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Kill Windows Photo Viewer...How?

ringtail

ringtail

Golden Member
How can I kill the seemingly useless Windows Photo Viewer?

I liked MS Office Picture Manager in old Office. It had a lot of features I found useful, but now MS has dropped that.

In order to continue using it, I installed just that one program from Office 2007, beside my normal installation of MS Office 2013.

In Control Panel\Default Programs I set Office Picture Manager as default program for jpg, png & tiff files,

****BUT ***

Windows Photo Viewer keeps spontaneously reasserting itself as the default program instead, despite my commands.

How can I remove Windows Photo Viewer, a useless nuisance?

(what does not work: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features\Turn Windows features on or off)

Environment:
Windows 7 Pro with Service Pack 1, fully updated
MS Office 365 (2013)

 
lxskllr said:
Try renaming the .exe, and removing related registry entries.
Click to expand...

lxskllr, Thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it.
Alas...
Untitled.png

 
ringtail said:


lxskllr, Thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it.
Alas...
Untitled.png

Click to expand...

I don't think he means renaming the one you want as the default, but the picture viewer that you don't want to use, which is probably in %windir%\system32\

However, I just looked into it and it appears to run under dllhost.exe which is not safe to rename without breaking a lot of other things. How are you trying to change the file type association?

What I do under windows is right click a file of the type I'm interested in click Properties and under the General tab where it says "opens with: " click the change button and find the program in the window that opens, in your case you better hope that it shows up in the first window since you can't browse to the cloud and find the office picture viewer. I don't have office 365. Does it run in a browser or can you use it offline as well?

I sometimes use task manager to find the *.exe first by opening the program from wherever then in task manager under applications right click, go to process, right click the selected process and choose open file location. If it takes you to IE you might be screwed.

Actually, do you have the "folder options" set to display hidden and system files? That might be your problem right there. I found this post that suggests that the executable may be there, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ffice365/c25444f7-2666-4cd1-97b5-4ead12f4b1a6
However, those "support engineers" do just make stuff up sometimes if they are confused.

If none of that works you may be able to hack something together with a powershell script but that's beyond what I can help you with. Everything is possible but it often comes down to how much time you want to spend on it.
 
Last edited:
MrColin said:
I don't think he means renaming the one you want as the default, but the picture viewer that you don't want to use, which is probably in %windir%\system32\

However, I just looked into it and it appears to run under dllhost.exe which is not safe to rename without breaking a lot of other things. How are you trying to change the file type association?

What I do under windows is right click a file of the type I'm interested in click Properties and under the General tab where it says "opens with: " click the change button and find the program in the window that opens, in your case you better hope that it shows up in the first window since you can't browse to the cloud and find the office picture viewer. I don't have office 365. Does it run in a browser or can you use it offline as well?

I sometimes use task manager to find the *.exe first by opening the program from wherever then in task manager under applications right click, go to process, right click the selected process and choose open file location. If it takes you to IE you might be screwed.

Actually, do you have the "folder options" set to display hidden and system files? That might be your problem right there. I found this post that suggests that the executable may be there, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ffice365/c25444f7-2666-4cd1-97b5-4ead12f4b1a6
However, those "support engineers" do just make stuff up sometimes if they are confused.

If none of that works you may be able to hack something together with a powershell script but that's beyond what I can help you with. Everything is possible but it often comes down to how much time you want to spend on it.
Click to expand...


MrColin,
So you think it runsunder dllhost.exe in C \Windows\System32? I had assumed WFV was in Office, but from what you say, I guess I was mistaken.

You asked, "How are you trying to change the file type association?" The answer is, in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program. Now I'll try it the other way you said: click Properties and under the General tab where it says "opens with: "

Thank you.
 
Simple, go to Control Panel > Program Defaults > Fined office picture manager in the left pane, then assign it all its defaults via the button
 
Soundmanred said:
"Windows Photo Viewer keeps spontaneously reasserting itself as the default program instead, despite my commands."
Click to expand...

ok, let's try a diff. method

go to each type of image file (like bmp, gif, jpg, etc) and right click on it, then select "Open With" then manually choose Office Picture Manager.


Do this for every extension then tell me if Photoviewer is magically regaining the defaults
 
ringtail said:
MrColin,
So you think it runsunder dllhost.exe in C \Windows\System32? I had assumed WFV was in Office, but from what you say, I guess I was mistaken.

You asked, "How are you trying to change the file type association?" The answer is, in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program. Now I'll try it the other way you said: click Properties and under the General tab where it says "opens with: "

Thank you.
Click to expand...

What I mean is that the built in windows photo viewer, which I understand you do not want to use, runs under dllhost.exe, which you should not rename as many other windows components rely on that, you may not even be able to boot if you rename dllhost.exe. If you can find the *.dll you may be able to rename that, but I don't believe this is the right approach.
 
berryracer said:
ok, let's try a diff. method

go to each type of image file (like bmp, gif, jpg, etc) and right click on it, then select "Open With" then manually choose Office Picture Manager.


Do this for every extension then tell me if Photoviewer is magically regaining the defaults
Click to expand...
Yes
 
sm625 said:
That is hard to believe lol.
Click to expand...

