Windows Spotlight lock screen picture won’t change

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!

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.

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.

Under «Background,» make sure Windows Spotlight is NOT selected and change the option to Picture or Slideshow.

Type the following path and click OK.

Select all the files (Ctrl + A) and hit the Delete key to clear all old images (if applicable).

Type the following path to where the Windows Spotlight settings are stored and click OK.

Right-click settings.dat and roaming.lock individually, then click Rename and name them settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak.

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.

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.)

Enter the following command and press Enter to reset the Windows Spotlight:

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach

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

How to Make Windows 10 Transparent with Aero Glass

Sometimes large companies make constant changes to their products that are not always liked by their users. This happened to Microsoft when it decided to dispense with transparencies from Windows 8 onwards. For many, giving a transparent touch to the edges of the windows with Aero Glass becomes a success by giving the system a more attractive appearance. Today we are going to see how we can perform this effect again in Windows 10.

Windows 7 was the last Microsoft operating system to incorporate transparencies, later being forgotten and replaced by flat surfaces, eliminating reflection, something that was widely criticized by many users who did not agree with this decision.

It is true that the use of transparency can go against the battery if you have a laptop. Even so, there are users who prefer this sacrifice at the cost of changing the boring user interface of Windows 10 for transparencies.

Now if we want to return to the aesthetic aspect of yesteryear, we can do it with the Aero Glass application and enjoy transparencies again.

Aero Glass brings back the transparencies

Aero Glass is an application that will return the glass effect completely to the window frames in Windows 10. With this tool we can apply a crystalline appearance to the edges of the windows, as well as a blur to the content. In this way we can give a more striking touch to our desktop.

It will also serve to change the volume of the transparency in the control panel or change the color of the borders of the inactive windows. Add brightness or shadows to the visual appearance of windows without changing the theme of Windows 10.

This tool is totally native, and includes MSSStyle themes and full compatibility with DWM API. Additionally, it integrates with Windows 10 Desktop Manager without interfering with any of the system components.

Changing the transparency and base colors is done directly from the Windows control panel. We can choose if we want the transparent effect to fit the entire window or just the frame. Create effects and colors with the native Direct3D device and give your transparencies a unique focus.

Customize Windows with a more visual look

Aero Glass is intended for advanced users with a deep understanding of Windows 10. The installation guide itself is explained in technical language and is therefore not a recommended tool for beginners. If they are new, we will have an installer to avoid problems.

In order to install this software it is important that we put all the files in a write location, since the DWM process does not run under the user interface. This is important, because if we do not do so, we will not be able to download symbols or create debug logs.

For greater security, it is possible to change the permissions of the aerohost.exe and dwmglass.dll files so that they can only be modified by the Administrator.

Download Aero Glass on Windows 10

This application is completely free and we can download it from its website.

Why can’t I change my screen brightness with Windows 10?

Replies (27) 

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Thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

I suggest you to try updating the Display Adapter drivers and check if it works for you.

Follow the steps to update the Display driver:

1. Press Windows Key + X key and click Device Manager.
2. Expand ‘Display Adapters’.
3. Right-click on the Display Adapter listed and click on ‘Update Driver Software’.
4. Select the option to automatically search for the updated driver software.
5. Restart the computer after its updated and verify.

Also try to access the computer manufacturer website and download and install the latest display and chipset drivers.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

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Install the same driver in compatibility mode for previous version of Windows.

a. Right click the driver installation file and select Properties then tap or click the Compatibility tab.

b. Place a check in the Run this program in compatibility mode for: box.

c. Tap or click the drop down box and select a previous operating system, then tap or click OK.

d. Try installing the driver and check.

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

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Kudos and thankou very much, Giridhar J

I followed your instructions and let the driver update as you said and the screen brightness came back as the driver finished updating. Main thing, it works again! 😀 Thanks

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This is a little ridiculous. I’m trying to change my brightness, which used to be a press of Fn + F2 and now I have to go into settings restart my computer run as compatibility which doesn’t even show up for me. My eyes are hurting and I just want windows 8 back. Oh wait, that also used to be at the touch of a few buttons and it would take me back. Now I have to apparently have a recovery drive on a flash drive. Why do you make everything so hard for us? Why cant it be as easy as before? What is the purpose, even, of changing it to be more difficult. I’d like to say I’m quite adept with computers, but if you ask people to do these basic tasks when even I can’t I’m surprised you aren’t flooded with complaints.

Go to settings — display. Scroll down and move the brightness bar. If the brightness bar is missing, go to control panel, device manager, monitor, PNP monitor, driver tab and click enable.

