This has changed with the installation of SageThumbs, a free program for Windows that extends the image format support of Windows Explorer.

Instead of seeing broken image previews in Windows Explorer that looked like shown on the screenshot below, I was able to fix the issue and make the thumbnails and previews display again.

The following screenshot shows the same Windows Explorer window after the installation of the SageThumbs software.

But SageThumbs does more than just repairing the Windows Explorer image preview and thumbnail functionality. The program adds support for a total of 162 image formats to Windows Explorer, with options to add another 26 image formats via XnView Plugins.

Now it is possible to review image formats like psd right in Windows Explorer. Support for more image formats and better thumbnail previewing is the core feature of the program, but not the only one. The software adds a new entry to the right click menu in Windows Explorer that displays several additional features on selection.

Here it is possible to set the selected image as the wallpaper image (stretched, tiled or centered), send the image or the thumbnail by email or convert the image to jpg, gif or bmp.

Especially the conversion options are handy as it takes only two clicks to convert an image to another format.

The program options have settings to enable or disable file type support. This can be helpful if another program is already offering previews for the image format, or if you do not want to see previews in Windows Explorer.

The only setting that appears to be missing is a quality setting for image format conversions.

SageThumbs fixed the broken Windows Explorer image thumbnail and preview issue on my system. This in itself makes it an invaluable tool for users who experience the same or a similar issue. The developer has created 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the program which all can be downloaded from the project’s Google Code web site.

All formats can be burned to CDs or DVDs depending on their size using a DVD burning software like Nero for instance. Another method favorited by many is to mount those images as a virtual drive. This lets the user access the contents on the CD or DVD without burning it first.

Pretty good if you just need to install something or watch a movie that was distributed as a bin, cue, img or iso file. Several softwares exist that can mount those filetypes, one is named Daemon Tools for instance.

You would simply create a virtual drive in Daemon Tools, browse to the location of the image file on your hard drive and select it from there. Daemon Tools will do the rest and make the contents available for further use.

This is an excellent way to store CDs and DVDs on your computer. Great if you are traveling and do not want to take the original discs with you or to save power when using a notebook. It essentially means that you do not need to use the installed CD or DVD drive which saves the power.

Microsoft is offering a free unsupported software as well that is able to mount those files if you are using Windows XP.

Read More:

Microsoft Win XP Virtual CD Control Panel