Windows spotlight not work!!

dimitris40 said:

Hello to everyone i have a strange issue these days windows spotlight stuck in same picture cave lake
i try everything delete folder where located pictures ,re-register on power shell,reset app settings but nothing works
picture not change i run windows 1903 x64 pls help!!!
ps:can be server down ?

it's not server problem it seems a bug

Try these steps.First go to [Tip] Add "Take Ownership" Option in Files and Folders Context Menu in Windows - AskVG download this file and add to regedit context menu. go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\your id big number folder\ReadOnly\LockScreen_O or goto “”C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData”” first right click add press take ownership and after goto to folder “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\your id big number folder\ReadOnly\LockScreen_O”.If you have permission problems right click again to” LockScreen_O” and select take ownership and delete the photo that exist there.Then goto Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10 download “”re-register batch file”” and run it with admin rights.After go to “”C:\Windows\Web\Screen”” find and delete or rename the stuck image if exist there.Then go to windows settings and change spotlight to Picture or Slideshow and after select again windows spotlight menu.After all these go to lock workstation mode 2 or 3 times (Win key + L ) and login to windows again some times.after a little time if does not any other problem the windows spotlight work again.

dimitris40 said:

Thanks for reply i try all even new installation but nothing helps

Hi!
You are not alone with the problems with Windows Spotlight! I've tried all setting above at no avail.
Windows 10, still in beta...

mitsaras78 said:

it's not server problem it seems a bug

Try these steps.First go to [Tip] Add "Take Ownership" Option in Files and Folders Context Menu in Windows - AskVG download this file and add to regedit context menu. go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\your id big number folder\ReadOnly\LockScreen_O or goto “”C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData”” first right click add press take ownership and after goto to folder “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\your id big number folder\ReadOnly\LockScreen_O”.If you have permission problems right click again to” LockScreen_O” and select take ownership and delete the photo that exist there.Then goto Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10 download “”re-register batch file”” and run it with admin rights.After go to “”C:\Windows\Web\Screen”” find and delete or rename the stuck image if exist there.Then go to windows settings and change spotlight to Picture or Slideshow and after select again windows spotlight menu.After all these go to lock workstation mode 2 or 3 times (Win key + L ) and login to windows again some times.after a little time if does not any other problem the windows spotlight work again.

Greetings to mitsaras78 and to everyone in this forum!

I am new here and I have the same problem as stated in this thread. I tried deleting the mentioned folders (with and without emptying recycle bin) and then "reset-re-register-windows-spotlight-windows" manually with admin Powershell or with the .bat file provided. I followed the suggested steps, but no success, I am stuck with the same spotlight background and no "like what you see?" option or tips showing up. For some unknown reason, sometimes a error message shows up when I "reset-re-register-windows-spotlight-windows", other times this step works without showing errors .

Is the procedure suggested by mitsaras78 safe? I am a bit reluctant in testing this since it requires deleting system files and files in hidden folders. Has this been tested and has this worked as a permanet solution for anyone? Any recommendations for trying this?

GabePM said:

Greetings to mitsaras78 and to everyone in this forum!

I am new here and I have the same problem as stated in this thread. I tried deleting the mentioned folders (with and without emptying recycle bin) and then "reset-re-register-windows-spotlight-windows" manually with admin Powershell or with the .bat file provided. I followed the suggested steps, but no success, I am stuck with the same spotlight background and no "like what you see?" option or tips showing up. For some unknown reason, sometimes a error message shows up when I "reset-re-register-windows-spotlight-windows", other times this step works without showing errors .

Is the procedure suggested by mitsaras78 safe? I am a bit reluctant in testing this since it requires deleting system files and files in hidden folders. Has this been tested and has this worked as a permanet solution for anyone? Any recommendations for trying this?

Yes friend all these steps working for me.check these path , first path for check : C:\Windows\Web\Screen (find the stuck image and rename it) , or second path " C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\ " at this path you will se two main folders check all these folder at all and you will find the image there.Rename or delete the image stuck only.After re-register again the spotlight and wait after some restart.Something last i had the same problem and delete the registry folder "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative\S-1-5-21-1367095634-179868200-954147944-1001" and do a restart after all these step the spotlight download again new images and start working again.Please make a backup first at register.before delete everything.

mitsaras78 said:

Yes friend all these steps working for me.check these path , first path for check : C:\Windows\Web\Screen (find the stuck image and rename it) , or second path " C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\ " at this path you will se two main folders check all these folder at all and you will find the image there.Rename or delete the image stuck only.After re-register again the spotlight and wait after some restart.Something last i had the same problem and delete the registry folder "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative\S-1-5-21-1367095634-179868200-954147944-1001" and do a restart after all these step the spotlight download again new images and start working again.Please make a backup first at register.before delete everything.

Hi mitsaras78! Thanks for your reply and input. Even after following the steps you suggested I wasn´t able to delete some pictures from hidden folders (I even tried changing Security Settings from Properties of some of these pictures, but no success deleting). I ended up reformatting my laptop and installing a fresh Windows 10 two days ago. The formatting and installation was performed by a technician from the university where I work and now I have a license for Windows 10 from my university. The version installed was 1809 and I upgraded to version 1903 by Windows Update.
Spotlight seems to be changing pictures on a daily basis (it showed 2 different images until now) but the features “Like what you see?” and additional information about the image that normally is displayed are missing. I searched the web (for instance How to turn on Windows Spotlight Like What You See option.) and found a proposed solution by changing the Registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen\Creative. However, in my machine using this path to \Lock Screen doesn’t have a folder Creative. Is this the source of the problem? Do you have any solution to get the “Like what you see?” feature working?

mitsaras78 said:

Yes friend all these steps working for me.check these path , first path for check : C:\Windows\Web\Screen (find the stuck image and rename it) , or second path " C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\ " at this path you will se two main folders check all these folder at all and you will find the image there.Rename or delete the image stuck only.After re-register again the spotlight and wait after some restart.Something last i had the same problem and delete the registry folder "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Creative\S-1-5-21-1367095634-179868200-954147944-1001" and do a restart after all these step the spotlight download again new images and start working again.Please make a backup first at register.before delete everything.

OMG thanks, man! I just Sign up just for thank you for the edit in the Registry u mentioned worked just fine at least from a start.
I literally did everything you can find in the web for solving the Spotlight issue without success and finally thank to you I move forward, let me explain:
Before I was stuck with 1 image from Spotlight that never changed since around 2 weeks by now I did the "common" fixes of deleting the AppData folder and it messed even more, because now in the "Preview" in the Settings tab NO IMAGE at all was showing on like this:

Now after editing the Registry it looks like this again: And the image stuck its gone for good


Now should I leave like that and it will start downloading and changing the Images automatically? Or do I need to anything else?
Thanks in advance!!!

SkyFixer said:

Now should I leave like that and it will start downloading and changing the Images automatically? Or do I need to anything else?

Welcome to Ten Forums SkyFixer.

In my experience it may take up to 24 hours before the images start to download automatically.

Bree said:

Welcome to Ten Forums SkyFixer.

In my experience it may take up to 24 hours before the images start to download automatically.

Well sad to say but it appears it didnt work I already left to stay around 1 day and it changed nothing.

SkyFixer said:

Well sad to say but it appears it didnt work I already left to stay around 1 day and it changed nothing.

Even if you have done so before, carefully follow the steps in this tutorial.


Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10