picture view in folders

I'm running Vista Ultimate, but this problem has happened to me on XP also. I have a bunch of folders with pictures in them. Typically one should be able to open the folder and each file has a tile icon that is a preview of the picture. But for some reason Windows just uses the generic "this is a picture file" icon instead of the individual preview. I've tried re-associating the picture files with Windows Preview but to no avail. Does anyone know how to get it back to showing the picture preview in the icon?

Start | Run | Type regsvr32 shimgvw.dll, and click OK.

The module "shimgvw.dll" was loaded but entry-point DllRegisterService was not found. Make sure that "shimgvw.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again.

That's the error I get from trying to follow your instructions.

So as a follow up attempt to activate shimgvw.dll, I tried to replace it with a copy downloaded from microsoft. I ran into privliege issues with Vista telling me that I don't have permission to modify the system32 folder. So I finally decided to kill UAC in Vista so that I might not be so annoyed when using my computer. Rebooted, and still don't have permission. I try to give myself permissions in the security tab and it tells me I don't have permission to give myself (computer administrator) permissions. So what can I do?

In Windows Explorer when you click the "Organize" button | Folder and Search Options | "View" tab | "Advanced settings"--> Files and Folders, is "Always show icons, never thumbnails" checked?

This worked for me to get ownership of files and folders.

http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=5390779&postcount=36

I can't believe it was something as easy as that, redduc. I apologize for wasting forum space with a question that has an answer as easy as that. Thanks for the ownership tips too, audioaficionado.