RAW image viewer for 30D and XP Explorer

I have a 30D, I want to see CR2 RAW thumbnail images in WinXP Pro Explorer. I have CS4 and Bridge and I know that I can use Bridge to see these thumbnails but there are many times when I'm using XP Windows Explorer and want to see thumbnails. I've done several searches for this and haven't found a definitive answer.

Some people suggest Microsoft RAW Viewer, I downloaded it but it does not support the 30D.

Some posts say that Windows Live Picture Gallery will do what I want. I downloaded it, the CR2 files in Explorer still do not show up with an image.

Some people suggested Faststone Viewer. I downloaded it and it seems like a nice little app but I don't want a separate app to view these thumbnails, if I wanted that I'd just use Bridge.

There are times when I really want to see image thumbnails in XP Explorer, so far I haven't found a way to do that. Any other suggestions would be great.

The Arcsoft RAW Viewer definitely works in Windows XP 32-bit: http://www.arcsoft.com​/products/rawviewer/

That is exactly what I wanted. Thanks for the help.

Personally I'm quite happy using Canon's own raw CODEC - http://software.canon-europe.com/software/00​33279.asp.

tdodd, the canon link says:

"Canon RAW Codec is a software plug-in that enables the import and display of Canon RAW image files when installed in Windows Vista (including SP1)/Windows XP SP2 and XP SP3.
Windows Imaging Component (WIC) supported applications (Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery etc.) are required."

Does that mean that with the codec you can see raw thumbnails in Windows Live Photo Gallery, which I don't need, or does it mean that if you have the codec and Windows Live Photo gallery you can see thumbnails in Windows Explorer, which is what I want?

You need the Canon Raw Codec anyway which ever windows your using.

Hi Kent, fast stone image viewer 3.9 is great, free download and you can set the program you would like to open the RAW file with after browsing the CR2 files.

It is all I use now and it opens all CR2 files and makes them very easy to view, enlarge etc.

When you right click the image, select edit with external program (add program first) and the image will open in that program. Hope that helps.

Sorry I can't help with windows but I think you will find fast stone great. http://www.faststone.o​rg/

Over the years I've used every conceivable solution available...many of them fell by the way as they were not actively supported and updated as new cameras were released.

I finally settled on using Directory Opus 9 as a Windows Explorer replacement. It comes with a RAW plugin based on DCRAW so its fast and accurate. You can even do RAW conversions directly from the file browser without opening any other applications. Of course, the downside is that its fairly expensive but to me its worth it since it replaces all the functions of Windows Explorer.

http://www.gpsoft.com.​au

I'm currently using the 64-bit version of Directory Opus 9 under Windows 7 Retail and I could never go back to Windows Explorer.

Kent, it's been a long time since I've used XP but I'm pretty sure that Canon's CODEC will let you see thumbnails in Windows Explorer and view them fully in the Photo and Fax Viewer or wahtever it was called all those years ago. Of course, Zoombowser will natively let you view thumbnails, full images, drag/drop etc. so for image handling it makes a good alternative to Explorer altogether.

thanks all for the interesting conversation. Opus 9 looks like a nice explorer substitute and Faststone Viewer looks like a nice app but PM's Arcsoft link was simple, free and did exactly what I needed.