Thumbs Viewer allows you to extract thumbnail images from the Thumbs.db, ehthumbs.db, ehthumbsvista.db, Image.db, Video.db, TVThumb.db, and musicThumbs.db database files found on various Windows systems. You can also run the program from a command-line and supply the database file you wish to open or save. PDFelement Pro for Mac, as the best alternative PDF Reader to Adobe Acrobat for Mac, acts as both a PDF editor and reader that provides you full functions for PDF editing and a better experience reading PDF on Mac. This tool lets you add text, images, bookmarks, and more to your PDF.
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The Windows operating system creates thumbnail cache files for images and other file types to speed up the loading of folders on the system. Under Windows XP, thumbs.db files were being used and they were put into the folders the images were stored in.Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft moved the cache to a central location (%userprofile%AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer) where thumbcachexxx.db files are stored in. Here you also find an index file that contains information where each cached version of an image is found in.The only exception to the rule is when you browse network shares using Windows Vista or newer versions of Windows. Instead of using the local thumbnail cache, thumbs.db files are created in the folders that you are browsing. This behavior can be changed in the Group Policy.You can think of them as caches that are designed to speed up the display of folders when you use Windows Explorer.Without the thumbnail cache, Windows would have to process the images in the folder on load every time the folder is opened, which can slow down the display depending on the overall performance of the system and the number of image files in the folder.Windows does not only store image formats in the database files though. While one of the main purposes is to process jpeg, png, bmp, tiff and gif image files, the cache is also used for document formats such as docx, pptx, pdf and html, and video formats such as avi.The effect that a thumbs.db cache file and thumbcache file has on the loading time of a folder can be witnessed best if you open a large folder full of image files. You will notice that the loading is faster when the thumbnail cache is enabled.
This becomes especially apparent on slow storage devices such as image DVDs or slow hard drives. Why you may want to turn off the cachingThere are a couple of reasons why you may want to turn off the caching. First, there in the past where thumbs.db files or deletion of files or folders on the system.Depending on how the computer is used, it may also have privacy implications.
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A cached thumbnail of an image that you have deleted may still be stored in the cache. If you are the sole user of the PC, it may not be an issue. If there are other users, or even third-parties who may gain access to the computer, you may want to delete those caches regularly to avoid this from happening.It is furthermore possible to link thumbnails with their original files.Turning off the caching may however affect the folder loading speed. As mentioned earlier, this can be especially noticeable when you open folders with lots of file types that are usually cached to speed up the loading time. It’s worth keeping in mind that although CCleaner may clean the Windows Explorer thumbnail cache, it may not clean all caches by default, therefore from a privacy point-of-view it’s not fool-proof. For example, even with Photoshop selected, it will still leave the Adobe Camera RAW and Adobe Bridge caches in place. However, you can get around it by adding those folders to the CCleaner included files and folders list.
For example:C:UsersUSERNAMEAppDataLocalAdobeCameraRawCache.C:UsersUSERNAMEAppDataRoamingAdobeBridge CS.Cache.So, it’s worth also searching your drives for certain file types to see what/where certain types of file are being stored/cached. For example, searching for kind:=picture. I know this is an OLD article and comment thread, but I found it during a search for a slightly different reason. I know how to disable thumbnail creation and delete such caches.What I was searching for was a way to force WinXP to actually use the thumbs.db file already created for a folder, when you have ‘Do not cache thumbnails’ enabled.
I have some archived folders with a LOT of vids/pics that I let WinXP create the image cache for but it immediately stops using the ‘thumbs.db’ files in those folders, when you enable the ‘Do not cache thumbnails’ option.I can’t find anything in the Group Policies, or in the System Registry, that would allow Windows to use the existing thumbs.db image cache with the ability to create the cache disabled. It appears to be an ‘all or nothing’ situation but was hoping that someone might have wanted to do this and had found a way. I’m using an art software.The company(Celsys) has a server where they collect “Anonymous usage data” from the software user. They claim that they only collect logs that have to do with bug detection and things to improve their software. But when I check the “dbcache” folder, a file (with no extension)is generated whenever I save an art work in places like pictures on my pc.Each file in that database is almost the same size as the original saved art work.I found that these “dbcache files” are apart of the “anonymous usage data logs” and are also sent to Celsy’s or google analytics server. I’m suspicious that the files in the dbcache folder(the files usually have a long name something like “55oa58985859ah” ) is a copy of the original saved artwork in a different form.I think once it gets uploaded to their servers the files textual contents can be converted into pictorial data.Or the unknown file itself is a picture file.I can email a sample of a file if you want to analyze it.
Or if you can direct me to a program/app that can open and read the actual contents of these files that would be nice too.The software is “Clip studio paint” and the folder I’m talking about is in “username/Appdata/roaming/CELSYS/promenade/dbcache”.The word “Promenade” in definition,especially to this kind of situation is worrying enough.
Thumbs.db Viewer was written to give the computer user tools to reconstruct Thumbs.db, ehthumbs.db, thumbcache.db (Windows Vista,Windows 7) and iconcache.db (Windows 8/10) database records.Thumbs.db is a hidden system file generated automatically by Windows when you view the contents of a folder in 'Thumbnail' or 'Filmstrip' view. Thumbs.db contains a copy of each of the tiny preview images generated for image files in that folder so that they load up quickly the next time you browse that folder.Thumbs.db is actually a database of the miniature images that exist in the folder from which they were initiated. The early versions of Thumbs.db files as they appeared in Windows ME/W2k contained not only the thumbnail image of the parent file, but also the filename, drive letter, and path to that image. Later versions, Windows XP, store the image and its filename but not the path. Thumbs.db Viewer was written to give the computer user tools to reconstruct Thumbs.db, ehthumbs.db, thumbcache.db (Windows Vista,Windows 7) and iconcache.db (Windows 8/10) database records.Thumbs.db is a hidden system file generated automatically by Windows when you view the contents of a folder in 'Thumbnail' or 'Filmstrip' view. Thumbs.db contains a copy of each of the tiny preview images generated for image files in that folder so that they load up quickly the next time you browse that folder.Thumbs.db is actually a database of the miniature images that exist in the folder from which they were initiated.
The early versions of Thumbs.db files as they appeared in Windows ME/W2k contained not only the thumbnail image of the parent file, but also the filename, drive letter, and path to that image. Later versions, Windows XP, store the image and its filename but not the path.
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January 2023
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