Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10  

I don't see Edge listed in the background apps - is that diagram correct?

I also do not have Microsoft Edge in the backgroud app list, BUT: if you open Edge, then go into Settings - System, you will find a backgroud setting there.

I am joining this thread because I also have this problem. I always managed to fix it with the usual steps. This thread have slightly different approach, and at the end I mix all steps together and the procedure works.

BUT.... this f***ing thing, after a while, stops working again. Maybe after days, maybe after months. But you can be sure.

Here is my idea... I have hand-picked almost one hundred of beautiful 4K wallpapers (I have a 4K monitor) and these are great for the boot and lock screen (Spotlight does not use 4K images) so I think I can disable spotlight and use "picture" setting.... but now I need a way to automatically change the picture every day.

Which is the registry key that holds the picture name / location ?
Someone is able to write a bat that selected a random image from a given folder, and change this registry key ???

Cheers !
Ginosergio

P.S.: Windows 10 PRO ver: 2004 build 19041.804

Hello @Ginosergio, and welcome to Ten Forums.

You could use step 5 in option 1 of the tutorial below to set the lock screen to use a folder with these pictures in it as a slideshow for the background.

It plays the images in the folder, but I'm not sure on how random they will be.

Change Lock Screen Background in Windows 10

Ginosergio said:

Hi Brink, thank you for your answer but I forgot to mention a thing:
The "standard" setting that you can do with the well-known window where I spent hours of my life fighting with Spotlight, does NOT work for me. Like Spotlight when it goes mad.
I set "Slideshow", I select 2 folders of my C: disk where I have my beautiful wallpapers, and the preview immediately show a new picture.... that is not on my HD !! I never seen that picture.
And obviously that is the only picture that I see both in lock screen and when I boot my PC. It never change.

That's why I was searching for the registry key....

I haven't been able to find a registry key for a slideshow yet.

Brink said:

I haven't been able to find a registry key for a slideshow yet.

Hi Shawn,

I have written a small script, which can be scheduled to run from the Task Scheduler (with user selected frequency) and randomly changes the Lock image, from a preset images folder ("$env:USERPROFILE\Pictures\Wallpapers\WindowsSpotlight\Images") which of course can be changed in the script.

Code:

function Get-RandomNumber {
    $RandomBytes = New-Object -TypeName "System.Byte[]" 4
    $Random = New-Object -TypeName "System.Security.Cryptography.RNGCryptoServiceProvider"
    $Random.GetBytes($RandomBytes)
    [BitConverter]::ToInt32($RandomBytes, 0)
}

$RegistryKey = "Registry::\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP"

$ImagesFolder = "$env:USERPROFILE\Pictures\Wallpapers\WindowsSpotlight\Images"

$LockScreenImageValue = (Get-ChildItem -Path $ImagesFolder | Get-Random -SetSeed (Get-RandomNumber) -Count 1).FullName

if (!(Test-Path $RegistryKey)) {
    New-Item -Path $RegistryKey -Force | Out-Null
}

# Create Registry entries for Lock Screen
Set-ItemProperty -Path $RegistryKey -Name "LockScreenImageStatus" -Type DWord -Value 1 -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path $RegistryKey -Name "LockScreenImagePath" -Type String -Value $LockScreenImageValue -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path $RegistryKey -Name "LockScreenImageUrl" -Type String -Value $LockScreenImageValue -Force

#Ensure the changes to the Lock screen image take place immediately
rundll32.exe user32.dll, UpdatePerUserSystemParameters

I have been running this one, for a while now, since I got sick of Spotlight not working!!!

I forgot... once you apply the registry settings the LockScreen selector is disabled.
To re-enable it, you need to delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP registry key!