This is weird - MS Paint.

[Tiger]

OK here's the scenario.

System #1: Windows FE, all of the updates from MS.
System #2: Windows FE, all of the updates.
System #3: Windows FE
System #4: Windows ME

Systems 1 and 4 can open .jpg's in Paint, systems 2 and 3 can't. All systems report the same version of Paint. Systems 1 and 4 report .jpg's as available in the file type drop down menu, systems 2 and 3 don't. All of the FE systems were purchased within 2 months of each other yet only #1 will open .jpg's.

It's not really that big a deal as we all have different (better) proggy's for doing graphics but I'm at a loss to explain this.

 

[jaywallen]

Hi, Tiger.

My guess is that Systems 1 and 4 have MS Word or some other program installed that has placed some special filters on those systems. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Win9X and ME is just about nil. But I can tell you how it works in Win NT and W2K.

You can grab this Graphic_Filters.zp file from my favorite Web site, and unzip it. In WinNT or W2K you'd move the *.FLT files to the \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Grphflt folder on your system, then you'd double-click the Graphic_Filters.reg file to place the appropriate settings in the registry. On W2K and WinNT systems, this gives MSPAINT the ability to use JPEG and GIF files, among others. Do you have such a folder (or an equivalent) on Win9X systems???

The only other thing I can think of concerns the possibility of a miscommunication, me misunderstanding what you're saying. So I'll ask specifically: Do you mean that you can't open .jpg files by using File|Open in MSPAINT, or that you can't open them by double-clicking on them in Windows Explorer, or both? If they only fail to open in MSPAINT when you double-click, that would be just a file association issue. In that case, I'd expect them to come up in IE, under normal circumstances. I figure I'm really reaching here, but I try not to assume anything that might get in the way of finding a solution.

Regards,
Jim

BTW, in case anyone is interested, that favorite Web site I mentioned is http://www.jsiinc.com/reghack.htm. That's a very useful searchable database there. Not really pretty to look at, and kind of terse and cryptic sometimes, but one heck of a resource once you get used to it. The parent site is a darned good place to get software, too.

 

[rbV5]

clear out your temp internet files(cache)

 

[Tiger]

Thanks for the input. The world won't stop if I don't get this figured out, it just bugs the hell outta me.

Sys#1 runs IE 5.5, the rest run various versions of netscape. Nobody has a problem opening .jpg's in the browsers. The only problem comes when trying to open a .jpg in paint itself. If they double click a .jpg outside of paint up it comes in a browser window, or in my case and #2 Paintshop Pro. As a matter of fact sys#1 and sys#2 are close in configfuration that you could say they are mirror images of each other, right down to the software loaded on the machines. My Paint works with .jpg's, his don't.

 

[rbV5]

right click on the *.jpg, Open with>choose program> scroll to Microsoft Paint>check "always use this program...." *.jpg's will now be associated with MS Paint. Remember to clear your cache first.

 

[jaywallen]

Tiger

Did you try downloading the graphics filters? I just tried it on a friend's Win95 machine (The directory was there.), and it made his MSPAINT able to open GIFs and JPGs.

Regards,
Jim