Fix Windows 10 Lock Screen Not Changing

WindowsI have my PCs all set to share settings via OneDrive; I like this as it means I have a unifed theme everywhere, but when a problem occurs, it occurs everywhere.

his particular issue, is that I use Windows Spotlight for images on the lock screen and it became stuck on one image a while ago. After recently installing a new PC and having them same problem there as on other machines, I finally decided to fix the issue.

This was a fairly straightforward fix for me, but others report various fixes not working.

I found the fix which worked for me on Driver Easy and am reposting here, so I can easily find it again in future if necessary.

To fix the issue by re-registering Windows Spotlight, perform the following steps:

Use Run As Administrator to launch Command Prompt, click Yes when prompted by UAC (User Account Control) and type the following command:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Press Enter and wait for the command to run; this might take a few minutes to complete:

Command Prompt: dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealthdism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

In the Command Prompt window type the following:

sfc /scannow

Hit enter and wait for the command to complete:

Command Prompt: sfc /scannowsfc /scannow

Either type powershell or launch a PowerShell window and type the following:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Hit enter and wait for the PowerShell command to finish (this may take a while) and generate several errors which can be ignored:

PowerShellGet-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

I’ve found I need to wait a few minutes for the fix to take effect, but I don’t need to do anything else before the Windows Spotlight image starts to change.

Access Windows Settings App Using ms-settings URIs

WindowsWindows 10 saw the introduction of a enw Settings app, which has been improved in every major update. The Settings app is a replacement for the old Control Panel, the applets of which could be accessed from either the command line or from the Run dialog.

The Settings app also allows you to directly open individual settings pages by using a URI. The list of URI’s below is for Windows 10 “Creators Update” (version 1704).

Not all dettings pages will be available in every SKU of Windows 10. The notes column details any additional requirements that must be met for a page to be available.

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Windows 10 Calculator App Replacement

WindowsWhile I like Windows 10, I absolutely detest the Caculator app. It is extremely slow to open and doesn’t allow you to see the history of calculations.

I had a little complain on Twitter about this:

My friend and fellow MVP, Steve Endow suggested a solution as a replacement to the new Calculator app:

Well, Steve played canary for me and installed the Old Windows Calc app from Winaero without issue, so I figured I could give it a go myself.

The app is fairly simple to install and appears to work well.

It appears on the Start menu; for me it is the second app and is the default app when using Win+R and typing calc.

I am going to continue testing this over the ext few days to see how well it works over a more extended period of time, but first impressions are positive.

Hands On With MDGP 2018 RTM: Installing the .NET Prerequisite

Microsoft Dynamics GPMicrosoft Dynamics GP 2018 RTM has now been released. In this series of posts, I will be stepping through the installation of Microsoft Dynamics GP and additional products and then will move on to taking a look at the new functionality which has been introduced.

The series index for this series of posts is here and will automatically update as posts go live.

Before Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 RTM, or any of the related additional products, can be installed there is one prerequisite which cannot be handled by the installer process. This is the .NET Framework 3.5 feature which is installed using the Add Roles and Features Wizard available via Server Manager on Windows Server or using Turn Windows features on or off accessible via Program and Features on Windows.

If the PC or server you’re planning to install Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 RTM onto has an Internet connection, then the .NET can be installed simply by using the wizard. However, if, for whatever reason, you don’t have an Internet connection available, the install process isn’t quite that smooth.

On both server and PC you can do an offline install and I have blogged about this previously:

  1. Offline install on Windows.
  2. Offline install on Windows Server.

Both of the above posts were for previous versions of Windows, but both are still relevant for the later versions.

Click to show/hide the Hands On With MDGP 2018 RTM Series Index

Windows Suggestion: Allow choice of how many/which monitors RDP uses

WindowsI occasionally work from home (I don’t really like doing so as I prefer to keep work and home separate). My problem is that at home I have a four monitor setup (2 x 27″ @ 2560×1440, 1 x 23″ @ 1920×1080 and 1 x 19″ @ 1280×1024) and when I am connecting to work I want to use two of the monitors for the remote system I am connecting to and two for local programs or files.

However, the Windows remote Desktop Connection only allows you to use a single monitor or to mark a checkbox to use all monitors:

Remote Desktop Connection

I added a suggestion via the Windows Feedback Hub asking for this to be amended to allow a choice over the number of monitors to use. I’d appreciate it if people would up vote so we can get RDP enhanced/

Configuring Permissions to RDP to Server

Microsoft Dynamics GPThis is only something I need to do occasionally so am posting this as a reminder.

