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As a sysadmin, I’ve become really proficient with Windows operating systems, Powershell, Hyper-V, PFsense, etc, so I figured moving to a known OS would simplify things for me in the long run. However, I soon learned that there are a few things I wasn’t aware of on Server 2019. In particular, one of the things I learned was that the default “photo viewer” is set to Paint.
Fortunately, this was a quick fix. Follow the steps below if you’ve ran into the same issue.
How to Enable Photo Viewer in Windows Server 2019
By default, Photo Viewer isn’t installed or active. The first thing we need to do is check whether or not the DLL’s exist on the server.
Step 1: Check if Photo Viewer DLL’s Exist
Browse to C:Program Files (x86)Windows Photo Viewer on the server. If you see .dll files there, that means the files exist but aren’t registered. It should look like this:
If you don’t see those files, simply browse to the path above from a Windows PC & copy the folder contents to the same path on your server.
Step 2: Register the DLL’s
Now that we know the necessary files are present, we need to register them.
Open Command Prompt (type CMD into Start) and right-click to Run as Administrator. Then copy and paste the following code:
regsvr32 “C:Program Files (x86)Windows Photo ViewerPhotoViewer.dll”
Step 3: Download PhotoViewer Registry Keys
Now that the .dll’s are registered, we need to import the registry keys. This allows us to “Open With…” from File Explorer and choose Windows Photo Viewer, as well as set default file associations for various file types, such as .jpg, .jpe, or .jpeg.
Download registry files from here: MS Photoviewer Registry Files.zip
Once downloaded, right-click the .zip file and extract it to a temporary location.
Step 4: Import Registry Keys
From Start, open Regedit.
File > Import > browse to the location you extracted the 4 registry files. You will need to import all 4 of them.
Step 5: Set Photo Viewer as Default App
If you’d like to make Photo Viewer your default photo viewing application, search Windows for “Default Apps” and then change Photos to Windows Photo Viewer.
Step 6: Allow Images in Thumbnails
This step is optional, but if you’d like to see a preview of the images from File Explorer (instead of just icons), you can do that by changing the File Explorer options.
Search Windows for Folder Options. Change to the View tab and uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.
That will change it from looking like this:
to looking like this:
That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this guide helped you out.
Good Luck!
I’m in the middle of migrating my Plex media server from my daily driver Windows 10 PC to Server 2019 Standard. I ran out of space (and hard drive bays) inside my desktop, so the time has come to migrate to a different OS. I purchased all the components with the intention of turning my server into a TrueNAS nas server, but after running TrueNAS for a week, I decided the time invested in learning/migrating to an unfamiliar operating system was more than I wanted to tackle at this point in time. I ultimately ended up purchasing a Fractal Design Node 804 case because of how many storage bays it has.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
As a sysadmin, I’ve become really proficient with Windows operating systems, Powershell, Hyper-V, PFsense, etc, so I figured moving to a known OS would simplify things for me in the long run. However, I soon learned that there are a few things I wasn’t aware of on Server 2019. In particular, one of the things I learned was that the default “photo viewer” is set to Paint.
Fortunately, this was a quick fix. Follow the steps below if you’ve ran into the same issue.
If you’re curious about my server build, I am using
- (Case) Fractal Design Node 804
- (Harddrives x4) 8TB Seagate Barracuda
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Fan
- Gigabyte B450M DS3H AM4 motherboard
By default, Photo Viewer isn’t installed or active. The first thing we need to do is check whether or not the DLL’s exist on the server.
Step 1: Check if Photo Viewer DLL’s Exist
Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer on the server. If you see .dll files there, that means the files exist but aren’t registered. It should look like this:
If you don’t see those files, simply browse to the path above from a Windows 10 PC & copy the folder contents to the same path on your server.
Step 2: Register the DLL’s
Now that we know the necessary files are present, we need to register them.
Open Command Prompt (type CMD into Start) and right-click to Run as Administrator. Then copy and paste the following code:
regsvr32 “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”Step 3: Download PhotoViewer Registry Keys
Now that the .dll’s are registered, we need to import the registry keys. This allows us to “Open With…” from File Explorer and choose Windows Photo Viewer, as well as set default file associations for various file types, such as .jpg, .jpe, or .jpeg.
Download registry files from here: MS Photoviewer Registry Files.zip
Once downloaded, right-click the .zip file and extract it to a temporary location.
Step 4: Import Registry Keys
From Start, open Regedit.
File > Import > browse to the location you extracted the 4 registry files. You will need to import all 4 of them.
You should now be able to right-click an image file and Open With Windows Photo Viewer!
Step 5: Set Photo Viewer as Default App
If you’d like to make Photo Viewer your default photo viewing application, search Windows for “Default Apps” and then change Photos to Windows Photo Viewer.
Step 6: Allow Images in Thumbnails
This step is optional, but if you’d like to see a preview of the images from File Explorer (instead of just icons), you can do that by changing the File Explorer options.
Search Windows for Folder Options. Change to the View tab and uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.
That will change it from looking like this:
to looking like this:
That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this guide helped you out.
My Homelab Equipment
Here is some of the gear I use in my Homelab. I highly recommend each of them.
- Server 2019 w/ Hyper-V
- Case: Fractal Design Node 804
- Graphics Card: NVIDEA Quadro K600
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700
The full list of server components I use can be found on my Equipment List page.
