{"id":296,"date":"2006-12-25T12:28:33","date_gmt":"2006-12-25T06:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=296"},"modified":"2021-10-15T14:21:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T08:51:38","slug":"previewconfig-tool-registers-file-types-for-the-preview-pane-in-windows-vista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/previewconfig-tool-registers-file-types-for-the-preview-pane-in-windows-vista\/","title":{"rendered":"PreviewConfig tool registers file types for the Preview Pane in Windows 7\/Vista"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Windows Vista introduces the Preview pane in Explorer, which shows the contents of the currently chosen file. You can also play multimedia files from the Preview pane, without opening Windows Media Player. This article explains how to use the <i>PreviewConfig<\/i> utility to register a custom file type for the Preview pane in Windows Vista and Windows 7.<!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/disable-preview-pane-file-types-explorer\/\">How to Disable Preview for Certain File Types in Explorer Preview Pane<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Registering file types for the Preview pane<\/h2>\n<p>If you have a custom file type and wish to register a plain text or a multimedia Preview handler for the custom file type, you can do so using this utility.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/previewconfig.png\" \/><br \/>\nDownload <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/utils\/previewconfig.zip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PreviewConfig.zip<\/a> (63 KB)<br \/>\n(Contains <i>previewconfig.exe<\/i> and <i>readme.txt<\/i>)<\/p>\n<h2>Usage<\/h2>\n<p>Download and run <i><b>PreviewHandler<\/b><\/i> utility (requires administrative privileges to run). Select the file type from the listing, and choose the type of Preview you want for this file type (Media \/ Plain-text \/ None), and click <i><b>Apply<\/b><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Additional details are available in the <i>Readme.txt<\/i> file.<\/p>\n<h2>Adding new file types<\/h2>\n<p>If a file type is not displayed in the listing, you may manually type the file extension (example, <b>.cpp<\/b>) into the text box provided, and choose the Preview type for this file extension.<\/p>\n<h2>Example<\/h2>\n<p>You may use this utility to register text previews for plain-text file types such as:<\/p>\n<pre>.REG | .CSS | .BAT | .CMD | .INF | .CS | .VB | .CPP | .SQL<\/pre>\n<h2>Preview Handler information<\/h2>\n<p>When you select a file type, the information of the Preview handler registered for the file type will be displayed in the text box. You can copy the contents to Clipboard by double-clicking the text box.<\/p>\n<h2>Preview Pane in Windows Vista and 7<\/h2>\n<p>You can enable the preview pane by selecting <b>Organize<\/b> | <b>Layout<\/b> | <b>Preview Pane<\/b> from the folder&#8217;s menu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Windows Vista introduces the Preview pane in Explorer, which shows the contents of the currently chosen file. You can also play multimedia files from the Preview pane, without opening Windows Media Player. This article explains how to use the PreviewConfig utility to register a custom file type for the Preview pane in Windows Vista and &#8230; <a title=\"PreviewConfig tool registers file types for the Preview Pane in Windows 7\/Vista\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/previewconfig-tool-registers-file-types-for-the-preview-pane-in-windows-vista\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about PreviewConfig tool registers file types for the Preview Pane in Windows 7\/Vista\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-7","category-windows-vista"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6431,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/eml-file-preview-pane-explorer-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":0},"title":"How to Enable Preview of .eml (Email Message) Files in Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many users of Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials) used to backup individual emails and save them as .EML files. Since Windows Live Mail has been discontinued,\u00a0users are forced to use third-party mailers or even buy Microsoft's own produce, Microsoft Outlook. However, the preview pane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Utilities&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":".eml file no preview available","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/eml-preview-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/eml-preview-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/eml-preview-0.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/eml-preview-0.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24403,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/disable-preview-pane-file-types-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":1},"title":"How to Disable Preview for Certain File Types in Explorer Preview Pane","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The preview pane in File Explorer shows you the preview for various file types in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows comes with a built-in set of preview handlers. In addition, third-party applications add their own handlers that can generate previews for their proprietary file types. Windows allows you to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Utilities&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"disable preview for selected file type","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29386,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/preview-pane-blank-every-file-type\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":2},"title":"Preview Pane is Blank for Every File Type Except Images","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We've seen the \"No preview available\" situations before, caused by the incorrect or missing preview handler registration for a file type. Here is a similar problem: the preview pane is empty, showing just the white space for all file types except images. However, the image file types may preview correctly.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"preview pane blank white all file types","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/preview-pane-blank-white-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/preview-pane-blank-white-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/preview-pane-blank-white-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/preview-pane-blank-white-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2484,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/enable-ps1-preview-pane-ps1-powershell-file-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":3},"title":"How to Enable PowerShell (.PS1) Script Text Previews in Explorer Preview Pane?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By default File Explorer Preview pane displays text previews for .reg, .bat and .cmd file types, but not for .ps1 (PowerShell scripts). Here is a registry edit that enables text preview for .ps1 file type in File Explorer Preview pane.Download ps1_preview.zip, unzip and run the enclosed registry file.Note: Make sure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/ps1_preview.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80266,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/enable-preview-of-log-files-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":4},"title":"How to Enable Preview of .LOG Files in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"By default, the preview capability exists for most text-based files in File Explorer. However, for some file types, such as .log or .py, a preview may not be generated by default and you see the message \"No preview available\" in the preview pane in File Explorer. You can enable preview\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-thumbnail-preview-for-pictures-w7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":296,"position":5},"title":"Fix: Thumbnails Not Showing up in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Are your image files showing up with a generic mountain and lake scene instead of the miniature or thumbnail display in File Explorer? And video files may show up with a generic icon\/thumbnail. This article tells you how to enable thumbnails in File Explorer on Windows 10\/11 and earlier. RELATED:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"thumbnails blank -- fix the IconServiceLib registry setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}