Well, it's not a solution to the problem, but assuming this really is an issue with the content of that specific file, you could try converting it instead with the free image viewing/conversion program Irfanview. I've been using that for years and love it. It's a million light years ahead of MS Paint.
Just to round out my go-to image trifecta, if you need to do any image manipulation of bitmap files, I recommend Paint.net. Easy to use and supports layered editing. If you work with vector images, try Inkscape. I'm really looking forward to universal web support for the SVG format. Infinitely scalable graphics are just fascinating.
Jamie