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Views: 5,067  ·  Replies: 15 
> Animated GIFs on Windows Vista/7/8!
Nomake Wan
  Posted: Jun 10 2013, 10:43 AM


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So I was bored, and when I get bored sometimes I go through my mental list of things that annoy me about my OS. Previously this allowed me to finally fix Windows 7's 'forgetful' explorer, as well as tweak a few unnecessary things and clean stuff up. So this time I got bored and thought, 'I wonder if anyone's fixed the whole Image-Preview-Can't-Play-Animated-GIFs' thing?

I mean, it's silly, right? XP had no problem whatsoever playing animated GIFs in its preview. Yet Vista/7/8 can't. What gives? Well, the running theory is that the functionality was going to be a paid premium feature. Yep, they're really that disgusting. Except it never got off the ground, so instead it defaults to Internet Explorer (slow!) or IrfanView (overcomplicated for simple quick image viewing!). I want native functionality!

Well... here it is. Someone went and made a hack that gives you an XP image previewer. You install it, then just open a GIF file like normal. Voila, it's like you're back on XP again. Hopefully some people here find it as useful as I did.

XP-Style GIF Image Viewer

IMPORTANT NOTE!

If after double-clicking the file to install and opening a GIF you get an error about a missing DLL, go to your Windows directory, open the folder named 'gif' and right-click the 'rundll32.exe' file. Click properties, go to the compatibility tab and set it to 'Windows XP (Service Pack 3)'. OK out of everything and you should be good to go. A future version of the installer may do this for you, but trust me, it works!! cool.gif

This post has been edited by Nomake Wan on Jun 10 2013, 10:44 AM
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Sensation!
Posted: Jun 10 2013, 12:38 PM


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Good freaking find. Now I wont have to open gifs in my browser anymore.
kyonpalm
Posted: Jun 10 2013, 01:55 PM


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Probably the first gripe I had about 7 when I first started using it... now fixed. Thanks for the tip!
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Lebon14
Posted: Jun 10 2013, 02:18 PM


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QUOTE (Nomake Wan)
A future version of the installer may do this for you, but trust me, it works!!


No, it doesn't.

This post has been edited by Lebon14 on Jun 10 2013, 02:19 PM
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Nomake Wan
  Posted: Jun 10 2013, 04:23 PM


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QUOTE (Lebon14 @ 2 hours, 4 minutes ago)

No, it doesn't.

Hows about you be more specific, eh Lebonbon? I can't help you if all you say is 'No, it doesn't'...especially seeing as myself and the two people above you who all run Windows 7 have confirmed that yes, in fact, it does work. wink2.gif
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Lebon14
Posted: Jun 10 2013, 05:59 PM


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Installed. No errors. Open animated GIF file, still a "still" like it alwas has been. No errors whatsovever. Tried to run as SP3 the file mentionned. Same thing. Even installed, rebooted and tried again. Nope.

EDIT

Difference between me and you :
You : Windows 7 *insert version* SP1 English
Me : Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 French

I suspect bolded term to be the problem

EDIT 2

If you don't believe me, I can show you through TeamViewer.

This post has been edited by Lebon14 on Jun 10 2013, 06:04 PM
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kyonpalm
Posted: Jun 10 2013, 07:48 PM


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QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 3 hours, 25 minutes ago)
...especially seeing as myself and the two people above you who all run Windows 7 have confirmed that yes, in fact, it does work. wink2.gif

For the record, I haven't actually tried it out yet (due to critical net problems at the moment) but I commented on the assumption that it does work. Still, it works for you and presumably Fred, so I assume it'll probably work for me too. Will report back as soon as I can try it out.
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Nomake Wan
  Posted: Jun 11 2013, 12:13 AM


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QUOTE (Lebon14 @ 6 hours, 13 minutes ago)
Installed. No errors. Open animated GIF file, still a "still" like it alwas has been. No errors whatsovever. Tried to run as SP3 the file mentionned. Same thing. Even installed, rebooted and tried again. Nope.

EDIT

Difference between me and you :
You : Windows 7 *insert version* SP1 English
Me : Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 French

I suspect bolded term to be the problem

EDIT 2

If you don't believe me, I can show you through TeamViewer.

The error which would have required you to change the Compatibility Mode was, as mentioned in the first post, a 'missing DLL' error which would have popped up as soon as you open a GIF file.

