Some Causes and Solutions for Picture Loading Problems When Using eBay's Picture Service

1) Picture size (number of pixels) is too large.  Desirably they should be around 1.5GB.

2) Image format is not a .jpg or .gif .  Change them with an image-editing program.

3) An anti-virus program may be causing loading problems. This is quite commont since they are updated routinely and as a result, picture loading may be unknowingly affected. Turn the program off while loading pictures and then back on when loading is completed.

4) Clear out your cache and cookies while not on an eBay page.  Or better yet, clear your cache with your browser closed.  A full cache can cause improper page loading.  Since this could be a memory problem, turn off all unnecessary programs such as email, instant messaging and any other program that's draining memory while listing.  For IE cache removal in XP, go to Start > ControlPanel > InternetOptions > GeneralTab > DeleteFiles button > Delete all offline content > OK.  To remove cookies: Double click My computer, open Drive C (Your HD), open Windows Folder, open Cookies folder and delete contents.  Also, while in Windows folder, go to the Temporary Internet Files folder and delete all in there.  Suggest you set the cache size to a maximum of 50MB and also checkmark the box to check for new pages with "Every visit to the page".  Upon doing the above you should reboot your computer.

5) Browser security setting is too high.  Picture uploading problems are usually due to a change in security settings.  If new software was installed or updated, or if security software updates itself automatically from the web, you may get incomplete pages or pages that refuse to function.  Most XP computers are now preloaded with software that updates itself from the net in the background.  Such automatic updates of XP and security software can often unknowingly alter ones security settings.  You should lower your setting to "Medium" or less.  Upgrading to Internet Explorer (IE) 7 defaults to higher security settings than those of IE 6 and even if you un-install and go back to IE 6, the higher settings remain.  To change the security settings go to "Tools" on the Menu. Select "Internet Options".  In the pop-up window, select the "Security" tab and choose the Globe (Internet) option. Click the "Default Level" button and make sure the drop-down box is set to "Medium".  While there, click the "Custom Level" button.  You will see a list of security settings.  Scroll down until you see "Navigate sub-frames across different Domains".  If that is set to "Disable", then change it to either "Prompt" or "Enable".  Click OK and close out the settings.  Also, if when you click "Continue" while uploading pictures and you are redirected to the eBay Home Page, it is usually because of a specific security setting in IE.  This can be corrected by implementing these changes.  McAfee privacy manager should be turned off.

6) A firewall or pop-up blocker is stopping the loading.  These can prohibit you from using Auctiva and from receiving the ActiveX Control code that lets you use eBay's enhanced picture service.  This includes those in XP (Service Pack 2 for Windows XP has a pop-up blocker built in), AOL, Norton's script/Ad Blocker, AdSubtract, Popswatter, and in toolbars such as Google, Yahoo and FunWeb.  Turn your firewall or pop-up blocker off while loading pictures and when communicating with eBay's "Live Help" or adjust the settings to permit access to eBay and the Auctiva website.    Go either here to learn how to turn off the pop-up blocker when using Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Internet Explorer or go to the IE Tools menu, point to Pop-up Blocker, and then click Turn Off Pop-up Blocker. In addition you may need to change your firewall settings to enable "Web Bugs" for eBay sites.   These generally are invisible, 1 by 1 pixel graphic images (gif) that functions in a manner similar to cookies.  The eBay Web Bugs are benign.

7) A toolbar may be causing loading problems.  Try disabling any add-on toolbar and see if that helps. If you use the eBay toolbar, uninstall it.  Later you may want to install the current toolbar version that you can get here

8) Web accelerators may be a problem.  Temporarily disable any Web accelerators.  A typical problem is that an item may be missing such as the box in which to write your description.  Disable accelerator software, such as AOL's TopSpeed as well as many others.  Here are a few examples: 

 ...Turn off AOL's TopSpeed by clicking "Settings" on the AOL Toolbar, click "Internet Properties", select the TopSpeed tab and then remove the check from the "Turn on AOL TopSpeed" box.

 ... To turn off NetZero HiSpeed 3G just right-click on the NetZero HiSpeed 3G speedometer icon in the system tray You can also  click on the word HiSpeed 3G on the NetZero HiSpeed 3G toolbar and choose 'Turn HiSpeed 3G Off'.