Most of the demo VMs I create are on my local Client Hyper-V, but occasionally I make one available to a prospect or client and need to give them a user other than the administrator account.

Creating the user account itself is easy, but the bit I usually fail to remember how to do, is to give the user the rights to sign in remotely.

When this right has not been granted, an error message like the below will be displayed:

To sign in remotely, you need the right to sign in through Remote Desktop Services. By default, members of the Administrators group have this right. If the group you

To sign in remotely, you need the right to sign in through Remote Desktop Services. By default, members of the Administrators group have this right. If the group you're in doesn't have this right, or if the right has been removed from the Administrators group, you need to be granted this right manually.

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Manually Activating Windows 10 Enterprise

Microsoft SQL ServerOne of the perks of being a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) is the fRee MSDN VisualStudio account. This gives access to pretty much all of Microsoft’s software for development and testing purposes.

The main pieces of software I use is Windows and SQL Server. Usually when writing blog posts about Microsoft Dynamics GP, I use Windows 2012 or 2012 R2, but occasionally I create a Windows client machine with Windows 10.

Usually these machines don’t last long enough to need registering, but I have lately been working on one or two projects which required a somewhat longer life than the free registration period. For Windows Server, this isn’t a problem as the server version of Windows registers online without problems. However, registering Windows 10 Enterprise is not so simple, as the Enterprise editions of Windows requires a Key Management Server to successfully register.

I have never configured one of these as my installations for development and testing are usually fleeting. Instead, there are a couple of commands which can be run which will allow Windows 10 Enterprise to be registered online.

The first command is where you install the KMS key:

slmgr.vbs /ipk {Windows 10 Enterprise Key}

slmgr.vbs /ipk {Windows 10 Enterprise Key}

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Windows 10 Lock Screen Doesn’t Show Background

Microsoft Dynamics GPI had my work laptop rebuilt recently after having numerous faulty components replaced. After the rebuild, the Windows lock screen remains black and doesn’t show the background image. I changed it to a static image rather than the Windows spotlight. Unfortunately, this didn’t resolve the issue.

The answer for fixing this is actually very simple, but not obvious. To correct the problem, open the System properties window by opening Windows Explorer and right clicking on This Computer and then clicking on Properties (or by pressing Win + Pause|Break).

Once the System window is open, click on Advanced system settings:

System

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Changing Cortana’s Selected Method Of Travel

Microsoft Dynamics GPI’ve only recently started using Cortana in any meaningful way, but it has been doing one thing that is really annoying. It has been giving me travel tips based on travelling around by Transit instead of by car. The main one it reminds me of is getting home from the office when I am at the PI office and less often getting to that office from home (I spend a lot of time out on site with clients).

What’s the problem you’re wondering. The problem is that because it is using Transit, it tells me I have to leave work at 1320; or even worse that I need to leave home at 1400 on Saturday to get to the offic for 0700 Monday.

These messages have been popping up on my Windows Phone for a while and I have scoured the settings repeatedly looking for a way to fix it by changing the method of travel to car without success and had started thinking about switching off Coretana entirely.

Then the other day I had to get my laptop rebuilt (new OS installed after replacment of parts leading to jokes about the Laptop of Theseus) and activated Cortana. I found something called Notebook with lots of settings broken into areas.

To find Notebook, hit the Windows key and type Cortana. The third icon down on the side of the Start menu is Notebook:

Cortana Notebook

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List All Installed Programs

Microsoft Dynamics GPThis post is a diversion from the usual Microsoft Dynamics GP focused ones, but is related to Microsoft. The admin team at work recently emailed everyone asking for a list of all the applications installed on laptops and desktop machines for a licence audit. They asked for a screen shot of the Add/Remove Programs window, but one of the developers replied with an email containing a set of commands which would list all programs. Which is much easier when you have a lot of software installed which would require multiple screenshots.

To run the script, open a command prompt in administrator mode and type:

cd c:\windows\system32\wbem (hit enter)
wmic (hit enter)
/output:C:\InstallList.txt product get name,version

The first highlighted section above contains the output location and the second shows the fields to return.

You can use the following to get a list of available fields:

cd c:\windows\system32\wbem (hit enter)
wmic product get /?(hit enter)