Windows photo viewer for RAW files with thumbnails


LillianH

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Local time
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Edition Windows 11 Home Version 21H2 Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022 OS build 22000.318 Experience Window
Hi all!

Hope someone is able to provide some direction. I am not what you would call "tech savvy". I have recently upgraded my laptop and and am now running Windows 11.

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022
OS build 22000.318
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.318.0

I was previously running Windows 10 and while I seem to recall that I did have to download a driver to open RAW files I didn't have to do anything else to see thumbnails when I opened the folder and to arrow through the photos when full screen. I should note that I store my photos on an external hard drive and not in the cloud.

I have downloaded a driver to open my RAW files and while I can open pictures the dialoque box will open with every picture and ask how I want to open the file. Pretty annoying as you can imagine. So I can only open one picture at a time, have to choose how to open it each time, and I cannot arrow through all the photos in the folder. When I google for solutions it keeps bringing me to editing software sites where you have to make a purchase. I'm not interested in buying an app to view these pictures. I already have the full adobe suite of products and know I can use lightroom to open these but I don't want to have to open Lightroom to look through my Raw pics. (Typically I use Lightroom Classic, not cloud based) On my previous laptop I dumped my Raw files and video from my memory card into an organized folder on an external hard drive and then imported what I wanted to work on into lightroom. I would then export the edited files back into a subfolder so I would know where to find them.

So question is...is there a way I can view my photos which are stored on an external drive where I can open the folder, see thumbnails of all the images and be able to arrow through them when full screen? Hope someone out there has a solution for this! Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Edition Windows 11 Home Version 21H2 Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022 OS build 22000.318 Experience Window
Do you have the Windows Raw image extension installed? That should give you thumbnails, if you have "view by icons" (small, medium, large, or extra large) selected for the folder. When you open a file, you should be able to choose "aways open with" for that file extension.

A free alternative for quickly looking through a large number of images is FastStone Image Viewer. It can do a lot more than just viewing, but it's good for that.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    homebuilt
    CPU
    Amd Threadripper 7970X
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte TRX50 Aero D
    Memory
    128GB (4 X 32) Kingston DDR5 5200 (RDIMM)
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    Gigabyte RTX 4090 OC
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    none (USB to speakers), Realtek
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    Philips 27E1N8900 OLED
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    Crucial T700 2TB M.2 NVME SSD
    WD 4TB Blue SATA SSD
    Seagate 18TB IronWolf Pro
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    eVGA SuperNOVA 1600 GT
    Case
    Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo XL
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    Alphacool Eisbaer Pro Aurora 360, with 3 Phanteks T30 fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120 (wired)
    Mouse
    Logitech M500s (wired)
    Internet Speed
    1200 Mbps
  • Operating System
    windows 11 22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    homebuilt
    CPU
    Intel I9-13900K
    Motherboard
    Asus RoG Strix Z690-E
    Memory
    64GB G.Skill DDR5-6000
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte RTX 3090 ti
    Sound Card
    built in Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA329C
    Screen Resolution
    3840 X 2160 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WDC SN850 1TB
    8 TB Seagate Ironwolf
    4TB Seagate Ironwolf
    PSU
    eVGA SuperNOVA 1300 GT
    Case
    Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo
    Cooling
    Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech M500s (wired)
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120 (wired)
I have installed the Windows Raw Image Extension. When I open it it brings me to "Films and TV" where I can select my hard drive but it only shows my videos. I also don't get the "always open with' option when I open a picture file.
I could look at the Faststone image viewer and will if I can't get photos to work as it did on my old laptop.

Is it an option to go back to Windows 10 or is that just a dumb idea?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Edition Windows 11 Home Version 21H2 Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022 OS build 22000.318 Experience Window
There should be no advantage to reverting to 10. the differences aren't major.

I have no idea what you mean by "when I open it". I thought it's basically just a codec (compressor/decompressor) that allows applications to open raw files.

