OT - At last, a Windows Explorer work-around for .jpg folders

Like many of you, I keep a LOT of pictures on my hard drive. Also,
like many of you, I use Adobe Photoshop to crop and enhance my photos.

I have had an infuriating problem with Windows Explorer (in Win XP,
both Home and Professional) crashing instantly and utterly when trying
to open a folder with many .jpg picture files in it. It wouldn't do it
all the time, but when it did, it was always fatal -- there was no
warning, and no work-around.

I eventually found that I could use DOS (remember DOS?) to copy the
files into a new folder, higher "upstream" in the directory tree, which
would allow it to work without crashing. (In the C:/ root directory,
for example, rather than buried down in C:\family photos\las vegas)

This was a giant pain in the tooska, however, as using DOS commands to
copy files from a folder that is 10 levels deep in a directory tree is
an exercise in frustration. One wrong character, and *bzzzzt!*, it
ain't gonna work.

Microsoft has been strangely silent on this problem, much to my dismay.
Luckily, today I FINALLY found the solution. The glitch has to do
with the icons that are used in Explorer to denote a picture file, and
(in turn) it's also directly related to having Photoshop set up as your
default picture viewer. Further, it also is directly related to having
folder names that are longer than 10 characters long -- something XP
can handle, but (apparently) Photoshop cannot.

SO, long story short, there are now TWO work-arounds to this problem:

1. Uninstall Photoshop, and reinstall it without making it the default
picture file viewer for .jpg flies. This allows you to still use long
folder names.

2. Leave Photoshop as is, but be sure to keep your file names to 10 or
fewer characters in length.

I have chosen the latter course, for now, and it works.

Why the heck Microsoft or Adobe couldn't simply announce this
problem/fix is beyond me -- it's been a hot topic of discussion all
over the 'net, and most people with XP and Photoshop have experienced
it at times. It took a generous computer sleuth to figure out the
solution, through trial and error, and post it online.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

1. Uninstall Photoshop, and reinstall it without making it the default
picture file viewer for .jpg flies. This allows you to still use long
folder names.

Actually, Jay, one simple method for changing this is to go into Windows
Explorer, then "Tools Folder Options" off the WE menu. Choose the "File
Types" tab.

In this list, scroll down to the JPG entry, highlight it, and click the
"Change..." button in the "Details for JPG Extension frame just below the
list.

Choose your program to whatever you want and you are on your way. I use
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer for JPGs, since it is a quick picture
browser of sorts.


--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote:

Actually, Jay, one simple method for changing this is to go into Windows
Explorer, then "Tools Folder Options" off the WE menu. Choose the "File
Types" tab.

I just remembered the even easier method. In the Windows Explorer file
list pane (pane to the right of the folder hierarchy), click on a JPG file
with your mouse's right button.

Look for an "Open With" option in that context sensitive menu that appears.
Select "Open With Choose Program" menu choice.

In this window that appears, select your program of choice, then be sure to
click the "Always Use the Selected Program..." checkbox towards the bottom
before clicking the OK button.

This will register the new program as the default OPEN program to use with
JPGs.

--
Peter

Unfortunately, if you use the "Open With" method described here, if you ever
want to change the file association you will need to edit the Registry. And
if you are dealing with questions such as these, you probably want to leave
the registry alone.

Setting the file association via the Tools | Folder Options | File Types
method in Windows Explorer is a better method, as you can readily change any
file association made in this manner...




"Peter R." wrote in message
...
"Peter R." wrote:

Actually, Jay, one simple method for changing this is to go into Windows
Explorer, then "Tools Folder Options" off the WE menu. Choose the
"File
Types" tab.

I just remembered the even easier method. In the Windows Explorer file
list pane (pane to the right of the folder hierarchy), click on a JPG file
with your mouse's right button.

Look for an "Open With" option in that context sensitive menu that
appears.
Select "Open With Choose Program" menu choice.

In this window that appears, select your program of choice, then be sure
to
click the "Always Use the Selected Program..." checkbox towards the bottom
before clicking the OK button.

This will register the new program as the default OPEN program to use with
JPGs.

--
Peter

Lakeview Bill wrote:

Unfortunately, if you use the "Open With" method described here, if you ever
want to change the file association you will need to edit the Registry. And
if you are dealing with questions such as these, you probably want to leave
the registry alone.

Hmmm... Can't you just go back through the same process to register a new
program? Or are you implying that the "Open With" option goes away after
using it once in this manner?

I was under the impression that all file extension/program relationships
lived in the registry, regardless of how they were set (via program
install, Open With option, or through the Tools menu option off the WE
menu).

--
Peter

My answers interspersed...

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Lakeview Bill wrote:

Unfortunately, if you use the "Open With" method described here, if you
ever
want to change the file association you will need to edit the Registry.
And
if you are dealing with questions such as these, you probably want to
leave
the registry alone.

Hmmm... Can't you just go back through the same process to register a new
program? Or are you implying that the "Open With" option goes away after
using it once in this manner?

IIRC: You can do this again. But, I failed to note something in my previous
post. If you use the "Open With" option, it only associates the file type
with the program used to open it.

If you go through the "Tools" option in Windows Explorer, you can also set
up other options such as assigning a program to print a document with that
extension, or you can even set up multiple Open options, i.e have program
"xxx" open it by default, but also have a context menu selection for "Open
with yyy".

But if you use the "Open With" option, you can't go back and use the "Tools"
option to modify the file assignment until you directly edit the registry.


I was under the impression that all file extension/program relationships
lived in the registry, regardless of how they were set (via program
install, Open With option, or through the Tools menu option off the WE
menu).

