# Windows 7 Update from Microsoft and Raw files



## ronfritz (Jul 27, 2011)

If you've ever been browsing your photos with Windows Explorer and wished it would show thumbnails of raw files rather than just jpg's....

Microsoft yesterday release an update which you can download.  The update will enable Windows 7 to show thumbnails of jpgs.  Windows built in "Preview" still won't work with raw files but at least the thumbnails will show.

Not a world changing addition to Win 7 but it's nice to have.

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26829


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## rip18 (Jul 27, 2011)

That's a help if you're running Windows 7!  Thanks for the heads up!


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## leo (Jul 27, 2011)

Good deal Ron, the only reason I shoot jpeg with my RAW is to view them in Win EX ......  

Help for the computer handicapped ... me .....  

there are two downloads available, different sizes .... which one to download???? ........... or does it matter


MicrosoftCodecPack_amd64.msi 8.0 MB


 MicrosoftCodecPack_x86.msi 4.0 MB


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## Crickett (Jul 27, 2011)

That's cool! Thanks for the info!


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## Hoss (Jul 27, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up Ron.  One day, I may upgrade.

Hoss


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## ronfritz (Jul 27, 2011)

leo said:


> Good deal Ron, the only reason I shoot jpeg with my RAW is to view them in Win EX ......
> 
> Help for the computer handicapped ... me .....
> 
> ...



Leo - Yeah, Microsoft could have offered a couple words of  advice on how to choose.  First...it's important to re-emphasize that you need to be running Windows 7 or Windows Vista+Service Pack 2 ... definitely don't use this if you are using XP or some earlier version of Windows.

Next, you need to know if you are running the 64 Bit or 32 Bit version of Win 7.  Most folks are likely to be running the 32 Bit version of Windows 7 and would use   MicrosoftCodecPack_x86.msi.  If you are using the 64 bit version of Windows 7 then you'd use the amd64.msi version.

If you're not sure which version of Windows you are running then you can run a open the Windows Experience program to see what it says or you can run a Windows program called dxdiag.exe which you can open either by clicking Start then Run then type dxdiag.exe or you can do a search as illustrated below by clicking Start and then type dxdiag into the search box as illustrated.  In your search results you should see dxdiag.exe.  Double click the dxdiag.exe item.  If successful you will see a window like the second image.  The first highlighted line will tell you what version of Windows you are running, including whether it is the 32 or 64 bit version.  The other line I've highlighted tells you what kind of processor you have (the machine this screenshot came from has an AMD processor).  I highlighted this second line only to point out that you could have an AMD processor but still be running the 32 bit version of Windows....and that might confuse somebody.  The first highlighted line, the one that tells you which version of Windows you are running, is the one that matters.

If you are nervous about installing this then you could create a restore point before doing so.  To do this type *restore point* into the search box and you should see "Create a restore point" in the search results.  Follow those instructions and if something seems wrong after you install the raw file viewer, and if the normal program uninstall process doesn't work, you'll have another option for restoring your PC to the state it was in before you installed the raw file viewer.


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## leo (Jul 28, 2011)

Ron, thanks a bunch for the detailed info/instructions, I will ck this out.


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