How do I write a working IThumbnailProvider for Windows Vista

Question

I have written a thumbnail provider following the interfaces specified on MSDN. However, I have been unable to figure out how to register it in a way that Vista actually calls into it. Has anyone gotten a thumbnail provider working for Vista? Sample code or links would be especially helpful.

Answer 1

The documented way to register your IThumbnailProvider is to create a registry entry at HKCR\.ext\ShellEx\{E357FCCD-A995-4576-B01F-234630154E96} and set the (Default) string value to the GUID of your IThumbnailProvider.

Your assembly will need to be registered first. If using .NET, that means you will need to use the RegAsm.exe tool to register it.

There is sample code available here: http://www.benryves.com/?mode=filtered&single_post=3189294