The source code for the program is here:
Source

And from a quick glance I don't see anything that would cause it to fail to work on a French version of the OS. The only reason it would fail is if the actual Windows registry is different--and I would find that incredibly hard to believe as it would only make Windows needlessly complicated. However, go ahead and open your registry and look for the following keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.GIF
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GIFImage.Document\shell\open
HKEY_LOCAL_MECHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

If any of those appear in French instead of English, then yes, you're correct and that's why it doesn't work. If however the registry appears in English then there is something else going on here.

When you double-click the file, does it say 'Installed! Try opening a gif now'? If you double-click it again, does it tell you that it's now uninstalled? Also, there is no need for a reboot after using this.
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kyonpalm
Posted: Jun 11 2013, 09:21 AM


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Just reporting in to say it does work. I only had to set rundll32.exe in Windows\gif to compatibility mode as suggested in the OP.
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Vortrex
Posted: Jun 11 2013, 09:46 AM


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You... ARE A GOD! worship.gif

I was waiting for years to get something like this! biggrin.gif
Because i have a lot of gif's and IE is so slow...

So, many thanks!
Sensation!
Posted: Jun 11 2013, 10:50 AM


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for the record, yes, I can confirm this works
Lebon14
Posted: Jun 11 2013, 02:40 PM


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QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ Today, 4:13 AM)
The error which would have required you to change the Compatibility Mode was, as mentioned in the first post, a 'missing DLL' error which would have popped up as soon as you open a GIF file.

The source code for the program is here:
Source

And from a quick glance I don't see anything that would cause it to fail to work on a French version of the OS. The only reason it would fail is if the actual Windows registry is different--and I would find that incredibly hard to believe as it would only make Windows needlessly complicated. However, go ahead and open your registry and look for the following keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.GIF
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GIFImage.Document\shell\open
HKEY_LOCAL_MECHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

If any of those appear in French instead of English, then yes, you're correct and that's why it doesn't work. If however the registry appears in English then there is something else going on here.

When you double-click the file, does it say 'Installed! Try opening a gif now'? If you double-click it again, does it tell you that it's now uninstalled? Also, there is no need for a reboot after using this.

Yes, when I install and uninstall, those messages appear and no error messages wee shown. The registries are there. The registry is in English even on a French system.

I'll try on my mom's Win7 PC (still in French) to see if it works. Her system is much less changed than mine, much less softwares and so on.

EDIT

Somehow, it works on her and not on mine. What I can see from her working thing is that the old photoviewer is supposed to be added to the Open With menu in the right click (Picture and Fax Viewer). However, on mine, only the Vista/7 image viewer is showing up- oh wait.

The app just failed to make itself the default viewer sleep.gif

AND NOW, every time I open a GIF file, it's gonna ask for permission. Yay, I'm so happy. NOT!

Personnally, a REAL option should replace AND not ask for permission each time. And, no, I'm not disabling UAC. That'd be stupid security wise. In other words, for me, it's FAR from being the ideal solution. I'll just uninstall this and use Firefox like I always did before. And no permission will be asked again.

This post has been edited by Lebon14 on Jun 11 2013, 02:54 PM
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Nomake Wan
  Posted: Jun 11 2013, 10:42 PM


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Because the discussion about your issue was pruned and moved to another thread, I cannot comment on it except to say "I'm sorry you feel that way."

However, it's good to know that this is indeed a universal solution and that the native language of one's OS has nothing to do with it. smile.gif
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khat17
Posted: Jun 15 2013, 11:07 AM


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Just to throw this into it.

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

Opens/loads stuff quickly enough. Why do you say IrfanView is complicated tho N1? I actually have both image viewing apps running portably on my rig with no issues. The difference between them is really how they handle the viewing and whatnot so I use whichever I need for whichever functions I want to easily access.
Nomake Wan
  Posted: Jun 15 2013, 04:41 PM


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QUOTE (khat17 @ 5 hours, 33 minutes ago)
Why do you say IrfanView is complicated tho N1?

Because in folders with large amounts of images it will fail to load the current image until it has indexed the entire folder, whereas the built-in preview function will not only display the current image but will let you move forwards in the folder listing before indexing is complete. Only moving backwards in the file list requires a delay.

On top of that, I like a more 'native' look to things. Sure, it's not optimal that it's still a separate program, but it looks very similar, is incredibly unobtrusive and is loads better than using IE. cool.gif
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khat17
Posted: Jun 15 2013, 09:13 PM


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So what about ACDSee? Advertised as being able to load stuff quick - supposedly faster than those mentioned. Currently downloading to test it out. Heard about it but never actually used it.