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Windows 98 Will Not Display .gif Files

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by gd125962 2 views

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I'm having a problem where Windows 98 will not display any .gif files that are on the client, but will display them ok if I go out to a web site on the internet. For example, some html pages I developed will not display the .gif files on my PC, butwhen I publish the site out on the internet I'm able to view the .gif files with no problem.

I've all sorts of things to get it to work with no success, including: adjusting Internet Explorer settings, installing patches to IE 5.5 (Service packs 1 & 2); installing IE 6; and reinstalling Windows 98.
None of these attempts have worked yet.

The technical support from the vendor where I bought the PC doesn't know what could be causing the problem either.

14 replies

by curacao_dejavu

in windows explorer, hold the shift key and right klik on the file and choose "open with" and the select the program you want to open the file with (IE, paint, adobe,etc) and select also always use this program.
You can also install a viewer like ACDSee 4.0 to view the files.
Make sure your system is virus free, If not mistaken in the last 8 months there were virusses that were effective, gif, bmp, htmls etc.

Leopold

by curacao_dejavu

you can also go to in windows explorer,
tools, folder options, view files types, change the gif associations.

by gd125962

Did not work; I can view gif files if I open it with an application. I cannot view .gif files if they are used in a menu of in an html document, etc.

by yamir

"For example, some html pages I developed will not display the .gif files on my PC, but when I publish the site out on the internet I'm able to view the .gif files with no problem. "

The only reason I can think of is that your gif are referenced on your html pages with absolutes URL (like http://www.mydomain.com/mydomain/gif/mynicegif.gif)
so IE can see them only on the web, but not on your HD

but it seems me a little weird

Sorry for not having a better advice

by justemazing

This still sounds like a path problem whether using absolute URLs or not. If it were me, I would take a real long look at the full path on the client machine vs the image source in your code.

If you are publishing by "manual" ftp rather than an "automated" ftp through an application such as Dreamweaver, you may be uploading to the proper path directories on the web server, but the path does not work on the client.

--
Rob

by gd125962

I don't use a full path in the html. I do use MS Frontpage to publish the Web. I also have problems with applications like Easy CD Creator which uses the same technology to display an initial menu (per Adaptec tech support). Appreciate the comments however.

by timthetoolman

Just to put to rest the above couple of answers... is it only gif files? How about jpg files?

Can you view a gif file by double clicking on it in explorer?

If not... I'd say something has gone wrong with the mime mapping for .gif extensions.
Explorer -> Tools -> folder options ... file types tab ... and check what .gif files are associated with.

IE6 will handle the associations for internet files but local files will be handled by explorer.

I'm not sure about the above "path" to get to the "file types" as I'm on XP at the moment. I'm sure you'll find it if you think its relevant...

Cheers,
Tim.

by gd125962

It is only gif files; jpg files are displayed ok. I can open a gif file by double clicking on the file in Explorer and have different applications open the file (depending on which application is associated; I have tried changing this to see if it made a difference and it did not). The path is find becuase I do not use the full path when referencing objects in the html. Also, applications like Easy CD Creator that uses an initial menu based on the technology (so I was told by Adaptec) has the same problem. Any buttons created on the menu do not display.

If I copy the pages to another machine (using Windows 95 or Windows 2000) I do not experience the problem.

by timthetoolman

I've just re-read your question and WAS going to suggest you re-installaed IE. ...but bzzzt! You say you reinstalled Windows98 and the problem still wasn't fixed? Bizarre!!

Did you do a fresh install of 98? or overwrite what was already there?
Cheers,
Tim.

by gd125962

I responded to this once already, but it did not appear, so I'll try again.

I overwrote Windows 98 and did not do a fresh install (format the hard disk, etc.). I did check to see if there were some Windows components in Setup that were not installed, but everything was installed that needed to be.

I'm afraid I may have to take the long path and reformat the hard disk and start from scratch over again.

by timthetoolman

Yep, you're right.

An upgrade install leaves a lot of stuff intact. Most of the registry - basically all user changed stuff if it can, so whatever registry entry is causing your problem wouldn't be cleared by what you've done so far.

You couldtry doing a RegClean but I dont hold a lot of hope for it.

If you were fanatical you could check all the registry entries under IE6 and compare to a known ok version. But it would take a while...

Better to get your data off there and do a fresh install !

Cheers,
Tim.

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