True, the file assignments, however they were set, do reside in the
registry. The difference is that with the WE "Tools" option it is not
necessary to directly edit the registry (with regedit.exe), whereas if you
use the "Open With" option, you do need to directly edit the registry in
order to remove the association...


--
Peter

Were you opening the files with Photoshop or Windows? I've got +10
character filename jpgs scattered all over my home and work harddrives and
have never had this problem with Photoshop 6 and WinXP.



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Like many of you, I keep a LOT of pictures on my hard drive. Also,
like many of you, I use Adobe Photoshop to crop and enhance my photos.

I have had an infuriating problem with Windows Explorer (in Win XP,
both Home and Professional) crashing instantly and utterly when trying
to open a folder with many .jpg picture files in it. It wouldn't do it
all the time, but when it did, it was always fatal -- there was no
warning, and no work-around.

I eventually found that I could use DOS (remember DOS?) to copy the
files into a new folder, higher "upstream" in the directory tree, which
would allow it to work without crashing. (In the C:/ root directory,
for example, rather than buried down in C:\family photos\las vegas)

This was a giant pain in the tooska, however, as using DOS commands to
copy files from a folder that is 10 levels deep in a directory tree is
an exercise in frustration. One wrong character, and *bzzzzt!*, it
ain't gonna work.

Microsoft has been strangely silent on this problem, much to my dismay.
Luckily, today I FINALLY found the solution. The glitch has to do
with the icons that are used in Explorer to denote a picture file, and
(in turn) it's also directly related to having Photoshop set up as your
default picture viewer. Further, it also is directly related to having
folder names that are longer than 10 characters long -- something XP
can handle, but (apparently) Photoshop cannot.

SO, long story short, there are now TWO work-arounds to this problem:

1. Uninstall Photoshop, and reinstall it without making it the default
picture file viewer for .jpg flies. This allows you to still use long
folder names.

2. Leave Photoshop as is, but be sure to keep your file names to 10 or
fewer characters in length.

I have chosen the latter course, for now, and it works.

Why the heck Microsoft or Adobe couldn't simply announce this
problem/fix is beyond me -- it's been a hot topic of discussion all
over the 'net, and most people with XP and Photoshop have experienced
it at times. It took a generous computer sleuth to figure out the
solution, through trial and error, and post it online.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Were you opening the files with Photoshop or Windows? I've got +10
character filename jpgs scattered all over my home and work harddrives and
have never had this problem with Photoshop 6 and WinXP.

I wasn't even opening the files. This glitch is a function of clicking on
the FOLDER (that contains the .jpg files) in Windows Explorer, which then,
in turn, crashes while the resulting window is being populated with icons.

Go to a directory (or "folder") in Windows Explorer that has a file name
longer than 10 characters, and has many (say, 100) .jpg files in it. If
you've got Photoshop set to be your default picture viewer, Explorer might
crash when you simply click on the folder.

I don't know why this doesn't impact all users. I don't think Microsoft
knows, either. I'm just glad to have a work-around.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Like many of you, I keep a LOT of pictures on my hard drive. Also,
like many of you, I use Adobe Photoshop to crop and enhance my photos.

I have had an infuriating problem with Windows Explorer (in Win XP,
both Home and Professional) crashing instantly and utterly when trying
to open a folder with many .jpg picture files in it. It wouldn't do it
all the time, but when it did, it was always fatal -- there was no
warning, and no work-around.

I eventually found that I could use DOS (remember DOS?) to copy the
files into a new folder, higher "upstream" in the directory tree, which
would allow it to work without crashing. (In the C:/ root directory,
for example, rather than buried down in C:\family photos\las vegas)

This was a giant pain in the tooska, however, as using DOS commands to
copy files from a folder that is 10 levels deep in a directory tree is
an exercise in frustration. One wrong character, and *bzzzzt!*, it
ain't gonna work.

Microsoft has been strangely silent on this problem, much to my dismay.
Luckily, today I FINALLY found the solution. The glitch has to do
with the icons that are used in Explorer to denote a picture file, and
(in turn) it's also directly related to having Photoshop set up as your
default picture viewer. Further, it also is directly related to having
folder names that are longer than 10 characters long -- something XP
can handle, but (apparently) Photoshop cannot.

SO, long story short, there are now TWO work-arounds to this problem:

1. Uninstall Photoshop, and reinstall it without making it the default
picture file viewer for .jpg flies. This allows you to still use long
folder names.

2. Leave Photoshop as is, but be sure to keep your file names to 10 or
fewer characters in length.

3. Switch to FIREFOX for your default browser.

4. Switch to Apple and use iPhoto. Easily scroll through 250,000 photos.
As Steve Jobs said at the MacWorld demo... "like butter!"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Like many of you, I keep a LOT of pictures on my hard drive. Also,
like many of you, I use Adobe Photoshop to crop and enhance my photos.

I have had an infuriating problem with Windows Explorer (in Win XP,
both Home and Professional) crashing instantly and utterly when trying
to open a folder with many .jpg picture files in it. It wouldn't do it
all the time, but when it did, it was always fatal -- there was no
warning, and no work-around.


What's a lot of pictures? I have 5 folders, labeled by year for the
last 5 years. Each folder has several hundred pictures. 90+ percent of
the pictures have been fixed or cropped and every one of them has had
their name changed. Every one of them is a jpg. I use 3 different
programs for working with these pictures, but Photoshop is not one of
them. Not once has windows or just windows explorer crashed. I've
never even heard of the problem.