When trying to view an image file via the link in Start menu Recent Items list or from the Jump List, Windows Live Photo Gallery displayed the error An error is preventing the photo or video from being displayed followed by the error code 0×80010108.
The interesting thing is that the same image file opens correctly when double-clicked directly, rather than launching it from Recent Items or via the Windows Live Photo Gallery Jump List.
The problem is seen in Windows Live Photo Gallery Build 15.4.3508.1109. I narrowed the problem down to the Windows Live Photo Gallery Viewer Shim (PhotoViewerShim.dll), and would like to share the workaround I used. Until Microsoft fixes the problem, you may use the following workaround.
Workaround
1. Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press {ENTER}
2. Go to the following key:
3. Right-click DropTarget, click Rename and prefix a hyphen so that it becomes "-DropTarget"
4. Repeat the steps for the following keys (for GIF/ICO/JPG/PNG/TIF file types):
This is done so that Windows Live Photo Gallery doesn’t use the DropTarget GUID {00F346CB-35A4-465B-8B8F-65A29DBAB1F6} (PhotoViewershim.dll).
Registry Fix
To automate the above steps, download fix-wlpg-err-80010108.zip and unzip the contents to a folder. Double-click fix-wlpg-err-80010108.reg to run it.
Related Posts
- Straighten Up Slanted Photos Using Windows Live Photo Gallery
- “This Computer’s Video Card Can’t Play Themes” Message in WLPG Screensaver Settings Dialog
- Windows Photo Gallery Shows Tinted Background When Previewing Images
- Fix Error “There Was a Problem Starting PhotoViewer.Dll” When Editing Image Files in Windows 7
- Fix the Windows Photo Gallery Icon in Default Programs in Windows Vista
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! We feature Tips, Troubleshooting information, Scripts and Utilities for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems!
Prefer an E-mail subscription?
I have tested Windows Live Photo Gallery and It is overkill. It’s a huge program and requires background time to update and organize albums (folders). It has really nice Facebook integration and other state-of-the-art tools. My choice is Windows Photo Viewer and FastStone Image Viewer which is also a full image editor. Now it is cimbined with Windows Live Movie Maker so if you have the resources and like big programs, give it a try.
This know bug has been fixed with August 2011 Live Essentials official update.
Nice fix. Windows Live apps do a lot of incorrect registry entries. The AutoPlay handlers are also screwed up on a 64-bit OS.
Eish, I hate these shims – no UI to manage them, no way to undo them, and the process of auto-application is too dumb to know the difference between an install that genuinely fails, and one that is cancelled by the user.
For example, let’s say you’re installing Megaware Blah 2012, and halfway through the process, it demands a product key. You left the DVD case at work, so can’t look up the key – so you cancel the install.
At this point, an unsolicit3ed dialog pops up asking if the install went OK, with “GUI pressure” to click No instead. You click No, and some unknown shim is applied. From this point onwards, you may have problems 99% of other users of Blah 2012 don’t have, so Googling on these finds nothing, forum helpers reply “works for me”, support says “sortry, can’t repro your mileage”, etc.