By default, Photo Viewer isn’t installed or active. The first thing we need to do is check whether or not the DLL’s exist on the server.
Step 1: Check if Photo Viewer DLL’s Exist
Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer on the server. If you see .dll files there, that means the files exist but aren’t registered. It should look like this:
If you don’t see those files, simply browse to the path above from a Windows 10 PC & copy the folder contents to the same path on your server.
Step 2: Register the DLL’s
Now that we know the necessary files are present, we need to register them.
Open Command Prompt (type CMD into Start) and right-click to Run as Administrator. Then copy and paste the following code:
regsvr32 “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”Step 3: Download PhotoViewer Registry Keys
Now that the .dll’s are registered, we need to import the registry keys. This allows us to “Open With…” from File Explorer and choose Windows Photo Viewer, as well as set default file associations for various file types, such as .jpg, .jpe, or .jpeg.
Download registry files from here: MS Photoviewer Registry Files.zip
Once downloaded, right-click the .zip file and extract it to a temporary location.
Step 4: Import Registry Keys
From Start, open Regedit.
File > Import > browse to the location you extracted the 4 registry files. You will need to import all 4 of them.
You should now be able to right-click an image file and Open With Windows Photo Viewer!
Step 5: Set Photo Viewer as Default App
If you’d like to make Photo Viewer your default photo viewing application, search Windows for “Default Apps” and then change Photos to Windows Photo Viewer.
Step 6: Allow Images in Thumbnails
This step is optional, but if you’d like to see a preview of the images from File Explorer (instead of just icons), you can do that by changing the File Explorer options.
Search Windows for Folder Options. Change to the View tab and uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.
That will change it from looking like this:
to looking like this:
That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this guide helped you out.
In the realm of Windows Server 2016 and 2019 operating systems, many of the features and functionalities are streamlined for security and efficiency, with non-essential features often disabled or hidden by default. One such feature is the nostalgic Windows Photo Viewer. Many IT professionals and administrators are fond of this tool due to its simplicity and responsiveness. If you’re one of them and you’re looking to enable Windows Photo Viewer on a Windows Server OS, this article will guide you through the steps. By default, browsing through folders, you don’t see thumbnails (for a faster image view). Moreover, JPG, TIF, BMP, PNG images are opened in Microsoft Paint – which is useless.
Introduction:
Windows Photo Viewer was the default image viewer for Windows 7 and earlier versions. However, with the advent of Windows 10 and subsequent server versions, Microsoft introduced the Photos app, relegating Windows Photo Viewer to the background. While the Photos app offers a modern UI and additional functionalities, the simplicity and reliability of the Windows Photo Viewer still appeal to many.
Prerequisites:
Before diving into the steps, ensure you have:
- Administrative rights on the Windows Server.
- A backup or system restore point. This is always a good practice when making changes to the system registry. Actions from this article was successfully tested on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 editions without any issues.
Enabling Windows Photo Viewer:
Step 1. Run from cmd.exe:
regsvr32 “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”
Step 2. Download this .REG file.
Step 3. Double click “Restore_Windows_Photo_Viewer.reg” and accept any User Account Control prompts ( if you are not logged as Administrator). Confirm you wish to import the settings
Caution: Editing the Windows Registry can be risky. Always backup your registry settings before making any changes.
Now when you double click a picture type for the first time; you will be asked which application you want to open it with in the future by default (double-click). Select “Windows Photo Viewer” and check the “Always use this app to open … files” box:
Step 4 (final). And we have it, a very grainy photo of some AI-generated cats opened in Windows Photo Viewer:
By following the above steps, you should now have successfully enabled and set the Windows Photo Viewer as the default viewer for your desired image file types on your Windows Server OS. This can be a boon for those who miss the older, more straightforward tool or for those who find it better suited to their needs on a server environment. Regardless of your reasons, enjoy the seamless experience of viewing images with the classic viewer!
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Home > Windows > Windows Server 2019 > Enabling photo viewer in Windows Server 2019
Home > VMWare platform > VMWare Horizon > Enabling photo viewer in Windows Server 2019
In case of Server 2019 machine being used as Desktop (eg RDSH VDI scenario), it might be useful to change default photo application from paint to photo viewer using:
- Go to ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer’ and look for DLLs related to photo viewer. If they are not there, copy them from the same path from a Windows 10 machine.
- Register the DLLs using Administrator CMD:
-
- regsvr32 “C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\PhotoViewer.dll”
-
- Download the registry keys from https://smarthomepursuits.com/download/2844/ (Reference for these steps. Download is only 9.4KB in size)
- Import the registry keys using ‘regedit’. File > Import > browse to the location where four extracted registry files are present. All four need to be imported.
- Chnage default photo app to «Photo viewer» by searching Windows for “Default Apps” and then changing Photos app to Windows Photo Viewer.
- Search Windows for folder options. In folder Options. Change to the View tab and uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”.
Refer:
- https://smarthomepursuits.com/enable-photo-viewer-on-server-2016-or-2019/
Home > Windows > Windows Server 2019 > Enabling photo viewer in Windows Server 2019
Home > VMWare platform > VMWare Horizon > Enabling photo viewer in Windows Server 2019