Nice Tip dude…thanx

I faced the same issue with CorelDraw X7 installed alongside X5. What worked for me was resetting the file associations in Windows to link .CDR files explicitly to the newer version. After that, the preview thumbnails finally showed up correctly in Explorer. Worth trying if thumbnails don’t appear right away.

Maybe the issue with previewing CDR files happens because the different CorelDraw versions conflict with each other? It could be that having X6, X7, and X8 installed alongside X5 causes the file associations or codecs to get mixed up. Perhaps trying to reinstall the older version after the newer ones might fix the preview problem? Not sure though, just guessing.

@Rakesh Bhardwaj I faced the same issue when upgrading from X5 to X8. What worked for me was repairing the shell extension responsible for the CDR previews. I ran the CorelDraw installer again but selected the ‘Repair’ option, and after that, the thumbnails started showing up consistently in Windows Explorer. It seems newer versions sometimes overwrite or disable the older preview handlers, so a repair fix resets it.

@Rakesh Bhardwaj When multiple versions of CorelDRAW are installed, it’s common for thumbnail previews of CDR files to stop working properly in Windows Explorer because different versions handle file associations and shell extensions differently. One way to fix this is to set the default program for .cdr files to the version you use most often, then rebuild the icon cache or restart Windows Explorer. There are also third-party utilities that can restore thumbnail preview support for older CorelDRAW versions if needed.

I think the issue with previewing older CDR files might be because newer versions like X6 or X7 change how they handle some elements, so the older files don’t display right. Maybe it has to do with the file format compatibility or something with the shell extension for thumbnails? I’d try reinstalling the older version after the newer ones, but I’m not sure if that helps.

Just to add a bit of clarity regarding CorelDRAW versions: installing X6, X7, or X8 alongside X5 or earlier often causes thumbnail preview issues because newer versions update the file associations and preview handlers that older versions rely on. Sometimes, repairing the installation of the earliest version after installing the newer ones can help restore previews for all versions. Also, make sure your system has the latest Windows updates, as missing OS components can affect thumbnail generation.