Win10 Professional doesn't run ACDSee 2.4

[StephenM]

As per the title. It used to, then a few weeks ago ACDSee 2.4 just hung. I tried all the compatibility options to no avail. I eventually found that ACDSee 3.1 worked. Then last week, that also failed. I can display photos, but once switch to thumbnail view and it hangs scanning the directory structure (or so it appears). For various reasons, moving to the current version isn't an option - I have it (paid for) but don't like it for the day-to-day usage that I use 2.4 for.

Now the odd part. A couple of days ago, I downloaded Microsoft's free but time limited Win10 Enterprise edition plus development toolkit. Running this using Virtualbox under Win10 (same computer that won't run ACDSee 2.4) I whimsically tried 2.4 on the virtual machine. It ran normally with no problems. (As it also does under Win7 in Virtualbox).

Any idea why this is so, or what the difference between Win10 Enterprise and Win10 Pro is that could cause this, or which Win10 updates I should try to remove?

 

[neil_g]

Acdsee seem to be on version 10, so. 2.4 and 3.1 would be pretty old no?

 

[StephenM]

About 20 years in the case of 2.4, yes. But I'd prefer to give up Win10 to be able to use this. Why? Because version 10 lacks some features I use every day, has a more cluttered interface, and doesn't (so far as I can tell) let me use a minimal style to show more image and less menu/task bar/string interface gubbins on the screen. What I really want to know is a) why it stopped working on Win10 Pro, but b) still runs under Win10 Enterprise.

That said, networking isn't notworking properly for me on Win10 Pro, so perhaps I should just use my dual boot facility to avoid Win10 and use the computer to run programs rather than an operating system...

Edit to add: and before anyone asks, my Win10 Pro has all available updates installed.

 

[neil_g]

I think you're peeing in the wind a bit. 20 year old software on a new constantly evolving OS is going to run into issues. That's a no brainer.

Presumably you've tried compatibility options to run the program?

I suspect it working to start with was a bit of a fluke. Your enterprise install may not have picked up some updates that your Pro install has, enterprise can have slightly different update intervals (if enabled). But again once updates hit it'll most likely stop working.

 

[Box Brownie]

About 20 years in the case of 2.4, yes. But I'd prefer to give up Win10 to be able to use this. Why? Because version 10 lacks some features I use every day, has a more cluttered interface, and doesn't (so far as I can tell) let me use a minimal style to show more image and less menu/task bar/string interface gubbins on the screen. What I really want to know is a) why it stopped working on Win10 Pro, but b) still runs under Win10 Enterprise.

That said, networking isn't notworking properly for me on Win10 Pro, so perhaps I should just use my dual boot facility to avoid Win10 and use the computer to run programs rather than an operating system...

Edit to add: and before anyone asks, my Win10 Pro has all available updates installed.

I think you're peeing in the wind a bit. 20 year old software on a new constantly evolving OS is going to run into issues. That's a no brainer.

Presumably you've tried compatibility options to run the program?

I suspect it working to start with was a bit of a fluke. Your enterprise install may not have picked up some updates that your Pro install has, enterprise can have slightly different update intervals (if enabled). But again once updates hit it'll most likely stop working.

Setting aside the oddity of very old program not working reliably with W10, i note Stephen says his network (ing) is not working. Could that be the loss of Homegroup following the W10 Creators Edition update. Just putting that out there as food for thought......???

 

[StephenM]

I suspect it working to start with was a bit of a fluke. Your enterprise install may not have picked up some updates that your Pro install has, enterprise can have slightly different update intervals (if enabled). But again once updates hit it'll most likely stop working.

The "fluke" continued to happen from Win10's appearance until a few weeks ago. Not such a fluke in my eyes.

Presumably you've tried compatibility options to run the program?

See line one, post one.

I think you're peeing in the wind a bit. 20 year old software on a new constantly evolving OS is going to run into issues. That's a no brainer.

