"In-camera" JPG Files Treated Differently Than "On-disk" JPG Files

[croy]

When I hooked up my wife's digital camera to my Win7
computer, I decided to look at some of the photos before
copying any to the Hard Drive.

I use IrfanView to look at images on this machine, but when
I dbl-clicked one of the camera's JPG files, the Windows,
built-in app (Windows Image Editor?) came up and displayed
the photo. I close it, and looked again in Windows
Explorer. All the photos showed as "IrfanView" files. I
right-clicked on one, thinking that I would select "Open
with", but there was no such offering on the popup menu!

Does anybody here know why this would be happening?

 

[John Aldred]

When I hooked up my wife's digital camera to my Win7
computer, I decided to look at some of the photos before
copying any to the Hard Drive.

I use IrfanView to look at images on this machine, but when
I dbl-clicked one of the camera's JPG files, the Windows,
built-in app (Windows Image Editor?) came up and displayed
the photo. I close it, and looked again in Windows
Explorer. All the photos showed as "IrfanView" files. I
right-clicked on one, thinking that I would select "Open
with", but there was no such offering on the popup menu!

Does anybody here know why this would be happening?

If I am reading this right, you are connecting the camera to the computer
(with a USB lead?)

I wouldn't have thought that would be any different to putting the card into
a USB adapter or built in card reader which is what I do now.

I have two applications on my machine (Paint Shop Pro and Ashampoo Photo
Optimiser) in addition to Windows Photo Viewer which is the default
application provided with Win 7.

If I slip the camera card into the reader and click on Open Folder to View
Files in the pop-up window. I see a list of all the images (I have the view
setting as Details rather than Icons), with the file type shown as JPEG
image.

Double clicking on a file opens it up in Windows Photo Viewer.

Right clicking on a file brings up the usual menu of about 14 options,
including "Open With Ashampoo Photo Optimiser" at the top and "Properties"
at the bottom. Somewhere in the middle there is an "Open With" option, which
when clicked offers just two items, Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Paint.
Paint Shop Pro does not appear as an option.

I can add Paint Shop Pro as an option (and set it as the default option if I
wish) by choosing "Other" from the Open With menu, and then browsing to the
folder in the file system containing the executable, and selecting it.

If I do this then double clicking on the image list will open up the file in
PSP.

However next time I right click on an image file Ashampoo Photo Optimiser
has disappeared from the list of options for opening the file - Strange!

If "Open With" is not on your right click menu, you could click on
Properties, and will probably see that the file is set to open with Windows
Photo Viewer. There should be a "Change" button on Properties pop-up, where
I believe you can change the application which opens the file. Whether this
is per file or for all files of this type I do not know.

Beware of rotating the images in Windows Photo Viewer if you are using it to
see what is on the camera card. My Wife did that and moved on to view the
next image. It seems that the viewer does not prompt to save/discard the
changes. She found that next time she previewed the images on the camera
screen any that she had rotated on the computer were no longer recognised by
the camera - Error Invalid Image.

 

[croy]

If I am reading this right, you are connecting the camera to the computer
(with a USB lead?)
Yup.

I wouldn't have thought that would be any different to putting the card into
a USB adapter or built in card reader which is what I do now.

Me, neither.

I have two applications on my machine (Paint Shop Pro and Ashampoo Photo
Optimiser) in addition to Windows Photo Viewer which is the default
application provided with Win 7.

If I slip the camera card into the reader and click on Open Folder to View
Files in the pop-up window. I see a list of all the images (I have the view
setting as Details rather than Icons), with the file type shown as JPEG
image.

Double clicking on a file opens it up in Windows Photo Viewer.

Right clicking on a file brings up the usual menu of about 14 options,
including "Open With Ashampoo Photo Optimiser" at the top and "Properties"
at the bottom. Somewhere in the middle there is an "Open With" option, which
when clicked offers just two items, Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Paint.
Paint Shop Pro does not appear as an option.

I can add Paint Shop Pro as an option (and set it as the default option if I
wish) by choosing "Other" from the Open With menu, and then browsing to the
folder in the file system containing the executable, and selecting it.

If I do this then double clicking on the image list will open up the file in
PSP.

However next time I right click on an image file Ashampoo Photo Optimiser
has disappeared from the list of options for opening the file - Strange!

If "Open With" is not on your right click menu, you could click on
Properties, and will probably see that the file is set to open with Windows
Photo Viewer. There should be a "Change" button on Properties pop-up, where
I believe you can change the application which opens the file. Whether this
is per file or for all files of this type I do not know.

When I right-click on an in-camera JPG and click
"Properties", it shows that it "opens with IrfanView", but
if I dbl-click on it, it opens with Windows Photo Viewer! If
I do the same with an on-disk (HDD) JPG, it opens with
IrfanView.