No...

berryracer said:
go to each type of image file (like bmp, gif, jpg, etc) and right click on it, then select "Open With" then manually choose Office Picture Manager.


Do this for every extension then tell me if Photoviewer is magically regaining the defaults
Click to expand...

berryracer just forgot to add: "Open With" and then - on the bottom next menu: choose default program......then browse for program you want to open that file when you click on...

I do actually like Win Photo Preview, Win8 had different crap and I did change to older Win Photo Preview as default prog to open photo files to Preview that photo....if I want to edit, then I do choose program to "open with" to edit photo...

remember...choose default program... in right click menu...
 
Gintaras said:
No...



berryracer just forgot to add: "Open With" and then - on the bottom next menu: choose default program......then browse for program you want to open that file when you click on...

I do actually like Win Photo Preview, Win8 had different crap and I did change to older Win Photo Preview as default prog to open photo files to Preview that photo....if I want to edit, then I do choose program to "open with" to edit photo...

remember...choose default program... in right click menu...
Click to expand...


Thank you.
 
I successfully disabled the Windows Photo Viewer by renaming the WPV folder in both Program Files (x86) and Programs folders. You need to be Admin to do this.
This quick workaround should do the job for the basic user. Do you see any reason to deter users from trying it?
I had first tried to rename the .exe file, but was denied permission. Probably was unwise anyway!

It seems that Windows7 takes control of a camera's output by replacing the original .jpg extension to .jfif (JPEG File Interchange Format). In W7, this .jfif extension will point to WPV whatever you do, short of modifying Registry entries.
 
If you really want to disable the Windows Photo Viewer, deleting or renaming it is a very ham-fisted approach.

WPV is implemented as COM (in fact, back in the XP days, it ran inside the explorer.exe process, not in a separate dllhost.exe process), so getting rid of it is just a matter of unregistering it.

Code: 
regsvr32 /u PhotoViewer.dll
 
code65536 said:
If you really want to disable the Windows Photo Viewer, deleting or renaming it is a very ham-fisted approach.

WPV is implemented as COM (in fact, back in the XP days, it ran inside the explorer.exe process, not in a separate dllhost.exe process), so getting rid of it is just a matter of unregistering it.

Code: 
regsvr32 /u PhotoViewer.dll
Click to expand...

Thank you for your comment.

I do not doubt that you are right, but even if the most sensible solution is to go digging in the registry, maybe novices like myself should keep to the safer and quicker approach, even if it is technically unelegant.
 
loubourib said:
I do not doubt that you are right, but even if the most sensible solution is to go digging in the registry, maybe novices like myself should keep to the safer and quicker approach, even if it is technically unelegant.
Click to expand...

No, you're not supposed to dig through the registry. What I posted was a command. You run this command, and the WPV unregisters itself from COM. It's far easier, safer, and quicker than mucking around with deleting or renaming things.
 
No need to dig in the Registry or anywhere else. It is a very easy choice in Win 7, 8, and 8.1. Open Control Panel, then click on Default Programs. Then select the choice that lets you choose what file extensions are opened by what program Example - all my .jpg files are opened by Irfanview. (My choice.) If I want to change that, I highlight it and press the CHANGE button, upper right, and choose the program I want. What we are dealing with are file associations.
 
corkyg said:
No need to dig in the Registry or anywhere else. It is a very easy choice in Win 7, 8, and 8.1. Open Control Panel, then click on Default Programs. Then select the choice that lets you choose what file extensions are opened by what program Example - all my .jpg files are opened by Irfanview. (My choice.) If I want to change that, I highlight it and press the CHANGE button, upper right, and choose the program I want. What we are dealing with are file associations.
Click to expand...

That was suggested earlier in the thread, but people posted saying that the associations would revert or something (I've never tested this because I actually like WPV 😉). Yea, I would just do an association change like you suggest, but if for whatever reason that doesn't work, unregistering the WPV is still better than deleting system files.
 
Well, it has been a long ass time since Ive has to screw with such stuff, but cant you uninstall the photo viewer via the control panel - "Add Remove Software Components/Windows Components?
 
If you Google removal of "windows picture and fax viewer" there are all kinds of tutorials on how to disable and even remove it, but in so doing this creates other issues, so this is not recommended.

Instead, just delete the file type(s) associated with the subject application (using folder options/file types).
 
code65536 said:
No, you're not supposed to dig through the registry. What I posted was a command. You run this command, and the WPV unregisters itself from COM. It's far easier, safer, and quicker than mucking around with deleting or renaming things.
Click to expand...

'Opening a command' was a new experience for my computer-naive self. After first searching the Internet for explanations, then running your command, I got an error window. Thinking this may be because the names of the PhotoViewer directories had been changed, I reverted to their proper names, but to no avail.
So really, after spending some time on your easy solution, I'm afraid I'll have to stick to my stupid workaround, which is quick, and within the scope of my limited computing skills.
Many thanks nonetheless; other users may be very happy with your advice.
By the way, changing file associations is the logical step, but it doesn't work. Hey folks, are you listening? Photo viewer will keep popping up whnever you try to transfer photos from your camera. What do you think this thread is for?
Best regards
 
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