We half agree. If the programs I want to run won't run on Win10, then it's Win10 that will go... The constant drip loss of essential (to me) programs as Win10 evolves isn't something I'm prepared to accept. I use a computer to perform certain tasks; the OS is there simply to enable the programs to run. When it fails to do that, the time has come to use a different OS.

If this issue can't be fixed, then I don't use Win10. Simple.

 

[stryvya]

Hi, I use ACDsee Ultimate 2018 and all ofthe Panels can be moved by Click and holding the top of the Panel or they can be removed by clicking the X at the top of the Panel. See below. Why not download a Trial version and try it out.

 

[stryvya]

Or choose which Panels you want to use.

 

[neil_g]

The "fluke" continued to happen from Win10's appearance until a few weeks ago. Not such a fluke in my eyes.

See line one, post one.

We half agree. If the programs I want to run won't run on Win10, then it's Win10 that will go... The constant drip loss of essential (to me) programs as Win10 evolves isn't something I'm prepared to accept. I use a computer to perform certain tasks; the OS is there simply to enable the programs to run. When it fails to do that, the time has come to use a different OS.

If this issue can't be fixed, then I don't use Win10. Simple.

If the software was never coded to work with 10 then it was indeed a fluke that it works. I suspect if you contacted ACDSEE support you'd get the same response.

OS architecture changes over time, unless the app vendor wants it to work on a particular OS then they'll release an update to do so. However a 20 year old package is never going to see such an update.

Ultimately this is an App flaw rather than an OS flaw. But feel free to go back to 7, you've got another 18 months of life left in that OS before security updates stop. Or you could just get the latest version of ACDSEE (maybe there are upgrade packages available).

Setting aside the oddity of very old program not working reliably with W10, i note Stephen says his network (ing) is not working. Could that be the loss of Homegroup following the W10 Creators Edition update. Just putting that out there as food for thought......???

Depends what the OP means by networking isn't working. Needs more detail. Homegroups were a total waste of time in my opinion, and actually hampered system performance. There isn't really anything that couldn't be achieved with a normal workgroup.

 

[StephenM]

I've got ACDSee 10. OK, if people want me to swap, then I need to know how to

1. Make the image display fit the screen, NOT the window. 2.4 lets me have the image full screen height (if portrait) or full screen width (if landscape) with the resultant resized window only as large as it needs to be (no ugly and wasteful white space to the sides). The later versions let me fit the window only, with wasted white space to the sides and the image not as large as it could be. I've just tried version 10, and portrait orientation seems to force less than full screen height, and I can't eliminate white borders left and right. This isn't acceptable when I don't have to put up with it.

2. When viewing an image, get rid of the manage Photos View Develop Edit bar that I find intrusive. I could get to live with it if I had to - but so far I don't as I can run 2.4 on WIn7.

3. Tell me where the tick boxes are (under "Filing" on earlier versions) for the options "Move/Copy duplicate files" where I can choose between "Rename" (with choice of how the new name is formed) or "Skip when identical". So far, I've concluded that they don't exist. Without them, no deal.

1 and 3 are essential, and red lines for me. I've rejected every modern file viewer I've looked at as not having them.

All I really want is to know why Win10 Pro stopped working; and if it can't be fixed, then it goes.

Come on, people, accept that under no circumstances will I run a later program that lacks things I want. If Win10 can't be fixed, then fine; I won't use it. I reiterate - I use a computer to do certain things and run certain software. I don't use it to run an operating system and chop and change as Microsoft In this instance) decides which programs I'm not able to run because backwards compatibility is a concept they haven't really embraced. As long as I have the hardware to run Win7, if I have to, I'll run it. Even if its life is over.

 

[StephenM]

Depends what the OP means by networking isn't working. Needs more detail. Homegroups were a total waste of time in my opinion, and actually hampered system performance. There isn't really anything that couldn't be achieved with a normal workgroup.

I've never used Homegroups. Computers on the network don't appear under "Network" in file explorer. The only workaround I've found is the desktop shortcut that makes them appear under "Quick Access" - and this doesn't let all programs find them by browsing.

I'm not bothered about fixing this, as the searches I've done indicate that Microsoft regularly break networking with Win10 updates, and any fix would only be temporary anyway. It simply seems a waste of time to expend it trying to make something work when you know that the next compulsory update will probably break it again.

As I've said ad nauseam - if Win10 won't run the program, then I'll use something that will. Even after end of life.

 

[StephenM]

PS - hardly any of the programs I use were coded to run under Win10, as they predate that OS. There's no point in giving a complete run down, but I think if I restricted myself to versions post-10 I could scan negatives, backup the resulting scans, view pdfs and use the internet. I couldn't edit or view the results of the scans, send/receive emails, write articles, use my books and address databases, or even play solitaire!

If Microsoft want to play the game of "if it ain't new, break it" I'm out.

 

[stryvya]

http://forum.acdsee.com/?_=1511103572836

You could also ask here.

 

[stryvya]

If Microsoft want to play the game of "if it ain't new, break it" I'm out.

I think you`ve answered your own question.

 

[droj]

When I got my first desktop computer back in 1998, I was an innocent (and there was a big learning curve). But the machine enabled me to do what I wanted it for, which was text-based. Then I began to find out that computers were able to do more than that, in the realm of imaging - but only if I upgraded. Anyone remember Windows 95, and what a crappy, crash-prone system that was? Anyway ...

It took some time for me to realise that though computers could be enabling and even empowering, using them tended to lock you into an endless manufacturers' cash-cow cycle of interdependent hardware and software upgrades. That's the nature of the market. Everything has a lifespan, after all. Even the planet we live on won't be here for ever.

At one point I had very functional versions of a couple of workhorse programs that were no longer going to work on Windows beyond XP, and would be rather expensive to upgrade or replace. But XP support was ending ...

Workarounds can be damned clunky, and some of them take up precious desk space. Solutions are personal.

To Stephen I'd suggest maybe a laptop running an older os with the apps you want to keep using, or biting the bullet and looking into a more modern app perhaps of a different make, that you could live with but that wouldn't break the bank ...?

 

[stryvya]

1. Make the image display fit the screen, NOT the window. 2.4 lets me have the image full screen height (if portrait) or full screen width (if landscape) with the resultant resized window only as large as it needs to be (no ugly and wasteful white space to the sides). The later versions let me fit the window only, with wasted white space to the sides and the image not as large as it could be. I've just tried version 10, and portrait orientation seems to force less than full screen height, and I can't eliminate white borders left and right. This isn't acceptable when I don't have to put up with it.

2. When viewing an image, get rid of the manage Photos View Develop Edit bar that I find intrusive. I could get to live with it if I had to - but so far I don't as I can run 2.4 on WIn7.

3. Tell me where the tick boxes are (under "Filing" on earlier versions) for the options "Move/Copy duplicate files" where I can choose between "Rename" (with choice of how the new name is formed) or "Skip when identical". So far, I've concluded that they don't exist. Without them, no deal.

Perhaps a Screenshot of what you like and maybe we can (on ACDsee) help you.

 

[Retune]

Pro vs Enterprise may be a red herring - it could just be something specific about your system. Have you tried a clean re-install of ACDSee? Have you tried it in a W10 Pro VM?

 

[Mr Bump]

You need to stop focusing on the OS being the enemy here and see the light.
Upgrade your app software and just relearn its differences.

 

[StephenM]

I have reinstalled ACDSee 2.4 - 3 times. It makes no difference.

I don't have any media to create a Win10 Pro VM as it was an update from Win7 Pro done over the internet. That I have a Win7 system is simply because I used a clone Win7 to invoke the Win10 to let me revert when it failed. I have tried using the Disk2vhd tool last night, but the vhd created refused to work due to a "can't open" error. I have tried the simple solutions advocated on line to check (and change if necessary) the security settings of the vhd, and run Virtaulbox as administrator, all with no effect.