Then go back to settings — dispay and look for the brightness bar and adjust.

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Aero Glass is a free tool that enables the frosted glass effect in Windows 8 and 10

Aero Glass is a free program that, well you guessed it, restores the popular»Aero Glass-effect» in Windows 8 and Windows 10. The program uses Windows’ built-in Desktop Window Manager to produce the effect.

So, let’s see how it works. There are two options that are available during the installation: Windows 10 Acrylic Design and Windows 8 RP Aero Glass Design. You can also enable the «Protect Aero Glass by adjusting access permissions» option.

Once you have installed the program, you will see that application title bars will become semi-transparent with the frosted glass effect. In case they don’t, open the Task Manager, right-click on Explorer and select restart. You may want to restart some programs if they don’t have the Aero Glass effect. Here’s what the window looks like normally.

And here’s the one with the effect enabled.

Note: The program displayed a pop-up message which says that this is the free version of Aero Glass, and also shows a machine code. I didn’t find any use for this, but I’m guessing it may be required as part of the activation process for the donation license. The program seems to place a watermark on the wallpaper. Apparently, that’s what the donation removes.

Getting it to work

You may get an error which says «Aero Glass for Win8.1+ Incompatibility issue — Aero Glass does not know how to hook your version of DWM (0x2010)». This isn’t an actual error, if you’d read the last screen of the installation wizard, you’ll know why this issue occurred. The program requires some extra files (DWM symbols) which aren’t downloaded by default (unless you have a donation key).

As a workaround, you’ll need to get the symbols yourself. You can do so from Microsoft’s website. The files you’ll need are for the dwmcore.dll and udwm.dll. Or you could do what I did, and use the open source PDB Downloader program. Props to SuperUser forums for the perfect solution.

Use the Downloader to navigate to the Windows System32 folder to select the DLLs. Don’t worry, your system files aren’t going to be affected in any way. They are just used for reference to get the PDB files that are required for Aero Glass to work with the DwmEnableBlurBehindWindow function.

After you have obtained the 2 files, go to the Aero Glass folder (by default, it’s at C:\AeroGlass). Create a folder called Symbols and place the 2 PDB’s inside it. So, they should be at C:\AeroGlass\Symbols. That’s it. The error should no longer appear, and your windows should appear with a frosted glass effect.

Customization

You can customize the way the aero-effect looks like (blur, color), but for this you’ll need to do edit the Windows Registry. This isn’t recommended for normal users; advanced users on the other hand can refer to the official guide for more information.

As for how Aero Glass works, it works fine in most programs (Explorer, MPV, Notepad, Firefox, Skype, Irfan View, etc, but doesn’t have any effect in other programs like Firefox, Word, Telegram, Steam to name a few. It’s likely because the applications use their own UI elements and not the standard Windows title bar’s.

I remember when I first tried Vista, it was in 2008. Our workstations were being upgraded to the latest operating system, and we were being trained about the improvements it brought over Windows XP. Windows 7 hadn’t been launched yet, those were some crazy days. One of the features that I immediately liked in it was the Aero Glass effect of the Start Menu. It’s a shame Microsoft removed that from Windows 10. Well, we got that now.

If you’re interested in customizing Windows, I’d recommend trying FalconX to center the taskbar icons.

Aero Glass

About Ashwin

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Comments

Is there an open source alternative program that enables the aero effect?

It seems it was open-source a while back ago and could be found under this repo : http://sourceforge.net/projects/glass8.berlios/

how much resources it uses?

Too bad the developer holds certain files hostage just to ask for a donation. I gladly give money for projects that are well done and supported. But I would first like to use it for awhile before making up my mind.

My biggest problem with Winblows 10’s UI is the window border. They have a 4px radius but only 1px is visible. Some actions take into consideration those 3 extra pixels, while some don’t. For this I have to rely on the ugly AeroLite built-in theme. It will be a while until I worry about fancy effects such as transparency, first fix this usability mess.
Same behavour since LTS 1507, present in LTS 1809 as well: https://i.imgur.com/NCsaz4i.jpg
Annoying. I absolutely hate this behaviour.

Messing with BorderWidth / PaddedBorderWidth (valid values 0 through -1500) under

Winaero Tweaker for win7-64

At this point I think Ashwin is dredging the barrel of ‘useful’ software.

Maybe try covering some gems of opensource / freeware people may have missed rather than useless junk like this.

yeah, yeah, quota to fill… I get it.

Eye candy software.. No thanks.

