Is there a "preview" function in Windows Explorer (Win11) ?

[shiphen]

Hello

In Window 11's Windows Explorer, does Xara Designer Pro (v20) have the ability to "preview" what a file looks like without opening it?

Background
I can see previews of other file types like .PDF and .JPG, but not for .XAR files. This means that I have to actually open each file in Xara Designer Pro in order to see what's inside each .XAR file. :^[

Thanks

J

[handrawn]

the short answer to that is yes, and I say that because V20 does for me in win11, currently 24H2

however it does not do it for eveyrone and no one seems to have a solution that always works for everyone or for all versions....

may well depend on how your system is configured

all I can suggest is you contact xara if, meanwhile, no one here has a suggestion for you that works

[shiphen]

the short answer to that is yes, and I say that because V20 does for me in win11, currently 24H2

however it does not do it for eveyrone and no one seems to have a solution that always works for everyone or for all versions....

may well depend on how your system is configured

all I can suggest is you contact xara if, meanwhile, no one here has a suggestion for you that works

Interesting... because I too am running Win11 ver 24H2 "(OS build 26100.3476)".

ChatGPT says I need to register a file called "Thumbs.dll", but I have no such file on my PC. Do you?

J

[handrawn]

to be honest we have been through hoops so many times in this forum - sometimes a thing works, sometimes it does not; be it registering a .dll or clearing a cache, and more besides...

as far as I can see I have no such file, unless it is well and truely hidden at system level

if you are a statistician you will know how much credence to give one AI source [or any other]

ask xara, they make a big thing of customer service, and my experience it has nearly always been good...

[Acorn]

From Dot (well, 2004), Xara has supplied a XarThumb.dll.
Usually in XaraDLLs folder.

From here, I am guessing as I don't have v20 perpetual:
Path: C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Web Designer 20P\XaraDLLs\XarThumb.dll
DLL Purpose: "Explorer thumbnail viewer for XAR and WEB files"
Register: https://blog.pcrisk.com/windows/1355...ster-dll-files offers several approaches.

Acorn

[handrawn]

can confirm those files I have, and for v20 in the folder you mentioned, let's hope it works

@shiphen if these files are missing the question is why; it may be a .DLL issue with your windows configuration, for example some security program taking exception to them; it was never clear why it happened to some and not others, quite possibly more than one issue

[shiphen]

can confirm those files I have, and for v20 in the folder you mentioned, let's hope it works

@shiphen if these files are missing the question is why; it may be a .DLL issue with your windows configuration, for example some security program taking exception to them; it was never clear why it happened to some and not others, quite possibly more than one issue

I found the file: "C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Designer Pro 20\XaraDLLs\XarThumb.dll"

So I ran the following command from an elevated command prompt:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Designer Pro 20\XaraDLLs\XarThumb.dll"

It appeared to run okay, and it said: "DllRegisterServer in C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Designer Pro 20\XaraDLLs\XarThumb.dll succeeded"

But it did not create previews of .XAR files in Windows Explorer.

I have also completely uninstalled Xara and reinstalled it.

FWIW, I have contacted xara.com but no reply... yet. :^(

J


PS I am using the default Windows 11 security.

[handrawn]

interesting to hear what they say

one thing I have noticed is that, in the WE preview pane, it only appears to preview the page area - 9 times out of 10 that is of no use to me whatsoever, so I rarely use it; [photo docs that do not have page areas are visible]

[Chris M]

Try running the Windows Disk Clean-Up. It will clean the thumbnail cache and a computer restart will re-build it with fresh images.

[shiphen]

Try running the Windows Disk Clean-Up. It will clean the thumbnail cache and a computer restart will re-build it with fresh images.

OK I just tried Disk Clean-Up. But it didn't help.

Meanwhile, no reply from Xara.com

J