I am prepared in principle to switch to another program if necessary, but so far unless I've missed settings IrfanView, ACDSee pro 10 and Faststone are ruled out as lacking facilities that the old ACDSee 2.4 has. So far, the only thing that's broke is Win10 as far as I'm concerned. If I did manage to find another photo viewer, how long before that no longer runs, or email fails, or my word processor won't run? Win10 seems too big a risk by far.

BTW, my first experience of small computers was a Sinclair Spectrum, followed by the PCW512 and the Amstrad 1640. My first experience of bigger computers was in 1969, and my first taste of programming them in machine code (Easycoder let you write everything as octal rather than mnemonics if you so wished) was in 1971. If necessary, I could probably reinvent the wheel and write my own image viewer in C (which I've used professionally on PCs to create WIndows programs) but I'd rather not.

 

[StephenM]

You need to stop focusing on the OS being the enemy here and see the light.
Upgrade your app software and just relearn its differences.

My point is that I have yet to find an alternative that does the job I want. And since WIn10 used to work, I'm assuming that Microsoft broke it - either deliberately to force people to buy more software or accidentally through incompetence.

Look, all I want is to find a fix to get Win10 working again. If this is impossible, Win10 goes. I am not up for negotiation on this one. Having programs that work is more important to me than the latest Microsoft OS which should be a servant, not a master. If other posters are correct and I should expect programs not written specifically for Win10 (like File Explorer? ) to fail except for some fluke, then I'm on a hiding to nothing by continuing to use it.

I think this thread has run its course for me. There don't seem to be any suggestions I haven't tried, or options suggested that I haven't explored. The choice seem to be to either accept Win10 and no longer be able to perform essential (to me) daily tasks because there are no programs that work under Win10 that do what I want, or upgrade to Win7 and carry on working productively. So I think I'm out. Thanks to everyone for trying to help.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Sorry if it's been mentioned already, but have you tried running it in compatibility mode? Navigate to the .exe file, right click on that and then select the compatibility mode tab, the check the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For box and select the version of the OS you want to emulate.

 

[StephenM]

Thanks for the suggestion, but see line one, post 1. I've tried every reasonable compatibility mode back to Win95. Since it worked perfectly (but see next paragraph) until a few weeks ago, and still works perfectly in Win10 Enterprise in the virtual machine Microsoft make available, it seems that it's most likely something Win10 update has messed up. It might even be OK if I did a complete reinstal of Win10 (assuming I could, having no media) but the work involved in reinstalling all my programs and making all the registry fixes needed to make Win10 perform properly for me*, and resetting all the various defaults that I don't like means I won't be trying this. Possibly in a year or so, Win10 may be useable again. One thing I haven't investigated is whether the two other Win10 computers here run ACDSee 2.4; that might serve to narrow down the source of the problem, but wouldn't fix it.

I've now swapped back to Win7. One problem I'd forgotten about which has always existed under Win10 is that when using thumbnail view, when the cursor was swtiched to the thumbnail pane, there was no indication left in the directory panel as to where I'd come from, meaning that I had to look carefully and read the address bar to see where I was. Back under Win7, I can once again see a highlight in the directory pane to show me where I've got to.

If it becomes necessary for security reasons to not use a web browser in Win7, I'll just use a Win10 virtual machine to browse the internet. My email program is so old (Win3.1 vintage) that it doesn't understand MIME, never runs anything and just shows plain text, so that seems safe enough.

I've used Win10 for a while, and there are some things I prefer in it to WIn7. But if it won't run the programs I want, then it's a dead duck. And I still haven't found an alternative to ACDSee 2.4/3.1 (2.4 is slightly preferable to 3.1 anyway) with the features I need.

* In case anyone wonders about them, it's to remove all the useless junk from File Explorer, get over the new to Win10 limitation on only being able to act on 15 files at one time from File Explorer etc.

 

[stryvya]

My email program is so old (Win3.1 vintage)

Now you`re having a laugh, as I
1/2 expected.

