Deleting Unwanted Images from Windows Picture & Fax Viewer

When I am preparing to print out a photo on Yahoo e-mail, a Window Picture & Fax Viewer box pops up with many other images to select for printing. Unfortunately, many of these images and half-images are unwanted and very troubling. I've tried to delete them one-by-one but have failed. They keep returning.

Is there any way to permanently delete either specific images stored in Windows Picture & Fax Viewer, or, to otherwise delete all of the images stored there?

Would removing the entire program and re-installing it be a possible solution?

Thank you for any guidance you can offer.

 

No, since it is part of windows, I don't expect that it can be removed.

What you are seeing are pictures on the computer.

The way to get rid of unwanted pictures on your computer would be to turn off restore - because copies would be in there, turn off thumbnails becausw windows creates a thumbnail of all the pictures on your computer.

With those two things now turned off, go in and delete the pictures in the My Pictures folder. I'd probably do more than delete. I use eraser to write over files 1, 3, 7, or 35 times when I want something gone. So I'd erase rather than delete and empty the recycle bin.

After the images are erased, I'd probably reboot a few times and search for images by using wildcard like *.jpg *.png *.bmp the most common image types and carefully look over the pictures the searches turned up. Do not start deleting those because some are images that windows needs to display properly. You have to look at each picture and decide by it's location (like system32) if it is needed.

Once you've determined that the images you want gone or indeed gone, then you can turn thumbnails and restore back on.

 

Dear Plodr:

Thank you so much for your reply.

I will try what you recommend, but I'm kind of computer illiterate. Where can I turn Restore off and on? And, where can I turn Thumbnails off and on?

Also, is the My Pictures file found somewhere under Documents and Settings?

I do have some family photos of my wife and son that I'll try to put in a back-up file somewhere --out of the reach of the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer-- so I don't lose them, too.

After I re-boot, where would I search for those images using the wildcard suffixes you've suggested? (I thought I'd just try to see if they still appeared on the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but I'm not sure.)

Thank you, again, for you time and kind help.

Tim

 

I can't help you with the Windows Picture and Fax viewer.
I've just started using XP on a new computer, have no pictures on the computer and can't find the Windows Picture and Fax viewer so it might not even be installed on mine.
I have another XP computer that is used and I had to clean pictures from it but 3rd party software is installed to organize pictures. So basically, I've never seen the software you use.

 

What plodr is saying is that Windows Picture and Fax Viewer doesn't actually store any pictures itself. It is just a viewer that enables you to view pictures stored anywhere on your computer.

It will make life easier for you if we start by putting My Pictures on your Start menu, so follow these steps carefully -

- Click Start. If My Pictures appears in the RH pane, clicking it will take you to the folder where your pictures are normally stored. If it isn't there -

- Right click the Start menu where your name appears and click Properties and then the Customize button.

- Click the Advanced tab

- Using the vertical scroll bar scroll down to My Pictures and put a dot in Display as a Link.

- OK > Apply > OK

Clicking Start > My Pictures will now take you to the place where pictures are normally stored on your computer. You will need to look at each picture (it will open in Picture and Fax viewer) and decide whether to keep it or get rid of it. You can get rid of it by right clicking it in the My Pictures folder and clicking Delete, or by clicking the Delete icon in the viewer itself. This won't actually remove the picture from your hard disk, but it will make it impossible for anyone to see it, accidentally or otherwise. When you have completed that, empty the Recycle Bin.

I wouldn't worry about Restore or Thumbnails at the moment. Let's just get these unwanted pictures removed.

Unfortunately, My Pictures won't necessarily be the only place picture files are stored on your computer so, after doing the above, if you are still seeing unwanted pictures in Picture and Fax viewer, post again with details and we'll have to track 'em down.

 

Dear Earthling:

Thank you also for looking into my problem. I will try your recommendations and get back to you soon.

Tim

 

Here's a totally different way of solving the problem, and one that is much, much easier --- just don't use this particular app for picture/image viewing. Then, it won't matter what's there and what isn't. Seriously! With Vista + MS Office you have some excellent other choices for image viewing and editing. There's Windows Photo Gallery, and there's my very favorite, MICROSOFT OFFICE PICTURE MANAGER which comes pre-installed as a standard app, (although, because it's not the default, most people don't even know it's there). It's extremely user friendly and easy to use, and one of the best photo editors and managers out there. (If you have an earlier version of MS Office, its predecessor is MS Photo Editor -- also a fabulous program.)

And, you can always download the free version of eFax (also known as jFax) for fax viewing, so you're completely covered. No muss, no fuss.

 

He has XP, and hasn't mentioned Office.

 

So sorry, Sergeant Earthling, :-o I didn't see any mention that therrick uses XP, however, no worries, because MS Photo Editor, as I mentioned above, is available for older versions of Windows, including XP. True, we don't know if he has Office, so perhaps he will tell us if he has Office or not.

 

He didn't, but the Picture and Fax Viewer is only in XP, and the other thing is that Microsoft Office Picture Manager isn't preinstalled by default at all. It is installed only if you install Office.

The real issue here is that it seems the OP has found some undesirable pics on his comp, and he wants rid of them. It isn't a question of which viewer to use at all.

 

Dear Earthling and Imperfect1:

Thank you both for your concerns. I'm sorry that I haven't responded sooner. I'm still on Step 1 (trying to find and move My Pictures).

But, I do use Windows XP Professional and I also have Windows Office in my computer.

May I may add this: (if this means anything -again, I'm not very computer savvy), the unwanted photos appear ONLY when I'm using Yahoo E-Mail. When I'm using the Microsoft Outlook, however, I don't see any unwanted photos on the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

Does this help?

Tim

 

SOLUTION FOUND.

The solution is through the Internet Explorer browser. I found an exchange in PC World Forums, entitled "How Do I Delete Images from Windows Picture and Fax Viewer?". The response and procedure reads as follows:

"I assume you are using internet explorer. In IE, go to Tools -> Internet Options. Next, navigate to the 'Advanced' tab. Scroll down to the 'Security' heading in this tab. Here check 'Empty Temporary Internet Files Folder on Browser Close'. Apply and OK."

I want to thank Earthling, Imperfect 1. Plodr, and anyone else who helped me out. Thanks!