So the problem is that the Vista hack that enables one to run 32-bit explorer in Vista x64 in order to get .NEF thumbnails viewable does not work in Windows 7.

I don't know if anyone came up with a better solution for this yet, here's mine:

http://a.imagehost.org/0215/explorer324nef.png


tinyurl.com/explorer32-4nef

This will bring you to zip file. Inside the zip is an .exe and a .frm, the latter being the VB6 source in case it doesn't work for someone or they have something to add to it. I just did this in like ten minutes this morning.

So anyway, all it does is call a 32-bit open dialog box, which opens to the folder of whatever path/file is provided as a command line parameter. This means you can put a shortcut to the .exe file in your "Send to" folder, and then use the "Send to" menu item when right clicking a file (or folder) to open the dialog in whatever folder the file (or folder) is located. You can also just drag-drop a .nef file into the .exe and it will open at the file's location as well. Actually, you can just run it and browse to the desired folder too.

When it starts, it will pop open the 32-bit open file dialog, and if you have your Nikon Thumbnail viewing software installed correctly, it will generate thumbnails. (You can do this with any 32-bit application, incidentally.) These thumbnails will then be visible in 64-bit explorer as well. If you double click a file it will shellexecute the default application associated with it and reopen itself. Otherwise the thing acts pretty much like explorer, except I didn't figure out how to enable selection of multiple files yet.