Not going to waste anymore time trying to help a Kidder.

 

[StephenM]

When I first gained Internet access from Pavilion Internet in the days when 14,400 modems were state of the art, they provided a number of programs, and Eudora was the email program, which I used for a while. When we moved from OS/2 to Windows NT, I swapped from the OS/2 email program which I preferred to Eudora. I'm currently running version 4.3 which appears to date from 1999-2000. So, yes, technically not Win 3.1 - but I still think of it as that vintage since Win 3.1 was the current version at the time. Actually, going back down memory lane, I switched to the OS/2 release that was released at the same time as Win3.1. I don't use web based email, and I've never used any of the Outlook variants - too many scare stories of Microsoft quietly opening emails to enable a better display of the title etc. and thereby run the viruses. Eudora doesn't do anything like that, and all I have to do is not click on suspicious links and examine the email in plain text before sending to browser if if looks as though it needs to be.

However, if you don't want to believe me, that's your problem not mine.

For the sake of completeness - and back on topic - in case it occurs to anyone to suggest running ACDSee in administrator mode, that was one of the first things I tried.

I honestly think all avenues have now been explored (short of someone telling me which "fix pack" fixed ACDSee good and proper so that I can try and remove it) and the long term solution is Windows 7.

Edit to add: For that reason I shall now unwatch this thread.

 

[StephenM]

However, if you don't want to believe me, that's your problem not mine.

On reflection, this is clearly not the case. If my word can't be accepted, then it is a very big problem for me. One that makes it impossible to take part in any meaningful discussion since anything I say may be untrue.

 

[Retune]

I don't have any media to create a Win10 Pro VM as it was an update from Win7 Pro done over the internet. That I have a Win7 system is simply because I used a clone Win7 to invoke the Win10 to let me revert when it failed. I have tried using the Disk2vhd tool last night, but the vhd created refused to work due to a "can't open" error. I have tried the simple solutions advocated on line to check (and change if necessary) the security settings of the vhd, and run Virtaulbox as administrator, all with no effect.

You might try an unactivated copy installed to a VM from a downloaded ISO:

https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/

One thing I haven't investigated is whether the two other Win10 computers here run ACDSee 2.4; that might serve to narrow down the source of the problem, but wouldn't fix it.

That's probably the first thing I'd try, easier than a VM. Perhaps there is something very specific about W10 Pro, but if 2.4 runs without issues on both W7 Pro and W10 Ent I'd still bet more on there being a problem with your specific Windows installation (especially if it's a heavily tweaked upgrade version) or a third party program interfering (perhaps one of the other ACDSee versions if you have more than one installed).

 

[Mr Bump]

Wow back to Windows 7, good luck with that in the coming years.

 

[hashcake]

Qualcomm ceased development on Eudora years ago, I'm impressed an old copy works under Win 10.
As for ancient software not working with the latest version of Window, I agree with what has already been said.
My desktop is dual boot, Win 7 and Win 10, I use Steinberg Cubase, the version I have will not run on Win 10 and I wasn't prepared to buy the latest version.
You could do the same and still use your old copy of ACDSee.

 

[StephenM]

You might try an unactivated copy installed to a VM from a downloaded ISO:

https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/

That's probably the first thing I'd try, easier than a VM. Perhaps there is something very specific about W10 Pro, but if 2.4 runs without issues on both W7 Pro and W10 Ent I'd still bet more on there being a problem with your specific Windows installation (especially if it's a heavily tweaked upgrade version) or a third party program interfering (perhaps one of the other ACDSee versions if you have more than one installed).

Thanks for that. I'll try that tomorrow. I had ACDSee Pro 10 installed before hitting problems with 2.4; I don't think that that's the problem per se. Similarly, everything ran fine until a few weeks ago despite all the registry settings having been in place from the time I first went to Win10 - at just before the final dealine for a free upgrade, whenever that was. I've had to reinstall the registry changes a couple of times after Microsoft's updates changed them back, but I've got notes on what to do so it's fairly simple. As far as I can recall, I haven't installed anything new in the time immediately preceding the problems. The only reason I'm blaming a Windows Update is that they don't always seem to need a reboot, but then again a few times I can to the computer in the orning and found it had rebooted overnight. Hardware problem or Windows Update? Who knows. But I don't get mysterious reboots while I'm in front of the screen.

