How do I repair my Windows 98 (2nd Ed; network) to preview image files
(JPEGs) within the Windows Explorer, once "View - As Web Page" is
selected?  The feature appears corrupted.  How can I repair without
re-installing the entire operating system?

Hi ccwebdog,

   Your problem is a problem which I faced once. There are two ways of
going about this. The first one worked for me. If the first one
doesn't work, try the second one.

1. Click Start > Run, and type the following command in the Open box:
   regsvr32.exe /i shdocvw.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 4
installed
   regsvr32.exe /i shdoc401.dll - If you have Internet Explorer 5
installed

2. This is the 'dirty' way of doing it. You'll have to modify your
registry. WARNING: BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO
IT.
   Choose Start, Run, type regedit, press Enter to launch the Registry
Editor. Next, go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder icon, and double-click on
it. From there, navigate to the folder corresponding to the extension
of the file type that Explorer is not previewing properly. For
example, to fix the preview information for .jpg files, go to the .jpg
key. If it has a plus sign next to it, click that to expand the tree
diagram for the complete .jpg key. There you'll find a key called
ShellEx. If you don't see it, no problem: Just right-click the .jpg
icon in the left pane and choose New, Key. Then type ShellEx and press
Enter.

Click the plus sign next to the ShellEx key to expand the keys
underneath. There should be a key named
{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}. If it's not there, right-click
the ShellEx key in the left pane, and choose New, Key. Then type
{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1} and press Enter.

Select the key to see its contents in the right pane. It should
include an icon labelled (Default) and, to the right, a series of
numbers in braces. If it doesn't, and you created the key yourself,
double-click the (Default) icon in the right pane to edit its value
data. If the key was already there but has the wrong value,
right-click in the right pane and choose New, String Value. Type
(Default) and press Enter. Double-click the (Default) icon to edit its
value data. Then in the Value data box, type
{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC} (including the braces) and
click OK.

Finally, proofread your typing, both for the new key and for the
string value. If you did everything right, your preview should return
whenever you select a .jpg file in any Explorer or folder window that
is set to view Web content.

Of course, this example fixes only the .jpg file type. You need to
repeat the procedure for the .gif key and any other key that refuses
to show a preview. The method outlined above won't work for every file
type, but you should be able to preview images having any of the
following extensions: .art, .bmp, .dib, .gif, .jfif, .jpe, .jpeg,
.jpg, .png, and .wmf.

If you need any clarifications, please fell free to do so, otherwise
please rate this answer. I'm not satisfied until you are.


Cheers,
aditya2k

The answer was successful, with the #2 method.  The writer was good
about suggesting caution and care when altering system level files.