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Symptoms

When you use Windows Photo Gallery to view TIFF images that do not fit into one page in Windows Vista, the system performance is slow.

To determine the file type of an image, go to the "How to determine the file type of an image" section.

Cause

Immediately after the first in a series of images has finished displaying on the screen, Windows Photo Gallery loads the next image. This process is also known as precaching. If the next image is a multipage TIFF file, Windows Photo Gallery processes the complete file. This process may take a while and use too many system resources, depending on the size of the TIFF file. This behavior causes slow system performance and a significant increase in the memory usage of the computer.

Resolution

Diagnose and fix the problem automatically

The Windows Photo and Slideshow Problems troubleshooter may automatically fix the problem described in this article.
This troubleshooter fixes many problems.learn morerun now

Let me fix it myself


Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows


To fix this problem, you have to disable precaching in Windows Photo Gallery. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

    Note If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

  2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Photo Gallery\Viewer

  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

  4. Type CacheSize, and then press ENTER.

  5. Right-click CacheSize, click Modify, type 0 in the Value data box, and then click OK.

  6. Exit Registry Editor.

More Information

How to determine the file type of an image

To determine the type of the image file, use one of the following methods:

  1. Right-click the image file, and then click Properties. In the General tab, you can find Type of file.

  2. Uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types" option in the View tab after you double click Folder Options in the Control Panel. This displays the file type of all files.

How the MATS package works to fix this problem

  1. The MATS package scans your computer and detects if the following conditions are true:

    • The computer is running Windows Vista.

    • There are more than 20 TIFF files in the %userprofile% subfolder.

    • The CacheSize registry value that locates under the following path is not equal to 0 or does not exist:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Photo Gallery\Viewer


  2. The MATS package disables precaching in Windows Photo Gallery.

    Note During this process, a dialog box appears. This dialog box gives you the option to fix the issue automatically (this is the recommended option) or to manually select individual issues to fix.

  3. The MATS package verifies that precaching in Windows Photo Gallery was disabled successfully.

Other issues that the MATS package fixes


2415237 Can't preview pictures in Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista

2415238 Color issues in the print preview of an image in Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista

938818 Can't see pictures in a slide show in Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista

2009298 Can't download albums in Windows Live Photo Gallery after upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7

944221 Windows Live Photo Gallery freezes or can't start

939395 An image and its background become yellow in Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista

930102 Image transition issues in Windows Photo Gallery in Windows XP or in Windows Vista

2425702 A screen saver that displays pictures stops working in Windows

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