From what I've seen of tales of woe from other users for other issues, it seems that there are always a number of bugs that catch some people out and don't affect others. I still have no computers on my network other than the one I'm using, and can only gain access to them via the desktop shortcut workaround. But - and very interestingly - this is also the case under Win7 now, so I can't blame Microsoft for this one! If I could spare the time, I'd try a new install of Win10 (assuming the media to do it from), but I haven't. The first time was bad enough.

Qualcomm ceased development on Eudora years ago, I'm impressed an old copy works under Win 10.

As I said, I started email with Eudora, but after switching to OS/2 NT4 from DOS (I never used Windows for anything apart from the email as far as I recall) I found it worked fine under NT4, and Warp, and Windows 2000. This latter did require me to do a little digging to get the voice part of Eudora going again, so that the names of people sending emails were announced as the email came in. Alas, that's the one part that doesn't work under Win7 and above. I have emails going back to at least 1997 in Eudora (I just checked back and found one from Demon Internet from that year) and importing from Eudora to anything else could be problematic.

The problem I've found over the years with more modern software is that features you don't want are added (OK, I can ignore them) but the user interface can be made more complex (hard to ignore) and, crucially, features you use can be dropped. I'm still using Photoshop CS2 despite having a paid for CS5 because the versions after CS2 dropped a feature I did use, and I didn't fancy the workaround. Why bother, when the old version is simple to use and straightforward.

I think I read yeasterday that the source code for Eudora is now available following a buy out earlier this year, so if the worst comes to the worst, I could modify it myself to work under Win10 (2019 edition).

Wow back to Windows 7, good luck with that in the coming years.

Thanks for the good wishes.

 

[Asha]

!I'll begin by expressing that I am far from the most "knowledgable" person regarding computers or any other similar equipment like iphones etc however due to systems ( OS or otherwise) not functionning correctly throughout the years, I can emphasise somewhat with the OP;

My present Windows10 operating system was only bought last summer.

Until that time I was still running windows vista, but due to updates, or the lack of them to be more precise, the OS functionned more and more inneficiently.

So I saved up ( yes, some of us don't have readily available savings and have to revert to old methods to gather sufficient funds for purchases!)

I bought a new computer /OS …..Not seriously high gamme but sufficient for my needs.

I recently spent 3 weeks (in December 2018) with regular problems where the system would either refuse to boot or if it did, and the keyboard / mouse was inactive for several minutes whereby the screen effectively went black ( standby), the usual click of the mouse would not restore the screen.
In fact nothing would restore it and I had no option but to depress the "on" button of the server then attempt a reboot.

Even in "safe" mode the screen would not always come alive.
I had done all the usually cable checks etc etc but ultimately I ended up having to do a reinstallation of the OS.

The computer now works ( fingers crossed) just fine.
Wether any of this was due to updates or not I know not for sure but no downloads or accessing obscure websites had been made that could have bugged the system.

Imagine my frustration during this time, not just at not having a correctly working computer, but the fact that it is practically new and to hand it in on warranty for x amount of weeks / months and be without it or to have to pay out for repairs or even a new computer would / is simply not an option.

Modern technology can be pretty cool when it works but in my experience it often doesn't work efficiently ( not just for personal use, but in life generally) and ultimately it becomes a severe hindrence as against a helpful device.

It is all very well some folk to simply state that one needs to basically keep up with the latest OS, Updates, Equipment, Programs etc etc ( regardless of cost!!) and I would like to beleive that by doing so, these headaches would be resolved, but personal experience has, and continues to prove that this is not the case.

I expect that I may receive quite a slating in response to this post, fair enough, folk are entitled to their opinions, however i won't bite!