Try Winaero Tweaker, glass is in there along with many more customizations:
https://winaero.com/blog/the-list-of-winaero-tweaker-features/
I’ve used this on Win 7-10 and it still works perfectly.
Sergey T. is another Nir Sofer; simple, excellent software that does myriad useful things well without extra baggage. Don’t mind donating in the least.

I don’t know why i don’t have aero color on Winaero Tweaker, there is only aero lite.

I don’t know why i don’t have aero color on Winaero Tweaker, there is only aero lite.

It doesn’t have the festure mentioned in the article dumbass

Of course it does, I’m looking at the transparent title bar as I type.

Please spend more than 5 seconds configuring the app before you comment.

With full respect to the developer for trying to fix what Microsoft should never have broken, this seems like a somewhat kludgey scenario. Hopefully it can be refined to be less clunky in future releases.

Thanks to the developer for trying where nobody else did!

What I would like to see, is a way to use Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 without skinning. I do prefer the Windows Classic style look and usability.

You can @Q: Go to MSFN, and you can use Windows 8.1 with the classic “Windows 2000” style UI. No Visual styles. It turns off DWM.

Thank you Jody Thornton for the information and the leads that came with it.

One of the main good arguments against adoption of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, was the forced theming that was inferior to the Windows Classic look and functionality. The second main reason came later, when Telemetry was provided via updates for Windows 7+. The third reason is the artificial system requirement for SSE2 instructions (a third-party patch is available to install the operating system without the requirement). For these reasons, my choice of WinNT6+ operating system to use when I had to use one has often been in the Windows Vista family.

DWORD 32 bit – value 1

This may increase transparency on Win10

There are some articles on web that explain this.

Actually the Aero Glass effects (blur+transparency) looks best on Windows 7 with it’s rounded edge and thick borders. It’s the best version of Windows MS ever released (I’ve used Windows 10 for 3 years before switching back to 7).
Will switch to Ubuntu or one of it’s flavours after the support shutdown.

Old, very old piece of software and never worked well.

The first time I tried it I had to reinstall Windows 8.1 the same happened to Windows 10.

Nice try but still sticking to 7

This piece of software has a solid history, and is very good. It is lightweight, especially if your system isn’t from the stone age. I highly recommend making a small donation for the key, as it will download the symbols for you automatically.

The developer has reliably churned out the releases throughout the years. Not sure why ghacks linked to softonic. The developers site glass8-eu (also linked) is the best source.

Lastly, there is a GUI app on the Download page of the developer site that will let you modify depth of blur and such, so you don’t have to mess with the registry.

FYI: softonic owns ghacks.

As such, expect more reviews about simpleton software as this.

@AK said on December 21, 2019 at 5:23 am:
Not sure why ghacks linked to softonic. The developers site glass8-eu (also linked) is the best source.

In order to edit technical news and manage the Website, it takes a lot of time to “collect materials, confirm facts, verify technology, respond to Comments, etc.”, and income for living is also required.
“GHacks Tech News” has been delivering such great news for many years, but the method as before is “Volunteer management, debilitating mind and body, and limited income”, there won’t get a family understanding.
I am keenly aware that the editors are suffering from such a reality.

Naturally, a collateral to the sponsor (Softonic) is necessary.
However, the page has been edited properly. Check well:
It is clearly stated in the “Summary” (on top of the Comments).

Ghacks has a new owner, and that is good for everyone | gHacks Tech News
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/10/07/ghacks-has-a-new-owner-and-that-is-a-good-for-everyone/
by Martin Brinkmann on October 07, 2019
TLDR; Softonic acquired ghacks.net. I remain editor of the site and all writers remain on board. We have full editorial control over the content and articles will be published just like before. Ghacks remains Ghacks.
I worked on the site seven days a week, even when I was on holiday, and stayed awake plenty of nights trying to figure out display errors and other site issues.
Softonic met all my requirements for a sale of the site.
I remain editor on Ghacks and publish articles just like before. Ashwin and Mike continue to write articles for the site as well and everything in that regard stays just like before. We have full editorial control over the articles and you can expect the same level of quality, if not better..
I can focus on what I want to do – write and fiddle around with tech – and Ghacks’ future is secured.

Ah! I forgot about that acquisition. That makes sense now. While I’m not a fan of Softonic, Aero Glass is good stuff.

“Naturally, a collateral to the sponsor (Softonic) is necessary”

Softonic is not per se a “sponsor”, as they own ghacks. As for “collateral”, without looking at the actual contract of sale, that’s a stretch to claim that “collateral” is anything notable in that regard, and perhaps likely doesn’t apply to this deal at all, as again, Softonic owns ghacks.

That said, my legal team is taking notes of your specious stratagems:

#756) “Naturally, >INSERT BS HERE

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