photo previewing

Hello. I run in win 7 home premium 64 and i have one question.Why can't i see the preview of a photo. I also have another laptop with win xp and there, if you select large icons, you can see them without opening the file (in small icons ). I have tryied 3 programmes ( windows live photo gallery, hp media smart photo programme and nero media hub ) and i have iven selected the option " very large icons " but the only thing i see is the pic of a flower (in windows live ) , a pic of a camera ( in hp... ) e.t.c. What can i do in order to be able to see the photo without having to open it first. ( I forgot to mention that i have also used a programme from microsoft that runs and checks your system for such problemes, it cleans things in registry, from the official site but still nothing)

Hello again. I've tryied it but it doesn't work with either 3 programmes

Any ideas why this is happening?It's just me or it's a win 7 feature. I'm ok with my other laptop witch runs winxp home os

Thank you Dwarf.It was that simple! I hope you are always well. Thank you again!