Beware of rotating the images in Windows Photo Viewer if you are using it to
see what is on the camera card. My Wife did that and moved on to view the
next image. It seems that the viewer does not prompt to save/discard the
changes. She found that next time she previewed the images on the camera
screen any that she had rotated on the computer were no longer recognised by
the camera - Error Invalid Image.

Thanks for the warning!

 

[Jeff Layman]

When I hooked up my wife's digital camera to my Win7
computer, I decided to look at some of the photos before
copying any to the Hard Drive.

I use IrfanView to look at images on this machine, but when
I dbl-clicked one of the camera's JPG files, the Windows,
built-in app (Windows Image Editor?) came up and displayed
the photo. I close it, and looked again in Windows
Explorer. All the photos showed as "IrfanView" files. I
right-clicked on one, thinking that I would select "Open
with", but there was no such offering on the popup menu!

Does anybody here know why this would be happening?

I assume that you installed the software supplied with the camera when
you bought it. Perhaps when you plug the camera in (via USB) that
software recognises the camera and automatically selects the Windows
image viewer.

If the camera software starts when you logon, try disabling it
temporarily. Then plug the camera in. If your computer can still see
the camera's memory, see what happens when you click on a *.jpg file
name. Does IrfanView open it?

 

[Ed Cryer]

When I hooked up my wife's digital camera to my Win7
computer, I decided to look at some of the photos before
copying any to the Hard Drive.

I use IrfanView to look at images on this machine, but when
I dbl-clicked one of the camera's JPG files, the Windows,
built-in app (Windows Image Editor?) came up and displayed
the photo. I close it, and looked again in Windows
Explorer. All the photos showed as "IrfanView" files. I
right-clicked on one, thinking that I would select "Open
with", but there was no such offering on the popup menu!

Does anybody here know why this would be happening?

File associations and icons used are separate things; they don't always
go together. It's very possible to have an Irfanview icon used for a
file type which opens with a different program. It all depends on the
history of which programs have swapped and changed their associations.

Unless you're using some third-party program to view the files in the
camera when it's connected through USB, then W7 will use its standard
list of file associations.

Go to Control Panel/ Programs/ Default Programs/ Associate a file type
.... and list them out. Note which programs are assigned to these three
types;.jpe, .jpeg and .jp2

Ed

 

[Ed Cryer]

File associations and icons used are separate things; they don't always
go together. It's very possible to have an Irfanview icon used for a
file type which opens with a different program. It all depends on the
history of which programs have swapped and changed their associations.

Unless you're using some third-party program to view the files in the
camera when it's connected through USB, then W7 will use its standard
list of file associations.

Go to Control Panel/ Programs/ Default Programs/ Associate a file type
... and list them out. Note which programs are assigned to these three
types;.jpe, .jpeg and .jp2

Ed

Plus, of course, .jpg.

Ed

 

[croy]

I assume that you installed the software supplied with the camera when
you bought it. Perhaps when you plug the camera in (via USB) that
software recognises the camera and automatically selects the Windows
image viewer.

Nope. Wife's camera--my computer. Windows 7 provided
whatever driver/interface was needed without asking me for
anything. Canon site offers nothing for drivers for this
camera (A1100is)--says Windows will handle it.

If the camera software starts when you logon, try disabling it
temporarily.

No Canon software installed.

Then plug the camera in. If your computer can still see
the camera's memory, see what happens when you click on a *.jpg file
name. Does IrfanView open it?

Nope--Windows Image Viewer--even tho Windows Explorer shows
them as Irfanview files!

 

[croy]

File associations and icons used are separate things; they don't always
go together. It's very possible to have an Irfanview icon used for a
file type which opens with a different program. It all depends on the
history of which programs have swapped and changed their associations.

Unless you're using some third-party program to view the files in the
camera when it's connected through USB, then W7 will use its standard
list of file associations.

Go to Control Panel/ Programs/ Default Programs/ Associate a file type
... and list them out. Note which programs are assigned to these three
types;.jpe, .jpeg and .jp2

If I right-click on a JPG file, whether on the HDD or on the
SD Card while in the camera (thru the camera's USB cable),
Windows Explorer says "Opens with Irfanview". If I
dbl-click on one in the camera, it opens with Windows Image
Viewer. If I dbl-click one on my HDD, it opens with
Irfanview.

 

[Jeff Layman]

Nope. Wife's camera--my computer. Windows 7 provided
whatever driver/interface was needed without asking me for
anything. Canon site offers nothing for drivers for this
camera (A1100is)--says Windows will handle it.


No Canon software installed.


Nope--Windows Image Viewer--even tho Windows Explorer shows
them as Irfanview files!

Very strange. Out of interest, do you have the box checked "Always use
the selected program to open this type of file" in the "Open with |
Choose default program" box? If not, I wonder if it allows alternate
choices depending on the file source. It may say "Open with IrfanView"
because that was the last program used to open a jpg file. Maybe it
treats the C: drive and D: drive (or whatever drive the camera is
perceived as) differently depending on what program was last used to
open a file on that drive.

