Hmmm,

Well, you could try a different gallery style. Check my page under photos. I came up with this solution because I was tired of always having to rewrite my scripts for different servers permission levels etc. Everything is pre-processed or ofloaded to the client. If you like the galleries there you can download most of the software to make them from the code section of my site.
(Foot note. Check out the Kim Smith gallery. It was created using the most recent version of the S/W. Some of the original/old galleries have slightly different code.. IE specific)

You still need a thumbnail maker program (like thumbs plus) but the rest is pretty easy to do. If you decide to try it and need any help let me know.