Animated Gifs *NOT* Viewable In Vista 64 bit??!

caspian · #1 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

I just spent a lot of money on a so-called "media" computer from HP that has Vista 64 bit installed. I collect a lot of art. That is why I spent a lot of extra money for a computer that has, or is suppose to have a superior quality for media.

When I open a picture in a folder, something called Windows Photo Gallery pops up. I can click the arrow to move forward through the rest of the pictures in the folder. However, *NONE* of the animated gifs work. They are frozen. The only way that I can view them in their original working form is to open each picture individually *again* in internet explorer.....in a separate window. So I have to manually open each one as if it were in a separate album. And then, if that was not bad enough, the animated gif opens up in the top left portion of the screen, rather than in the center. Then to get back to the albun I have to X out of that new window and go back to the non-working Windows Photo Gallery. I am shocked with disbelief.

Please tell me that I am missing something here and that I did not flush a large sum of my hard earned cash down the toilet. Please tell me that there is a correction for this.

kemical · #2 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

The photo gallery is known to have a few 'idiosyncrasies' ... Try downloading windows live gallery instead:
Windows Live Photo Gallery

Unfortunately it seems the live photo gallery is the same and although it will open the gif, the animation will be lost. I'll do some research and get back to you..

caspian · #3 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Thanks for checking. I have an all in one printer. Will this change anything when I install it?

Also I downloaded Google's Picasa. It is not even able to upload the gifs. It uploads everything but the animated gifs. I think the OS itself is preventing Picasa from functioning properly.

Do you know if they plan to correct this problem in the new operating system?

I have heard that there is an XP 64 bit. Would it be possible to install that OS on my new computer instead?

kemical · #4 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Hi, I did a bit of searching and this utility will hopefully give you what you need. I did give it a quick try myself and a preview pane does indeed show the gif correctly. You can download the free utility here:
FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter

caspian · #5 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Yes I tried that one and it does work. I don't like it as much as what I have on my XP machine, but it works. I also found that Infranview works as well. Thanks for checking into that for me.

I am hoping that Microsoft will consider some of these problems with the new OS that they are working on. I have another problem with copying and moving pictures but I will make a separate post for that in case someone else searches and may benefit from it. Thanks, Caspian

PS I hope that you understand that I am not trying to bash you or give you a hard time. I realize that you are an employee and that you are not responsible for the design flaws. So please understand that if I vent a little.....or a lot, LOL...that I do not mean for it to be directed toward you. Peace

kemical · #6 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Hi Caspian,
thanks for the kind words and please don't worry about 'bashing vista' we all get angry at our machines and software from time to time. Oh and by the way, I'm not an employee, just a volunteer who tries to help out others if I can, which is the same for all the mods/users at this site. I'm not particularly pro MS I just happen to use their software and I get just as p....d off with problems as anyone else..
Good luck in your endevours
Kemical