What happens when you double click on a RAW file? If you're presented with a window that asks how you wish to open it, I suggest "photos", and choose "always". That will set photos as the default app for RAW files of that type. (Works for me, with Canon CR3 RAWs.)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    homebuilt
    CPU
    Amd Threadripper 7970X
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte TRX50 Aero D
    Memory
    128GB (4 X 32) Kingston DDR5 5200 (RDIMM)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte RTX 4090 OC
    Sound Card
    none (USB to speakers), Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 27E1N8900 OLED
    Screen Resolution
    3840 X 2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Crucial T700 2TB M.2 NVME SSD
    WD 4TB Blue SATA SSD
    Seagate 18TB IronWolf Pro
    PSU
    eVGA SuperNOVA 1600 GT
    Case
    Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo XL
    Cooling
    Alphacool Eisbaer Pro Aurora 360, with 3 Phanteks T30 fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120 (wired)
    Mouse
    Logitech M500s (wired)
    Internet Speed
    1200 Mbps
  • Operating System
    windows 11 22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    homebuilt
    CPU
    Intel I9-13900K
    Motherboard
    Asus RoG Strix Z690-E
    Memory
    64GB G.Skill DDR5-6000
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte RTX 3090 ti
    Sound Card
    built in Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA329C
    Screen Resolution
    3840 X 2160 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WDC SN850 1TB
    8 TB Seagate Ironwolf
    4TB Seagate Ironwolf
    PSU
    eVGA SuperNOVA 1300 GT
    Case
    Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo
    Cooling
    Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech M500s (wired)
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120 (wired)
Hmmm...did I download the wrong thing? See pictures attached where it asks to be opened?
The second picture is what comes up once I open it
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Edition Windows 11 Home Version 21H2 Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022 OS build 22000.318 Experience Window
Update.....
Not sure if I had to but installed a different Windows Raw extension which still didn't bring about the result I wanted. I was then looking around in "view" in the folder and the "...(see more)"to the right of view and found properties. Under 'properties" and "general" for "type of file(ARW)" it said "unknown". I selected Photos from the drop down box and voila everything changed to what I wanted! Perhaps I had previously selected "always open this type of file with" and chose the something incorrectly. Really not sure but happy to have this working the way I like it to! Thanks for your help @bobkn !
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Edition Windows 11 Home Version 21H2 Installed on ‎30/‎08/‎2022 OS build 22000.318 Experience Window
Open settings -apps -default apps and scroll down to and open Photos. You'll get the default option there by clicking on the small box right side.

2022-09-02 06_16_00-cr2 files - Search and 8 more pages - Personal - Microsoft​ Edge.png



I downloaded some test .raw files and the Photo app works ok.

1662097541347.png
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro & 🐥.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X509DA (FP5)
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RX Vega 10 Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe 1.3
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER NITRO
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H / 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    CZ Scala_CAS (FP6)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4 SDRAM 3200 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" LED backlight 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 144 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB NVMe M.2
    PSU
    180 Watt, 19.5 V
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Photoshop/Game/tinker build
    CPU
    Intel i9 1300KS
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Maximus Z90 Dark Hero
    Memory
    64GB (2x32) G.skill Trident Z5 RGB 6400 MHZ 32-39-39
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus ROG Strix 4070 Ti OC
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio, Vanatoo Transparent One; Klipsch R-12SWi Sub; Creative Pebble Pro Minimilist
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Eizo CG2730, ViewSonic VP2768
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440p x 2
    Hard Drives
    WDC SN850 1TB nvme, SK-Hynix 2 TB P41 nvme, Raid 0: 1TB 850 EVO + 1TB 860 EVO SSD. Sabrent USB-C DS-SC5B 5-bay docking station: 6TB WDC Black, 6TB Ironwolf Pro; 2x 2TB WDC Black
    PSU
    850W Seasonic Vertex PX-850
    Case
    Fractal Design North XL Mesh, Black Walnut
    Cooling
    EKWB 360 Nucleus Dark AIO w/Phanteks T30-120 fans, 1 Noctua NF-A14 Chromax case fan
    Keyboard
    Glorious GMMK TKL mechanical, lubed modded
    Mouse
    Logitech G305 wireless gaming
    Internet Speed
    380 Mb/s down, 12 Mb/s up
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender, Macrium Reflect 8 ;-)
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple 13" Macbook Pro 2020 (m1)
    CPU
    Apple M1
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1600
    Browser
    Firefox

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