some of the pictures i open are very hard to make out.  most of the ones i am having trouble with are als, purrfect eva, sadie jones.  pictures look like paintings?  am i doing something wrong or is it my computer.  please help

can you give an example? a link or at least a pic where this happens?

http://img175.imagevenue.com/view.php?image=17995_set2170_571_lg_123_219lo.jpg

 

like this one

Looks OK to me - maybe you have your color settings low.

Try this:
If you're on a Windows machine, right click on a open area of the desktop and then Properties > Settings (tab at the top).  Make sure the Color Quality setting reads "Highest (32 bit)."  Sometimes if you're in 16 bit or lower, it can make photos and other graphics look weird.  If you're using a Mac, I think it's in the System Preferences > Display menu.

Hope that helps.

looks okay to me too.

one thing about halcyon7's advice (which is worth checking regardless just to rule it out) is that those settings would affect all pics you view, not just pics from certain sites.

do you know how to do a screen capture? usually the prtsc function on your keyboard will work--it will copy your screen to your clipboard and you just need to paste it into image viewing software, save it, and upload it to a host.

maybe comparing what you are seeing on your screen with what we see will help the tech gurus here figure this out for you.

jch1:

one thing about halcyon7's advice (which is worth checking regardless just to rule it out) is that those settings would affect all pics you view, not just pics from certain sites.

Good call - I hadn't thought of that.  Yeah, a screencap would be super helpful too.