iMovies, Media > Photo only shows filenames but not the thumbnail pics

[Petef56]

I'm having a problem with iMovies on a MacBook. When I click MEDIA > PHOTO, it lists all the file names of the JPG files but it does not display the thumbnail pic of each file. It also won't allow me to select any of the files listed. iPhoto shows the pics normally but iDVD also has a problem similar to iMovies.

The only thing unusual done on this computer recently was to connect a new external USB HD. I had first attempted copy all the pic files from within iPhoto and paste them into the external HD. That failed to work because it said a particualr file was busy. So next I used "Mac HD" from the desktop to navigate to the iPhoto Library folder containg all the pics and did a copy and paste to the external HD. That copied all the files to the ext USB HD and I was able to open the JPG files to verify they copied properly.

This is a very new computer so let's assume it has the latest OS and software.

--pete--