Windows picture and fax viewer - system cannot find shimgvw.dll (but it is there!)

[Dave M]

My Windows Picture and Fax viewer is not longer accessible. I have looked
back at previous posts on this, and taken the following recommended steps
already:

1) Checked that shimgvw.dll is in the windows\system32 directory
2) Ran regsvr32 shimgvw.dll (or ... %windir%\system32\shimgvw.dll) gives
error message that the system cannot find the file
3) In case the file itself was corrupted I downloaded a new version (current
version for XP Service Pack 1) and repeated steps 1 and 2 - got the same
error message
4) Tried disabling and re-enabling by running step 2 above with and without
/u command - got the same error message both times
5) Tried system restore to several previous dates, went through steps 1,2,4
above - also not effective

It seems clear that I have got the right.dll file in the right location, but
for some unknown reason my system will not recognize it. Any ideas? I am a
relative novice, so extremely hesistant to start playing with the registry
beyond these simple steps.

My first post to this group - many thanks for any help.

- Dave

 

[John Inzer]

My Windows Picture and Fax viewer is not longer
accessible. I have looked back at previous posts on this,
and taken the following recommended steps already:

1) Checked that shimgvw.dll is in the windows\system32
directory 2) Ran regsvr32 shimgvw.dll (or ...
%windir%\system32\shimgvw.dll) gives error message that
the system cannot find the file 3) In case the file
itself was corrupted I downloaded a new version (current
version for XP Service Pack 1) and repeated steps 1 and 2
- got the same error message 4) Tried disabling and
re-enabling by running step 2 above with and without /u
command - got the same error message both times 5) Tried
system restore to several previous dates, went through
steps 1,2,4 above - also not effective

It seems clear that I have got the right.dll file in the
right location, but for some unknown reason my system
will not recognize it. Any ideas? I am a relative novice,
so extremely hesistant to start playing with the registry
beyond these simple steps.

My first post to this group - many thanks for any help.

- Dave

====================================
Just wondering...if you double click an image file,
what program opens the file?

Is it possible that your image associations have
been changed? If you right click an image file
and from the menu....choose ...
Properties / General tab / Change button...
On your "Open With" screen...select...
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer...OK / Apply / OK...

Now if you double click an image file does the
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer display the file?


Also...just as an experiment...try the following command.

"rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fullscreen"

(go to...Start / Run and copy / paste everything
except the quotes...yes, there is a space between
..exe and c

When I do this on my system...the Windows Picture
and Fax Viewer opens with a message that says
"No Preview Available"...but that is to be expected
because no image file was specified. The point is...
the viewer opens and you know it is loaded into the
system.

--

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

 

[Dave M]

Well, I get to answer my own question. Maybe it's helpful to others, because
I have now seen that the same problem appears periodically in various tech
support groups.

Cause/diagnosis: Still unknown, but probably occurred through some
combination of loading Service Pack 1 and restoring system to earlier dates.

Solution: Effective but not elegant: Install Service Pack 2 (had been
intending to do it, but had not yet found the time). Alternative would be to
re-intall SP 1 (maybe) or go back and re-install XP from original CD, which
sounds worse than it is.

There is probably also a more clever diagnosis or solution, and I would be
happy to hear it, but for now the problem is solved.

- Dave

 

[John Inzer]

Well, I get to answer my own question. Maybe it's helpful
to others, because I have now seen that the same problem
appears periodically in various tech support groups.

Cause/diagnosis: Still unknown, but probably occurred
through some combination of loading Service Pack 1 and
restoring system to earlier dates.
Solution: Effective but not elegant: Install Service Pack
2 (had been intending to do it, but had not yet found the
time). Alternative would be to re-intall SP 1 (maybe) or
go back and re-install XP from original CD, which sounds
worse than it is.
There is probably also a more clever diagnosis or
solution, and I would be happy to hear it, but for now
the problem is solved.
- Dave

=======================================
Thanks for the feedback.

--

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