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Can only Save Images in Internet Explorer as .BMP Files

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When you try to save a graphics file in Internet Explorer, you may be able to save the file only as a .bmp file even if the file is in another format (such as .gif or .jpeg). The file name may also appear as Untitled.

This can be caused by various conditions:

  1. A full or "corrupted" Temporary Internet cache
  2. You have the setting Do not save encrypted pages to disk selected in Tools > Options, Advanced tab and are loading the page on which the graphics are via a secure connection (https).
  3. If you are using AOL, and have AOL's graphic compression option is turned on. In that case, graphics are saved as .art file type.

Depending on the specific cause for your issue, use one of the following methods to fix the issue:

  1. Delete your browsers Temporary Internet files. You can do that by selecting Tools > Options, select the General tab, and then click the Delete Files button.
  2. Change the setting Do not save encrypted pages to disk by clearing the check box. This setting can be found by going to Tools > Options, Advanced tab on Internet Explorer's menu.
  3. Switch off AOL's graphic compression. Select My AOL > Settings > Preferences, in the Preferences dialog box, select Internet Options (WWW), and in the dialog box that openes, click to clear the Always Compress Graphics check box. Click to select Never Compress Graphics, then click Apply, and OK.

If that doesn't help check your registry, to see if the entries are correct.

  1. Start the Registry Editor
  2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.gif
  3. The Content Type (listed in the right pane) should heve the value image/gif
  4. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpeg
  5. The Content Type (listed in the right pane) should heve the value image/jpeg
  6. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg
  7. The Content Type (listed in the right pane) should heve the value image/jpeg




Last Updated: July 15, 2004