Image thumbnails will not update

Question

Some years ago, I scanned pages from a photo album and then cropped them to save individual photographs. I have never been able to find a permanent solution to the original thumbnails showing in Explorer. I have cleared thumbnail caches and deleted unnecessary files (disk cleanup utility, or App as it's now called).

A temporary solution is to change the size of the thumbnails each time I view the folders. This works, but is a real nuisance.

How do I get the thumbnails to update so they will always show the actual picture?

Below is an example of a page I scanned containing three pictures. Each of the three file thumbnails shows the whole page as it was originally scanned, and not the current content.

Images are all JPG. Cropped and saved using Paint.net. Originally in Windows XP. Files are now on a Windows 8.1 laptop.

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

I have also tried this with no improvement: http://www.winability.com/how-to-erase-icon-thumbnail-cache-windows-8/

Answer 2

Hi Ramesh. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my query.

Here's how I got on.

I completed methods 1 and 2, with the exception of point 4 in method 2 as I can't find an option "**allows thumbnails for all your pictures, videos and even documents".**However, if that is simply describing the action of point 3, then it's done.

I have completed method 3 and I attach a screenshot of the result.

The resulting Log can be found here.

In terms of replacing the corrupt files, I have the only laptop in the house running Windows 8.1 so I would not know where to obtain replacement files.

In order to replace the incorrect thumbnails, I am in the process of saving each file again under a slighty different name and deleting the original one. This seems to be rectifying the issue, although it is a fairly long and drawnout process.

Thank you.

Answer 3

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

As per the issue description you are facing issue with thumbnails. You may face this issue if thumbnail cache is corrupted or it need to be repaired. I would suggest you to follow these steps and check if it helps:

Please follow the methods to fix the issue:

Method 1:

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To Rebuild icon cache follow the below mentioned steps -

By default, IconCache.db is the hidden file.

1.       Open Folder Options to select (dot) Show hidden files and folders.

2.       You need to unhide the file and Navigate to *C:\Users%username%\AppData\Local*

3.       Locate the following file IconCache.db and rename it to IconCache.db.old

4.       If issue still persists, Right click on IconCache.db and click on Delete.

5.       Click on Yes to confirm the deletion. Restart the computer.

NOTE: If for some reason IconCache.db is not there or the size has not changed much, then just restart the computer again. You may need to restart a couple of times in some cases.

Method 2:

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1.       Open Windows Explorer

2.       Click on Options and Change folder and search options

3.       Next, click on the View tab and uncheck the box that says Always show icons, never thumbnails

4. Uncheck the option, allows thumbnails for all your pictures, videos and even documents

Or, try this:

1.       Press Windows key + X and click System. Then click on Advanced System Settings on the left side.

2.       This will open up the System Properties dialog. Here you need to click on the Advanced tab and then click on Settings

3.       Ensure Show thumbnails instead of icons is checked

Method 3

If issue persist try to check the system files are they working fine or not and to check that try to run System File Checker (SFC) tool.

SFC scan will scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows 8.

1. Press Windows key and X at the same time.
2. Choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the context menu.
3. In the command prompt, type sfc /scannow and hit Enter.
4. Exit command prompt.

For more information refer to this link:

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Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us

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Hope this would help. If issue still persists post back with current status of your computer and result of proposed suggestion, we will be happy to assist you.

Regards,