 ... To turn Google Web Accelerator off without uninstalling it just click on the Stop Google Web Accelerator menu item. When Google Web Accelerator is turned off, the Google Web Accelerator icon in the system tray goes away. If you've made the Google Web Accelerator Toolbar invisible in IE, to access its icon menu you'll have to make it visible again by clicking on View > Toolbars > Google Web Accelerator from your main browser menu toolbar.

 ... To disable EarthLink's accelerator you can do so by clicking the TotalAccess icon in the system tray. Then choose EarthLink Accelerator and select Disable EarthLink Accelerator.

9) Internet Explorer 7 browser add-ons may cause problems.  Starting IE 7 with all add-ons disabled is a method to rule out add-ons as a potential cause of picture loading issues.  While in Windows, you can start IE 7 without add-ons by clicking Start, then click Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).  You can also start IE 7 with out add-ons by right-clicking the desktop IE icon and then clicking No Add-ons.  The next time you start Internet Explorer, the add-ons will be turned on again.  If disabling all add-ons solves the problem, you might want to find out what specific add-on was the culprit and then, disable the conflicting add-on.

10) You have an old browser or are using AOL's browser, change to the current Internet Explorer browser.  Download the latest version from microsoft.com/windows/ie/.  Some have had success by simply changing browsers; i.e. try the free Mozilla FireFox 2.0 .

11) JavaScript is not enabled. In order to use eBay Picture Services, your browser must have JavaScript (Active Scripting) enabled.  For IE; go to Tools, Internet Options, Security Tab, Custom Level, and make sure all boxes are enabled under the "Scripting" item.  Also go back to Internet Options->Advanced and make sure that "JIT compiler for virtual machine enabled" is checked under the Microsoft VM section. 

12) Computer is invested with Spyware/Adware.  Spyware/Adware is software that performs behaviors such as advertising, collecting personal information or changing the configuration of your computer; generally without obtaining consent. Routinely run the free "Ad-Aware" or "Spybot-Search & Destroy" programs to remove spyware.  Locate them by searching in Google.

13) Change your eBay photo preferences.  To change preferences (Basic or Enhanced) go to "Update Sell Your Item Form Picture Preference" by clicking here, make your selection and then click the "Submit" button.  You may try switching your selection and then after restarting, returning to your original selection.  The enhanced (full-featured) version will not work for Mac users or with the Netscape browser.

14) If you are having problems with installing eBay's enhanced photo service, first try holding down the Shift/Ctrl keys and then click on install.  If you are using the enhanced picture uploader, update eBay's ActiveX Control module on your computer.  Those using the Windows XP operating system, make sure you are logged in under the Administrator Account instead of a Limited Account.  You can verify your access level by clicking the "User Accounts" icon found in the Control Panel.  First empty your cache (see item #3 above) and in Internet Explorer: a) select the Tools menu, Internet Options b) on the General tab, select Settings under Temporary Internet files c) select View Objects d) Right click on "EPUImageControl class" and/or "EPSImageControl Class" control and delete it.  If you have more then one, delete them all. Close your browser. e) Re-start your computer. Return to the Sell Your Item form.  Once you are on page 3, if not automatically prompted to download the Active X control, locate and click the "Upgrade to our free full-featured version" link.  Click yes to install and run it.

15) When updating the most recent eBay's ActiveX Control for the enhanced picture uploader, you must give each screen some additional time.  After proceeding through a few screens you may get an error message and implying it is done.  Don't be fooled, it's not.  If you wait a couple minutes a yellow Active X bar will appear under the address bar requesting you to authorize the download.  Click it and wait for the "certificate dialog box" to appear to be able to finish the download.  In summary, wait a few minutes after any error messages and again a few minutes after clicking the yellow bar.

16) No picture upload box is visible when using the new sell form. When this occurs, you need to drag the picture form to the top of your monitor's screen so that the "Upload Picture" box is revealed at the bottom of the screen.  You can also solve the problem by increasing your monitor's screen resolution (screen area) so that more of a page, or a total page, is shown on your screen. As an example, change the current Display Properties settings from 800 by 600 pixels to 1024 by 768 pixels.

17) Reset your cable modem.  To reset your external cable modem, disconnect the power cable for at least one minute.  Plug modem back in and reboot your system. Rebooting will also reset any internal modem.

18) To get additional eBay suggestions and help go to Troubleshooting Enhanced Picture Services and/or to Troubleshooting Basic Picture Services and/or to this Discussion Board.

19) If it's been awhile since you defragmented your PC, I'd suggest you do such.