Other than that, it's got me beat!

 

[Ed Cryer]

If I right-click on a JPG file, whether on the HDD or on the
SD Card while in the camera (thru the camera's USB cable),
Windows Explorer says "Opens with Irfanview". If I
dbl-click on one in the camera, it opens with Windows Image
Viewer. If I dbl-click one on my HDD, it opens with
Irfanview.

So, which program is assigned to each of the 4 file types that I've
mentioned? Don't do it the sloppy way; look at the entries as I've
advised you to.


Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

So, which program is assigned to each of the 4 file types that I've
mentioned? Don't do it the sloppy way; look at the entries as I've
advised you to.


Ed

Well, he did say it happened using the same file type (jpg) in both
cases...

I just searched for my camera cable (I've been known to accidentally
hide things from myself...), since I don't normally use it. I set my
default jpg viewer to Irfan View and looked at the files in the camera,
on the SD when plugged into the SD slot, and in the backup directory. It
went to Irfan view every time, so it seems that croy has a problem that
I don't have...

Note: I didn't reboot during this testing.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Well, he did say it happened using the same file type (jpg) in both
cases...

I just searched for my camera cable (I've been known to accidentally
hide things from myself...), since I don't normally use it. I set my
default jpg viewer to Irfan View and looked at the files in the camera,
on the SD when plugged into the SD slot, and in the backup directory. It
went to Irfan view every time, so it seems that croy has a problem that
I don't have...

Note: I didn't reboot during this testing.

I should have mentioned: Panasonic ZS-3, not a Canon. And like croy, I
didn't install any camera software.

 

[Ed Cryer]

I should have mentioned: Panasonic ZS-3, not a Canon. And like croy, I
didn't install any camera software.

I thought maybe he'd got mixed between "jpg" and "jpeg". That happened
to me once; with XP, I think.

Maybe he'd be best following the old "reinstall" path. That's what W7
sometimes does to some of my installs; "The program may have installed
incorrectly. Would you like to reinstall?" I always say yes. I suppose
it has something to do with 64/32 bit mode.

In his situation I'd remove the file type and put it back in to be
opened with Irfanview.

Ed

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I thought maybe he'd got mixed between "jpg" and "jpeg". That happened
to me once; with XP, I think.

Maybe he'd be best following the old "reinstall" path. That's what W7
sometimes does to some of my installs; "The program may have installed
incorrectly. Would you like to reinstall?" I always say yes. I suppose
it has something to do with 64/32 bit mode.

In his situation I'd remove the file type and put it back in to be
opened with Irfanview.

Ed

It really has to do with file type associations, and should be solvable
there. It's too subtle for me, but I suspect that for some reason
Windows sees the Canon on a tether as a special kind of item and ignores
the usual association.

Don't forget that the drivers, although they are part of Windows, might
still be provided to MS by the manufacturer of the device.

In my opinion, the message "The program may have installed
incorrectly..." usually results from an installer program that doesn't
return the approved status code when it completes. I most often ignore
the message, and nothing bad happens... And it has never been limited to
32 vs 64 bit software on my computers - mostly just older or free
software

 

[croy]

File associations and icons used are separate things; they don't always
go together. It's very possible to have an Irfanview icon used for a
file type which opens with a different program. It all depends on the
history of which programs have swapped and changed their associations.

Unless you're using some third-party program to view the files in the
camera when it's connected through USB, then W7 will use its standard
list of file associations.

Go to Control Panel/ Programs/ Default Programs/ Associate a file type
... and list them out. Note which programs are assigned to these three
types;.jpe, .jpeg and .jp2

Irfanview is the default app for all those, and for JPG
files.

 

[Ed Cryer]

It really has to do with file type associations, and should be solvable
there. It's too subtle for me, but I suspect that for some reason
Windows sees the Canon on a tether as a special kind of item and ignores
the usual association.

Don't forget that the drivers, although they are part of Windows, might
still be provided to MS by the manufacturer of the device.

In my opinion, the message "The program may have installed
incorrectly..." usually results from an installer program that doesn't
return the approved status code when it completes. I most often ignore
the message, and nothing bad happens... And it has never been limited to
32 vs 64 bit software on my computers - mostly just older or free
software

I've just followed your example, using two cameras; one a Samsung bought
last week, the other an old Packard Bell from 8 years ago.
I don't use any supplied software with either of them.
The Samsung has been used several times through USB on this PC; the PB
one never, and W7 installed drivers for it and also had to scan and
reformat the SD disk before handling.

Both went A OK. They show as JPG files on the camera, and after
uploading to my HD they still show as JPG files.
And both opened with Win Photo Viewer (which I have set for such).

I think croy should try the old reinstall trick; but with Irfanview. I
use that too. It is excellent all-round, and I use it mostly with my
scanner.

Ed