Windows Spotlight lock screen picture won't change

Anonymous
2018-02-09T16:26:33+00:00

Hello,

I have an HP laptop running Windows 10, and usually when my laptop is locked, the picture changes every now and then on my lock screen and I really enjoyed that. But recently for the past month or two, it's been stuck on the same picture and it stopped changing to new pictures. I checked my settings and I still have "Windows Spotlight" set as my lock screen but still nothing happens. It just stopped working and changing pictures for some reason.

If anyone can help, please do!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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Anonymous
2018-05-22T00:04:55+00:00

Just follow these steps of Windows Central:

How to fix Windows Spotlight Lock screen errors Is Windows Spotlight broken or stuck on the same image? If so, this guide details the steps to fix the issue.

Windows Spotlight is a feature included with Windows 10 that uses Bing to automatically download and set new background images on the Lock screen, to keep your experience fresh every time you sign in.

The only caveat with Windows Spotlight is that sometimes it will stop working, or you'll notice that it gets stuck on the same image. Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn't include an option to reset this feature. However, it's possible to fix the Windows Spotlight settings with this simple workaround.

In this Windows 10 guide, we show you the steps to fix Windows Spotlight on your computer and keep getting fresh images from Bing on your Lock screen.

How to reset Windows Spotlight

If the Windows Spotlight feature is stuck on the same image, or it's not working at all, you can use the following steps to fix the issue:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click on Lock screen.
  4. Under "Background," make sure Windows Spotlight is NOT selected and change the option to Picture or Slideshow.
  5. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
  6. Type the following path and click OK. %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets
  7. Select all the files (Ctrl + A) and hit the Delete key to clear all old images (if applicable).
  8. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command again.
  9. Type the following path to where the Windows Spotlight settings are stored and click OK. %USERPROFILE%/AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings
  10. Right-click settings.dat and roaming.lock individually, then click Rename and name them settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak.
  11. Restart your computer.
  12. Open Settings.
  13. Click on Personalization.
  14. Click on Lock screen.
  15. Under "Background," make sure to enable Windows Spotlight.

Once you complete these steps, you can lock your PC (Windows key + L), and the Lock screen should show new Bing images.

If everything worked as expected, remember to go back to the Settings folders where Windows Spotlight stores the settings and delete the settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak files.

Alternative method to fix Windows Spotlight

If the steps mentioned above didn't fix Windows Spotlight, you can try to reset the settings using the following steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Personalization.
  3. Click on Lock screen.
  4. Under "Background," make sure to enable Windows Spotlight. (If you don't enable the feature, you're likely to get an error while running the PowerShell command.)
  5. Open Start.
  6. Search for Windows PowerShell, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.
  7. Enter the following command and press Enter to reset the Windows Spotlight: Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage "$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }
  8. Restart your computer.

After completing these steps, you should be able to lock your PC (Windows key + L), and the Lock screen should show new Bing images.

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-windows-spotlight-stuck-same-image-windows-10?passport=1526946645

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-01-06T15:57:36+00:00

    I am going to ask a tech to work on this with me, with these added steps.

    Here is my request: Can someone put together a new full set of steps that INCLUDE Folders A-F, W and O, and everything else that User LMGR68 may have added to User Pettson and any other User (Lucas T.) that has steps necessary for this process. Including steps that require a 10 minute wait for images to download, or whatever.

    I know I am infringing on the good will of others, but I am not at all techy, and need a LOT of hand-holding for simple tasks. Even pointing a Dell Tech, who is overseas and I will be pointing to this information (I have full support), will be confusing for me. If I can get one whole post with everything in one spot, I can just copy that and give them that one post to work from.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-06T15:51:09+00:00

    Forgot to say that in your version of windows the infos of spotlight image are stored in a 18 digits name subkey under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative&lt;USERID> which should contain 4 values only (except the default): contentId, landscapeImage, portraitImage and showImageOnSecureLock and the <USERID> key should contain two values LockImageFlags and RotatingLockScreenEnabled

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-01-06T15:38:19+00:00

    I'm pretty sure that you know what you do. You are right about the tips. they shouldn't be there with default image. They remain since the last time that spotlight worked.

    ShortContentId on first screenshot should match with CreativeId on second screenshot if spotlight was working.

    In case that it won't succeed after what you've already made Ι suggest the following last steps that I have in mind:

    1. Disable spotlight
    2. Make sure that Current user entries are identical with Welcome screen entries in Control Panel->Region->Administrative Tab->Copy Settings (I know that you said you did it before, but double check)
    3. Rename C:\Users&lt;USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy to Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy_OLD
    4. Export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative key (including subkeys) and then delete all subkeys (only) under Creative
    5. Export HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager key (including subkeys) and then delete it completely
    6. In an elevated command prompt execute the command PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *ContentDeliveryManager*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"
    7. Reboot
    8. Enable spotlight again and press Windows Key + L. Sometimes is necessary to select Picture again press Windows Key + L and then back to spotlight and press Windows Key + L

    After that visit the deleted keys in registry and the renamed folder and see if the were recreated.

    I really hope that you will succeed.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-01-06T13:53:43+00:00

    Googled "ContentDeliveryManager and 338387" and there is some talk about that being the facts shown on Lock screen. And it sounds correct because ContentId seems to hold geographical location data but it did not match what in this case what was shown on my Lock screen. Either it didn't match other reg values I managed to find related when i googled and searched the registry.

    Found some corruption there so I erased the mismatched data (I know what I'm doing so keep calm) and rebooted.

    At least I now have the default offline background (lake and red backpack) with correct geo data shown when i select Spotlight.

    While I wait to see if Spotlight will update the image now I will investigate and see why the tips are showing, because they shouldn't with the settings I have.

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