Windows Thumbnail cache or Thumbs.db files are hidden data-files in the Windows operating system, which contain small images, displayed when you view a folder in “thumbnail” view, as opposed to tile, icon, list, or detail view. Windows keeps a copy of all your pictures, video and document thumbnails, so that they can be displayed quickly when you open a folder. This thumbnail cache – thumbs.db, ehthumbs.db, thumbcache_*.db – is used by Windows to speed up the display of thumbnails files in folders. In Windows XP you ‘see’ these ‘hidden’ files thumbs.db files scattered all over the place. In Windows Vista and later, the thumbnails ‘thumbcache’ are stored at C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft Windows\Explorer. >How to turn off thumbs.db file creation If you do not wish to use the ‘thumbnail view’, you may turn off the thumbs.db feature. To do so, open Folder Options > View > Check “Always show icons, never thumbnails” > Apply > OK. >Can you delete thumbs.db files No harm is done by deleting thumbs.db files. Deleting the Thumbs.db file has no real effect on your operating system or the future ability to view thumbnails at any time. It is automatically re-created, in the respective folder, each time you ‘view’ thumbnails. The only thing is that the loading may take a bit more time, the first tile you open the folder. You can use the built-in Disk Cleanup utility to delete the thumbs.db files. If you are thinking of turning of the thumbs.db feature to save disk space, then after you have disabled creation thumbs.db, use Disk Cleanup utility to delete all the residual thumbs.db files on your disk. Just deleting thumbs.db files makes no real sense, as they will be created again once you open that folder to view thumbnails. Just turning off thumbs.db again makes no sense if you want to save disk space. Make sure you delete the residual thumbs.db files on your disk. >Thumbs.db Viewer To view the Thumbs.db file on your Windows 8 or Windows 7 computer, you will have to make use of some freeware. Thumbnail Database Viewer enables you to view thumbnail cache. Thumbs.db Explorer is another small utility to view and extract images from thumbs.db files. You can preview the images inside a thumbs.db, save all to a destination folder or save only a single image. During installation the tool will offer to install Delta toolbar and change your home page and search engine. So be careful, select the Advanced option and uncheck these three options. Even if you delete some files from your disk, their thumbnails will continue to be stored in the thumbs.db files. In fact, the thumbs.db files have also been used by law enforcement authorities to prove that illicit or illegal photos were previously stored on the hard drive, in one case
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 17:53:38 +0000
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