 

[stryvya]

In View Mode and Edit Mode click on 4 Arrow Icon to go to full Screen and press Escape to return to previous Mode

Or right Click Screen and select in drop down Menu "Full Screen" and Escape to return.

Why not also ask the ACDSee Forum for help??

 

[Retune]

 

[StephenM]

View attachment 146328In View Mode and Edit Mode click on 4 Arrow Icon to go to full Screen and press Escape to return to previous Mode

Or right Click Screen and select in drop down Menu "Full Screen" and Escape to return.

Why not also ask the ACDSee Forum for help??

Whereabouts are those options, as I don't see them on the drop down menus from the top menu? Can't say I recall "modes" either...

I'm not sure that the ACDSee Forum is the place to ask for help with a 20 year old version - I suspect the advice would simply be to use the latest (and, for me, totally useless) version. I can say that with confidence, as I have the current version installed, and it's a far cry from what I want.

 

[stryvya]

So have you tried your Help filer, across the top of ACDSee

 

[stryvya]

View attachment 146328In View Mode and Edit Mode click on 4 Arrow Icon to go to full Screen and press Escape to return to previous Mode

Or right Click Screen and select in drop down Menu "Full Screen" and Escape to return.

Why not also ask the ACDSee Forum for help??

Should have said Bottom left in View and Edit Mode.

 

[StephenM]

Assuming that that's the About box or similar, here's my screen capture



Your version is 20 years on from mine - certainly not version 2.4.

 

[stryvya]

Sorry my mistake I was under the impression that you wanted the Current Version of ACDsee to perform on Win10 similar to your older version.

 

[StephenM]

I've just tried again with ACDSee Pro 10 version 10.4. If I click on an image from the thumbnail, the effect is quite different to 2.4. Specifically, I can arrange 2.4 to

a) have no white border at all
b) have portrait images automatically reduce/enlarge to the full screen height
c) have landscape images automatically reduce/enlarge to full screen width

The best I can manage with v10 is to get landscape images OK (although not full width!), but any attempt to reduce the portrait image borders results in the next landscape image being constrained to the smaller window size. 2.4 adjusts window size to fit each image; version 10 appears not to.

Additionally, 2.4 has an option on copying/moving files that v10 doesn't - if duplicate names are found, 2.4 will give the option of copying/moving and keeping both files by appending user defined characters to the name, ot it will compare the files and if identical simply do nothing (if a copy) or do nothing nothing and remove the duplicate from the source. In case that doesn't make sense, if I make a duplicate copy of a directory and then set 2.4 to move all the files, I can end up with one directory empty and the other unchanged. This is very useful, and I haven't found another file viewer that will let me do this. Certainly the place where this option exists in ther 2.4 settings is absent in v10, and I haven't found it under another name.

If I want to display multiple images on screen, 2.4 is fine and 10 requires every window to be resized - a lot of unnecessay work. If I want to move without creating needless duplicate images under different names (incidentally, 2.4 seems to work this magic on any file type) then 2.4 does the job and 10 doesn't.

Years ago I tried all the then available image viewers, and found ACDSee the best for me. 2.4 is still what I use despite having the latest IrfanView, Faststone and ACDSee 10 installed. None have (as far as I can find) those essential (to me features. Yes, I could live without them if I positively had to; but so long as Win7 works on my hardware, then I'm not shifting. As I said before, I use a computer to do a job, not run an operating system. If it gets too hard, then I'll start to look at emulators on other operating systems.

Thanks for trying to help; and I'll be delighted if you can tell me how to make the current version perform these simple tasks - ones that only a moron would have removed from the program, so either I've missed them or...

 

[petersmart]

Wow back to Windows 7, good luck with that in the coming years.

I still use Win XP and Win 7 in VMs (VirtualBox) and have no problems with them at all.

In fact this post is being written in my Photography VM running XP which is installed on Linux Mint 18.3.

Long live XP and Win 7!