Browser - loading RAW thumbnails

[MikeG]

RAW thumbnails take a long time to load the first time.
For me, a little over 1/4 minute each. So waiting for 20 or 30 to load is quite tedious.
Needless to say I do my triage before openind the PWP browser on a new RAW folder.
I'm running Vista Home Premium, latest updates, and my RAW files are rw2 files from a Panasonic G1.
Any one else experience this with RAW files from other cameras? Or from the G1, for that matter.

Mike.

[bogumil]

I work with Olympus RAW files *.orf and the thumbnails are loading very fast. The loading time is the same as in case of jpgs.

Bogumil

[ksinkel]

Mike,

I have a sample rw2 file from the Panasonic G1 file here and the thumbnail is displayed nearly instantly. Are you using the latest version, PWP 5.0.1.4?

Kiril

[MikeG]

Kiril,

Yes. 5.0.1.4.

Nonetheless I've just uninstalled PWP via Control Panel. Downloaded a fresh copy and reinstalled. Downloaded .orf samples. Browser takes just over 12 seconds for each .orf thumbnail.

I see that the browser database was preserved throught the uninstall/re-install process. Perhaps I should delete the browser database. How do I do that?
Or do you have a better idea?

By the way, I don't have this problem with other software, eg Silkypix, or cPicture, so my system is basically OK.

Mike.

[ksinkel]

Mike

The thumbnails are cached separately for each folder. They are stored in a pw35.browseinfo file in the folder.

Kiril

[MikeG]

Kiril,

Thanks.

It's been my habit of late to shoot RAW + high quality jpeg and to put all the RAW files into a subfolder, imaginatively entitled 'RAW'.
I selected an existing folder. Moved all the RAW files back in with the jpegs. Deleted the RAW folder. Deleted the existing .browsinfo file in the jpeg folder, and double clicked the folder in the browser window. Approx 3 1/2 minutes later the browers was updated - a total of 26 files (13 rw2, 13 jpeg). Watching the process it was very clear that the jpeg thumbnails were processed virtually instantaneously. All the time was occupied with processing the rw2 files.

Where next?
Is the bowser using some Windows function that may have become corrupted?
Or does the browser code reside fully within PWP?

I think that months ago I downloaded a file from Panasonic to enable Vista to read rw2 files. Does PWP use this?

I'll track that down and delete it and see what happens - unless you come up with a better idea in the meantime.

Mike.

[MikeG]

Kiril,

More information, but no progress.

Found the Lumix codec. Uninstalled via Control Panel. Rebooted. Confirmed that Vista can no longer display rw2 files.

Restarted PWP 5.0.1.4.
Browser behaviour unchanged.

To ensure that we are comparing like with like I'll send you 4 of my rw2 files (in one zip file) via YouSendIt. I've just timed how long the browser took to create the thumbails. A total of 64 seconds.
If thumbnails are created 'instantly' for you from these, I'm at a total loss what to try next and hope that you can suggest something.

For what it's worth, viewing the files with Picasa viewer is fine. There is a second or so fuzziness with the first file (like a progressive jpeg loading) and the rest come up perfectly fine.

Mike.

[MikeG]

To finish this saga, and as a cautionary tale for others:

Following some off board exchange of emails, at Kiril's suggestion, I checked the setting for the location of my PWP temp folder.
To my acute embarrassment I discovered this to be F:/PWPTemp
What's wrong with that, you may wonder.
What's wrong is that I 'converted' drive F: to Linux (Ubuntu) some time ago...

Changing my temp folder to D:/PWPTemp totally solved the RAW thumbnail loading issue. They now load so quickly that the browser window - set to show 10 thumbnails in a 2 column 5 row arrangement - fills in approx 1 second.

Thanks to Bogumil and to Kiril, especially, for helping sort this out problew which was entirely of my own making.

Mike.