let search run. This may take a while to run and
the
list may be quite lengthy. When it's finished, look to see what
programs
were added or updated on that date.

TIP: Changing the View in Search to Details and then clicking on the
"File
Type" column header will sort the files according to type. These
actions
will make it easier to locate "Application" files easier.

It's possible something like Adobe or Corel "stole" the JPG
association.
The above steps (Doug's fix and the DLL registering) *should* correct
this
situation but if there is no change, you may have some luck by opening
whatever program was installed on that date. Then use its menus to
"release" the JPG file association (this type of setting is usually
under
menus titled "Preferences" or "Options." Afterwards, check to see if
JPG is
working and if not, try running the fix again and repeat the
registering of
the DLL.

Sharon,
I am in the process of trying your suggestions. I greatly appreciate
all of the assistance you have given me. I thank you for sharing your
knowledge and time.
Thank You Again,
SGreen

 

[Sharon F]

Sharon,
I am in the process of trying your suggestions. I greatly appreciate
all of the assistance you have given me. I thank you for sharing your
knowledge and time.
Thank You Again,
SGreen

You're welcome and good luck with this. I hope that you'll be able to get
this sorted satisfactorily.

 

[Guest]

You're welcome and good luck with this. I hope that you'll be able to get
this sorted satisfactorily.