PNG images are not displayed on Web sites in Internet Explorer

When you open a Web page, the .PNG images in that page may not be displayed. Instead, a red X, or a placeholder, may appear in place of the images. However, all other image file types may display correctly in Internet Explorer.

This problem may be seen after installing a third-party application which could have altered the file class and MIME settings for the .PNG file type. To resolve the problem, use these steps:

(For Windows XP and Windows Vista only.)



Download PNG_Fix.zip and save it to the Desktop. Unzip and extract the two files (pngasso_xp.reg and pngasso_vista.reg) to the Desktop. If you’re using Windows XP, right-click pngasso_xp.reg and choose Merge. If you’re using Windows Vista, right-click pngasso_vista.reg and choose Merge. Click Yes to confirm the merge operation. Additionally, in Windows Vista, you’ll have to click Continue when you see the User Account Control elevation dialog.

The .REG files above should fix the file association and MIME settings for .PNG file types. File paths in the .REG files are hardcoded for C:\. If you have installed Windows in a different location than C:\, you’ll need to edit the REG file(s) using Notepad and update the drive-letter and/or the Path accordingly.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.