Windows Spotlite

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Hello All –

I’ve been here so frequently lately, that I feel I should invite you all over for dinner.  I have finished putting together my new WIN 10 computer & everything seems to be working perfectly, at least so I thought.  Quite a few months ago on my old WIN 10 computer (originally updated from WIN 7 and most recently updated to 1903), I noticed that the spotlite location information on my lockscreen had disappeared.  I finally gave up on trying to make it work.  Loading windows on my new computer, I was pleasantly surprised with the reappearance of same.  Alas in the process of changing the myriad of settings, the location data for the spotlite images has again disappeared.  I must have done something to kill it, but I have no ide what.  I’d like to get it back.  As always, any help would be appreciated.

Casey H.

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Something I forgot to add: said information appears if I actually lock the screen, something which I never do.  It’s just not there after logging off, which I do frequently as I share the computer with my wife, and an additional account that has admin privileges.

Casey H.

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Not sure if this will fix it, but it’s worth a shot – it forces Win10 to reinstall the Spotlight app and its packages.

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage “$($_.InstallLocation)\appxmanifest.xml” -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }

Run this command from a PowerShell window running as Administrator, and I would also reboot after doing so. (Not sure if a logoff/logon would suffice.)

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TenForums.com has a Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight batch file, which includes that re-register command, but also deletes existing Spotlight images which apparently helps:

How to Reset and Re-register Windows Spotlight in Windows 10

I’ve had to use it a couple of times, as Windows Spotlight can be rather fragile.

It’s been successful for me and a whole bunch of other people, but the bottom line there is important because it still requires some patience:

“Sometimes it may take up to 24 hours after resetting for Windows Spotlight to sync again.”

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Casey H wrote:

Loading windows on my new computer, I was pleasantly surprised with the reappearance of same.  Alas in the process of changing the myriad of settings, the location data for the spotlite images has again disappeared.  I must have done something to kill it, but I have no ide what.  I’d like to get it back.  As always, any help would be appreciated.

Casey H.

I just realized that on your new computer you’re only missing the text captions on the lock screen, not the images themselves. The only explanation I know for that is if you have enabled “Secure sign-in” by requiring Ctrl+Alt+Del to unlock the lock screen: Captions do not appear with the images if the Ctrl-Alt-Del option is enabled (probably at Run, netplwiz, Advanced).

How to Enable or Disable Secure Sign-in with Ctrl+Alt+Delete in Windows 10

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Hello All –

 

I’d like to revisit this again.  After making no changes, my laptop started to show the “spotlight tips,” starting (I think) with the March Windows update.  It may also have occurred when I transitioned to 20H2.  I upgraded my main PC on the same day.  Both computers are running 20H2 with March updates installed.  As mentioned, the laptop shows the “tips” whenever the lock screen comes into view.  My main PC shows only the spotlight images, without the extra stuff.  If I actually lock the computer, then the tips show up along with the pictures.  I like being able to identify the pictures’ locations, but I don’t like locking up the computer just to see them.  Somehow in the hundreds of PC settings, I have my laptop setup differently.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Casey H.

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