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How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:50 pm
by PeaceByJesus
I have ver. 2.05, and have used Xnview for over a decade, and immediately replace the Windows default (now W/8.1, 64bit) with it, but in the past when i opened a pic that has XnView as the app associated with it from Windows, it would open to the view/editor, but now it opens to the browser, which means i must duplicate the action to open it. And i do not see any option ot change this.
No big deal, but i do it a lot sometimes, and would rather use Windows Explorer to open pics from.
Thanks.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:11 pm
by cday
Tools > Options...
Thank you for asking, I wasn't aware of that option until I looked and I think I could find it useful myself!
The large number of options in XnView is one of its attractions...
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:43 pm
by PeaceByJesus
Thanks. I somehow overlooked that. But although now it opens to the view mode, and will show jpg, gif, bmp, etc. formats when i click on them, it will not show any jpeg pics when i do so, and instead the program just loads but with no image, but it will open them up from within XnView.
I have the JPEG lossless format, JPEG-2000, JP2 JPEG-2000 JP2/JPC File plug ins, and i upgraded to the latest 2.13 standard version. These jpeg pics were mostly saved using an older(free) version of PrintKey 2000 (5.10)
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:58 pm
by cday
PeaceByJesus wrote:... although now it opens to the view mode, and will show jpg, gif, bmp, etc. formats when i click on them, it will not show any jpeg pics... .
I have the JPEG lossless format, JPEG-2000, JP2 JPEG-2000 JP2/JPC File plug ins, and i upgraded top the latest 2.13 standard version. These jpeg pics were mostly saved using an older(free) version of PrintKey 2000 (5.10)
Do you mean 'it will not show any
jpeg2000 pics' ??
PeaceByJesus wrote:... instead the program just loads but with no image, but it will open them up from within XnView.
I'm not sure what you mean:
Do you men that the program opens with no image displayed?? That is normal behaviour when no image is selected...
Do you mean that, in File > Open... no thumbnail is displayed?? If so, enable 'Show preview' option in the File > Open... window.
If the above answers don't help, perhaps you could upload a sample PrintKey 2000 file that doesn't open, and if possible clarify the problem(s) you are experiencing.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:45 pm
by PeaceByJesus
Do you mean 'it will not show any jpeg2000 pics' ??
Yes, not when opening (double left clicked) an image file from Windows Explorer. But doing the same with other formats means XnView opens showing the image, per usual.
Do you men that the program opens with no image displayed??
Yes, even though an image file is selected, and double left clicked, as per usual, which opens other formats.
Do you mean that, in File > Open... no thumbnail is displayed??
No. When opening an image file from Windows Explorer program opens with no image displayed, but it will open it using the program File > Open method. Or via the folder icon. And once a jpeg is opened, the Next file option works to open other jpegs.
Here is one

is one file. Note this is Windows 8.1 64 bit.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:32 pm
by cday
You do have the JPEG2000 file format associated with XnView in Windows?
From your first post you seem to have the JPEG2000 plug-in installed, although I'm not sure from memory if it's the original one used by XnView or the newer OpenJPEG plug-in: either should open any JPEG2000 file, at least if the image is >64 pixels -- your images aren't very small are they?
The image you uploaded is a regular JPEG rather than a JPEG2000 file, so the confusion continues I'm afraid...
@ XnTriq ?
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:30 am
by XnTriq
cday wrote:@ XnTriq ?
There was a
filetype associations problem in v2.05 which is supposed to be fixed in
v2.13 
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:33 pm
by PeaceByJesus
I do have the latest version (2.13) and all the latest jpeg plugins installed. I just noticed though that if i use the XnView shell extension option to open the jpeg then it works, but not if i open the file directly. Does it open the image i sent on your computer?
