How do I get Microsoft Photo Editor to work in XP (SP2)

[Rob McKay]

I have XP (SP2) running Office 2000. When first installed, MS Photo Editor
worked perfectly - a great little program for editing. I had to re-install XP
AND all my other software, including Office, but now Photo Editor doesn't
work. The program is installed, but will not open all types of photo files -
particularly .jpeg's - the most common type of picture file.

Can anyone help me to get this program functioning properly again?

Many thanks

 

[Opinicus]

I have XP (SP2) running Office 2000. When first installed, MS Photo Editor
worked perfectly - a great little program for editing. I had to re-install
XP
AND all my other software, including Office, but now Photo Editor doesn't
work. The program is installed, but will not open all types of photo
files -
particularly .jpeg's - the most common type of picture file.
Can anyone help me to get this program functioning properly again?

It sounds like something has taken control of the picture file extensions.

When you double-click on a jpeg what program starts (if any)? That's the
culprit.

To regain control, start up Windows Explorer click on "Tools > Folder
options > File types".

Search through the file types for the extensions that you want to regain
control of and on each one, click on "Change" and then pick "Microsoft Photo
Editor". Now whenever you double-click on files with those extensions
they'll open in Photo Ed.

A better solution however and the one I use is "Open Expert":
http://www.baxbex.com/openexpert.html

This freeware utility allows you to define a particular right-click context
menu for any file type you like.

 

[Rob McKay]

Many thanks for your response.

I followed your advice/suggestions, but unfortunately it didn't solve the
problem.

Whenever I click on a .jpeg or a .jpg image, Ms Photo Editor opens, but with
an error message "File format not recognised" or "Unable to open this file"

So, I tried (in Photo Editor) File> Open> Browse. The dialog box that
appears has a variety of options (ie All Files; All Image files etc etc) it
has .gif, .tif & .bmp - everything in fact except JPEG's!!!

I had a look at the MS Website and it appears that MS have now removed Photo
Editor from all versions of Office, and I assume that somewhere in one of the
regular XP updates there has been a command to effectively disable Photo
Editor (presumably in the hope that I'll buy the newer program).

So I suppose to refine my question - "how can I get MS Photo Editor to
recognise the .jpeg/.jpg file formats/extensions.

Once again many thanks for trying - any other ideas?

Rob McKay

 

[Opinicus]

I had a look at the MS Website and it appears that MS have now removed
Photo
Editor from all versions of Office, and I assume that somewhere in one of
the
regular XP updates there has been a command to effectively disable Photo
Editor (presumably in the hope that I'll buy the newer program).

That's not true. First because Photo Editor (PE) works fine on my WinXP +
Office XP installation. Second because there is no "newer program" to buy
because MS no longer supports PE, having replaced it with a freebie picture
manager that doesn't.

So I suppose to refine my question - "how can I get MS Photo Editor to
recognise the .jpeg/.jpg file formats/extensions.
Once again many thanks for trying - any other ideas?

In the absence of any opinions from the more savvy, all I can suggest is to
uninstall PE. Reboot. And try reinstalling it. In the process it may regain
control of the image files.

 

[Rob McKay]

Bob,

Many thanks for your efforts. I'll try the uninstall/reboot tack & let you
know what happens

Regards

Rob McKay