[pumpkin]

Any help is greatly appreciated. My mom is desperate for me to send her pics of her granddaughter.

Recently I have not been able to open any jpegs, gifs directly from their folders. The program freezes ("not responding" message in the task manager). I am also not able to attach pics to e-mails. All my pics are set to open using Quicktime. I CAN open them through Quicktime (rather than directly from their folders). Finally, I have not been able to run Zoombrowser (the program that came with my Canon digital camera). Again, it freezes when I try to open up any pics. Oh, and I sometimes have trouble opening vid files as well.

Is this a Quicktime problem?
What can I do to fix it?

, Pumpkin

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Sorry to do this, but let me just add that trying to open other programs directly from their files instead of the programs (including word docs, etc.) frequently causes the computer to freeze as well. It's just most noticably consistently with the pics. Very frustrating!

, Pumpkin

[pumpkin]

Sorry to do this, but let me just add that trying to open other programs directly from their files instead of the programs (including word docs, etc.) frequently causes the computer to freeze as well. It's just most noticably consistently with the pics. Very frustrating!

, Pumpkin

[Major Payne]

Have you checked Mico$oft's site to see if the applications you are having problems with are listed? SP2 has known issues with some programs after being installed. Same if you got your updates online. Also, the defaults for the display of images have been set in the XP firewall, Outlook and IE by these updates. Check and see what has been ticked and then try to use your apps. This is only a first step. Be sure and check out the advice given in this forum for running scans for viruses and malware. Some jpeg pix were actually targeted by a virus which embedded itself in the image.

Post back if resetting defaults doesn't help and scans show nothing.

Ron

[pumpkin]

Thanks for your reply.

I am running sp1 on my computer and have not updated to sp2 because I am concerned about making my problem even worse (i read what our admin said about not installing sp2 if there may be a malware problem). I've run all the checks and scans suggested on this site and they found nothing but some data mining stuff that has now been removed. As far as changing the defaults for opening my pics, I'm not quite sure how to do this (go through folder options for my harddrive?) or to what I should change the default.

[Major Payne]

Hi :

If you have been getting regular updates then you have been updating SP2 critical updates which may have reset defaults for Win XP's firewall, IE6, Outlook and Outlook Express security issues. These affect the way images are handled.

Here's a case in point concerning OE:

First off SP2 adds a new feature to the email preview and full view windows. When you receive an email with images embedded in it, the program blocks the images from auto viewing. This is helpful for several reasons. Primarily it stops you from viewing unsavory spam. No image is downloaded unless you click on a bar across the top of the email to show images in it.

The program also has an alert to let you know when other programs try to send email as if they were you. When this happens it can be indicative of a worm or spam program that is trying to send unauthorized email from your computer.

Options for both of these features can be access by clicking the Tools menu in Outlook Express then Options then the Security tab.

There is also a setting that specifies which sites are trusted and not trusted. This uses the settings in Internet Explorer

OE also will monitor attachments that are attached to emails that have arrived in your inbox and warn you before you open them.

You may want to view SP2's features here :
Mico$oft SP2's Features

This concerning the firewall :

Windows XP SP2 turns on the built in Windows firewall, a piece of software in this case, on your system and makes it easier to get to. You can find it through either the Windows Security Alert shield in your System Tray (bottom right of your screen) or you can access it by clicking Start then Control Panel and then the Windows Firewall icon. You'll note that it is turned on when SP2 is installed.

As you use your computer after SP2 turns on the Firewall you'll notice that you are challenged when programs try to access the Internet. When you approve these connections an exception is added to the firewall's exceptions tab.

Again this may be affecting the way your images are handled. Defaults will have to be changed to allow these files to be opened normally.

My freezing problem was because of low resources. I have only 256Mb RAM and too many programs running at times. OE or IE6 would freeze on me. Your problem may not be related.

Hope this helps.

Ron