FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: How to integrate Universal Viewer into popular file managers?
Q2: I can't view DOC/XLS, ODT/ODS or PDF files...
Q3: What are the limits for files sizes?
Q4: What are security concerns when a link is opened in HTML page?
Q5: Can the Flash animation be played not in the full window?
Q6: Why some UTF-8 encoded texts are not shown?
Q7: Word/Excel documents are sometimes opened in a new window...
Q8: How to change the look of WMP 6.4 control?
Q9: When images are get from IrfanView/XnView, the animation doesn't work...
Q10: Does the program have issues with Unicode filenames?
Q11: How to view CHM files?
Q12: For Word files, I get message "Cannot init MS Office control"...

Q1: How to integrate Universal Viewer into popular file managers?

A:

Q2: I can't view DOC/XLS, ODT/ODS or PDF files. Viewer shows only a blank page. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

A1:

To display DOC/XLS you need to install one of the following:

To display ODT/ODS/ODP you need to install one of the following:
To display PDF you need to install one of the following:

A2: If the first answer doesn't help, i.e. you have needed Office applications installed but the window is still blank in Internet mode, try to enable option "Multimedia -- Internet -- Try to open unknown file types".

Q3: What are the limits for files sizes?

A: UV can show, in Text/Binary/Hex/Unicode modes, files of any size. You can quickly scroll huge files in mentioned view modes, as UV holds in memory only small amount of file data (approximately 120-180 Kb), and not the whole file contents.

But you cannot open huge files in RTF/UTF-8 mode and (usually) in Plugins mode, because RichEdit control and most of plugins try to load the whole file contents and this will be very slow and will fail.

Q4: If a link in a local HTML file opens a page from the Internet within Universal Viewer, could there be any security concerns? The reason I ask this question is because we are constantly hearing stories about security flaws in this or that browser.

A: Security concerns in UV are almost the same as in Internet Explorer (with current settings). UV uses web control based on code and settings of current installation of MSIE.

So If MSIE has a flaw and you don't want to open a page with it, you shouldn't also open the link to that page in UV. To prevent this, I recommend to check the option "View -- Internet -- Offline browsing", which prevents online content to be opened. Note that some links can be setup to be opened in a separate MSIE window, and this option won't affect them.

Q5: Can the Flash animation be played not in the full window?

A: By default Flash animation is played in Internet mode, in MSIE window. You may change this to play it in different way, where you can affect Flash picture size:

Q6: Why some UTF-8 encoded texts are not shown?

A: In older versions (older than 1.5.9.0) UV required presence of UTF-8 signatures in the file. In newer versions this is not required, but note:

Q7: Word/Excel documents are sometimes opened in a new window...

A: This is a known problem with MS Office, it sometimes can be fixed by applying the following .REG file. Save the following text to a new file, name it "Fix.reg" and double-click it in Explorer: 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Word.Document.8]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000024

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Word.RTF.8]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000024

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Word.Document.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000024

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Word.DocumentMacroEnabled.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000024

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000A00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Excel.Sheet.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000A00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000A00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Excel.SheetBinaryMacroEnabled.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:80000A00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.Show.8]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.Show.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.ShowMacroEnabled.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.SlideShow.8]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.SlideShow.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\PowerPoint.SlideShowMacroEnabled.12]
"BrowserFlags"=dword:800000A0

Q8: How to change the look of WMP 6.4 control?

A: The look of Windows Media Player 6.4 control can be changed to mimic the look of WMP 9.0 (if WMP 9.0+ is installed on your system). To do this, apply the following .REG file: 

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ShimInclusionList\VIEWER.EXE]

To undo this change, apply the following .REG file: 

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ShimInclusionList\VIEWER.EXE]

Q9: When images are get from IrfanView/XnView, the animation doesn't work...

A: The IrfanView/XnView intefrace is sending a simple bitmap to the application, and the animation isn't supported for simple bitmaps. So to view GIFs with animation you have to use the internal image library (Hint: use the '4' key to switch between internal library and IrfanView/XnView).

Q10: Does the program have issues with Unicode filenames?

A:

Q11: How to view CHM files?

A: Install the plugin HTMLView. Then, go to Plugins options dialog (F10 key), press Configure button for HTMLView, and in the Detect-string field write the string:
ext:chm

Q12: For Word files, I get message "Cannot init MS Office control"...

A: To show Word files, UV can use one of the following: