View all Video files preview in thumbnails

You must have noticed that when thumbnail view is enabled in explorer, video files are shown as frames that shows the first frame of the video but unfortunately it is not enabled for every video format but there is a simple registry tweak that you can apply to make it working for other video formats too.

However this doesn’t work for *.vob extension video files (*.vob are video files copied directly from a video dvd).

Before you proceed I must tell you that playing with the registry can be hazardous for your OS (Operating System). Always consider backing up the registry before you make any changes in it. Read How to backup your windows registry

What are we going to do?

We are going to copy the settings how a video file is treated and then paste those settings for the file formats we want.

Steps for viewing all video files as preview in thumbnails:

• Open Registry Editor (By typing regedit at the Run prompt)
• Select HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and find .avi (any of the mpg, mpeg will do)
• Export its registry settings (will be saved as *.reg)
• After saving right click on *.reg file and select Edit
• Now if you want *.divx files to be treated in the same way as *.avi files then just replace avi by divx in the file and save it.
• Execute this edited registry key. It will ask for confirmation for merging the data in the registry, approve it.

Repeat the above step for various files of whom you want to change the behavior. If you face any issues, do let me know and I will be glad to help you.