What is interesting is that the old free Printkey app (
http://www.freewarebin.net/printkey-2000-5-10/) offers to save in .jpg as well as jpeg. I changed it to save as jpg and XnView opens that fine.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 4:28 pm
by cday
It seems clear now that your issue arises or arose from the two alternative JPEG file format extensions .jpg and .jpeg -- in your original post you referred to the plug-ins you had installed which were mainly JPEG2000 format, which is effectively an entirely different image format.
I think you need to check that the application associated with the .jpeg extension on your computer is XnView, as having the .jpg and other image extensions associated won't open .jpeg files. If the .jpeg extension is already associated the issue might be the possible bug XnTriq mentioned above.
Looking again at the file you uploaded, the extension is indeed .jpeg rather than .jpeg but that wasn't immediately evident when I looked yesterday with Show / Hide file extensions set to the Windows 7 default off setting -- I only normally display extensions when I need to see them.
PeaceByJesus wrote: Does it open the image i sent on your computer?
Believe it or not I can't easily check at the moment as my installed copy of XnView developed an issue last week which I haven't managed to resolve yet after I had made some temporary changes to file associations! But I think if you check the program you have associated with the .jpeg extension there is a good chance your issue will be resolved.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:22 pm
by PeaceByJesus
.jpeg is associated with XnView, which is why it opens the program, if not the image, when i click on a jpeg file to open it. And as XnView will open the file from within the program or via the shell extension shows that the issue is not a lack of ability. If i use the right click "Send to" option to send it to XnView (as i placed a shortcut to it in the Send to folder (C:\Users\putyourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo) then it opens the file as it should.
Again, this is not a big deal, just a quirk that takes a few secs longer, only for opening that format, or at least the printkey version of it. Thanks for looking into it.
Edit: Here is another twist. If i change the extension from jpeg to jpg then XnView opens it directly when opened from a folder using Windows explorer, as with others images. But if i change a jpg to jpeg then it will not, as described before, unless you use the shell extension or from within the program. Perhaps someone with XnView installed can try to change a jpg to jpeg and see if XnView opens it directly when opened from a folder using Windows explorer.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:30 pm
by XnTriq
Please try de-activating and re-activating JPEG / JFIF (jpg,jpeg,jif.jfif,J,jpe) via Tools » Options... » Associations (View as Name).
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:31 pm
by PeaceByJesus
See my edit above. That option is greyed out: i have to go to Windows file extension to do it. But that will only let me select all, not individually, or deselect any. W/8.1. Let me look into this more.
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:45 pm
by XnTriq
PeaceByJesus wrote:That option is greyed out: i have to go to Windows file extension to do it.
You have to start XnView with
administrator rights.
Related topics:
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:22 pm
by PeaceByJesus
Evidently there is a another issue with W/8. as i cannot deselect anything in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Default Programs\ and choosing a program: all i can do is Select all.
I can go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Associations > Associate a program or protocol, and change a file association, so i switched jpeg to Windows image viewer, which opened a jpeg directly, and then i switched it back again to XnView, but it still acts as before.
Apparently you can also only change the program that is associated with an extension, but not delete an entry:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/11143 ... -in-win-8/.
Other people have had problems in W/8, and
http://www.eightforums.com/general-supp ... %20%20this states:
"The file type associations model has changed in Windows 8. In short, if a file type is already associated with a program, you can't change it from within another program. Everything must be handled through system dialogs, such as
Default Programs in the Control Panel
Open With dialog
a new notification "You have new apps..."
IrfanView is an example of incompatibility with Windows 8. You can set checkboxes during or after install, but they won't affect file types already associated with other software. It can only take over file types that have not been associated."
Re: How to change default mode to open to view, not browser
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:24 pm
by PeaceByJesus
XnTriq wrote:PeaceByJesus wrote:That option is greyed out: i have to go to Windows file extension to do it.
You have to start XnView with
administrator rights.
Related topics:
I already had it set to run with Admin rights, and i am the Admin. This may be the issue,
http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.p ... 15#p103427 but it is not much an issue anyway.