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I'm using Windows 10.

I recently installed IrfanView 64-bit, and also cleared my thumbnail cache with CCleaner.


Problem

Now random jpg and png images have thumbnails and many do not, they are stuck with the IrfanView icon. Video, such as mp4, thumbnails are also missing.

irfanview icon

Sometimes it shows white icons and my View pane is disabled.

white icon

view pane


In folders, Explorer shows a green loading bar that never finishes.

loading


Right clicking on an image with a thumbnail will pop up the context menu, but right clicking on images without thumbnails freezes Explorer.


The Settings Menu also constantly freezes when clicking on items.

settings


Fix Attempts

  1. Tried uninstalling IrfanView and using the default Windows Photos app, but then no thumbnails will appear, and opening an image only freezes Explorer. Right clicking on any image also freezes Explorer.

  2. It tried clearing and rebuilding the cache with Disk Cleanup and CMD.
    https://www.windowscentral.com/how-reset-thumbnail-cache-windows-10

  3. Tried using this icon rebuilder and restarting the computer.
    https://www.thewindowsclub.com/icon-cache-rebuilder-for-windows-10

  4. Ran chkdsk and sfc /scannow, it fixed a corrupted mscormmc.dll but did not solve the problem.

  5. Restored old CCleaner registry backup.

  6. Ran a virus scan with Eset which came up clean.

  7. Checked the health status of my SDD which says no problems.

Nothing has fixed the issue.

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  • 1
    If you use AutoRuns to load an absolutely minimal configuration does the behavior with the icons change?
    – Ramhound
    Sep 9, 2019 at 21:17
  • @Ramhound I have not used AutoRuns before, I just downloaded it, how should I setup a minimum config? Sep 9, 2019 at 21:25
  • AutoRuns lots all keys for programs that start automatically configure a minimum configuration
    – Ramhound
    Sep 9, 2019 at 21:32
  • Have you tried the solution here?
    – Ramhound
    Sep 9, 2019 at 21:55
  • 1
    I have IrfanView 32-bit here on my Windows 10 machine and no issues. I do not use CCleaner. I think it is possible that CCleaner may have deleted some things it should not have. Try running a Windows 10 Repair Install and Keep Everything to start. microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 Windows 10 is running, so click on the Download button (not Upgrade Button, select Save. Create a USB Windows Installation key and then run Setup on the USB Key. This will launch the Repair and proceed normally.
    – John
    Sep 9, 2019 at 23:15

2 Answers 2

7

I had the same issue. When this happens the "COM Surrogate" process was taking up ~7% CPU usage and it wouldn't stop when trying to cancel the thumnail generation via the "X" on the loading bar in Explorer. It stopped the loading bar but not the process and weird things would happen in Explorer like suddenly missing icons and an empty sidebar. Killing "COM Surrogate" restores normal operation for some time. I used Process Explorer to identify which process had a description of "COM Surrogate". I checked its properties to find out what it is executing.

ddlhost.exe

I searched for the ProcessID/GUID in the registry and it was the thumbnail generation. I opened the lower pane in Process Explorer to check the handles and saw one file.

file d:\videos

It seems thumbnail generation got stuck on trying to generate a thumbnail for that video. After deleting the file I haven't had any problems since and thumbnails get generated without issues.

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  • How to create a good image that improves the question: Windows has an inbuilt hotkey (Win + Shift + S) which executes the Snipping Tool. Any screen captured will be copied to the clipboard.
    – somebadhat
    May 17, 2020 at 14:45
  • superuser.com/help/how-to-answer
    – somebadhat
    May 19, 2020 at 12:07
  • @somebadhat Thanks for improving my wording and keeping it more concise first off. I do think you removed some info that was rather relevant, though. Like the information about the problematic video file to get an idea why the thumbnail generation got stuck at it. It's not a general solution, you may not want to just delete the affected file. Shortening, yes, but removing the info completely? Also the short background info about the "COM Surrogate" process may help understanding at least the first step.
    – Dennis98
    Jun 3, 2020 at 11:24
  • I'm also not sure why you mentioned the snipping tool? I know about it, although I'm usually just "Print-Screen"-ing and cutting it in Paint or GIMP. If it's about the quality, that's because I didn't save those screenshots but just sent them to a friend in a Facebook chat. And as I posted the answer a few weeks later, I could just resort to those downscaled images. Also, I did cut them with the intention of keeping all useful info, but I'm also fine with the images you embedded.
    – Dennis98
    Jun 3, 2020 at 11:25
  • I agree with you your answer needs some improvement. You are welcome to improve your answer any way you see fit. "Process Explorer provides the fantastic functionality of an icon you can drag to a target window causing Process Explorer to select that item in the process list." would be a good place to start. Be brief, to the point, and if you had good images why didn't you use them?
    – somebadhat
    Jun 3, 2020 at 13:53
2

This was exactly my problem. For months. But I fixed it, finally. Turns out there was a .heic picture on my desktop - the picture type iphones use these days. But it did not show on the desktop, no thumbnail. It did show in explorer as a file, but I could not delete it, en explorer freezed on it. Reghunter turned out to be able to delete it. I'm sure there are other programs that can do this. (Re-)installed heic and heif programs in the windows store. Somehow windows 10 lost the connection to .jpg files in this process. Fixed that with individual standard app settings.

And now no more green bar, superfast thumnailing, all problems fixed.

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