How can I generate thumbnail previews for FLV files in Windows 7?

Question

Is there a way to add the ability to show previews of FLV files in Windows Explorer under Windows 7?

Answer 1

Windows 7 and Windows Media Player do not support FLV, or Flash Video, files. To play FLV files in Windows 7, you must download a third-party media player or install a codec that allows to Media Player to play the files. Enabling FLV video support in Windows 7 is relatively simple, and you can start viewing Flash videos within minutes of downloading the needed application or codec. However, enabling a thumbnail display for FLV videos in Windows Explorer requires a little extra effort.

Method-1

1: Download and install a media player application -- such as Media Player Classic, VLC and Wimpy Desktop FLV Player -- with built-in support for FLV video files. To use Windows Media Player to play FLV files, download and install the K-Lite Codec pack

2: Click "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories" and "Notepad." Windows Notepad opens and type the exact this key

REGEDIT 4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.flv\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]

@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}

3: Click "File," then "Save." Enter "FLV_Thumbnails.reg" in the "Save As" field, then click "Save." Close Notepad.

4: Browse to the folder where you saved the "FLV_Thumbnails.reg" file. Double-click the file, then click "Yes" when asked to confirm the changes to the Windows Registry.

5: Open Windows Explorer, then a folder containing FLV video files. The thumbnail images for the video files are now visible in Windows Explorer.

Method-2

If the above method doesn’t work for you then the following will. Download and install K-Lite codec pack in the computer (if you have already done it, then you can re-install the latest version). While installing the pack there will be an option checking which the preview of the thumbnails will be shown in the explorer without any tweak. Yes it is very simple.

Answer 2

A much cleaner way to get thumbnails for FLV (as well as MKV and OGV) videos in Windows Explorer is to use the program Icaros. It is made by the person who makes the Shark 007 codec pack, but you don't need to install the codec pack for Icaros to display thumbnails because it includes a built-in decoder.

_{(Personally, I am really opposed to super-ultra-mega-hyper-codec-packs. I do not like (nor recommend) installing big packages like these because you never really know what they are doing to your system. Even if it is not malware, they usually add clutter and perform modifications that may not be necessary—they tend to be either scripts that automate installing all of the individual components or manual hacks of the main parts of the individual components.)}

Answer 3

Well, this is a long way, but if you install K-Lite Codec pack, it asks for which file types thumnails need to be generated for explorer. It's a long way but it works.