Groups > alt.comp.os.windows-10 > #182525
Re: Windows Spotlight shows picture information data on lock screen of one PC, but not others.

From	VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
Newsgroups	alt.comp.os.windows-10
Subject	Re: Windows Spotlight shows picture information data on lock screen of one PC, but not others.
Date	2025-02-23 21:22 -0600
Organization	Usenet Elder
Message-ID	<qqyxxvkconea$.dlg@v.nguard.lh> (permalink)
References	<vpctqt$1jqq$1@dont-email.me> <vpd8ad$3i85$1@dont-email.me> <11c91l2g7uznt$.dlg@v.nguard.lh> <vpg619$maqe$1@dont-email.me>
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Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:

> On 2025-02-23 18:35, VanguardLH wrote:
>> Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> 
>>> On 2025-02-22 16:26, Java Jive wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Last night I launched GPEdit.msc on the problem build and disabled all
>>>> settings, then launched SecPol.msc and began to do the same, but got
>>>> tired before I'd really got into the latter, hibernated the PC, and went
>>>> to bed.
>>>>
>>>> This morning, I powered it up, and lo, the Spotlight icon is there!
>>>>
>>>> So I'm guessing that it's either the default browser or the GPEdit
>>>> settings, most probably the latter if I manage to nail it down further,
>>>> I'll post back.
>>>
>>> Nailed it.  For my builds, it's the following policy setting in
>>> GPEdit.msc ...
>>>
>>>       Computer Configuration
>>>       Windows Settings
>>>       Security Settings
>>>       Local Policies
>>>       Security Options
>>>       Interactive Logon: Do not require CTRL-ALT-DEL
>>>
>>> ... which in my case was
>>>
>>>       Disabled
>>>
>>> ... meaning (after parsing out the confusing double negative) ...
>>>
>>>       Require CTRL-ALT-DEL
>>>
>>> Setting this to ...
>>>
>>>       Enabled
>>>
>>> ... meaning (after parsing out the confusing double negative) ...
>>>
>>>       Do NOT require CTRL-ALT-DEL
>>>
>>> ... allows the Spotlight icon ...
>>>
>>>       Like what you see?
>>>
>>> ... to appear on the lock screen.
>>>
>>> As Paul suggests, this is, or at least used to be, something of a
>>> security issue, as described here ...
>>>
>>> https://www.manageengine.com/vulnerability-management/misconfiguration/logon-security/how-to-enable-secure-login-ctrl-alt-delete-logon-via-group-policy.html
>>>
>>> ... and accordingly I've always previously disabled this policy on my
>>> builds, so that <Ctrl-Alt-Delete> is required to log on.  How much of an
>>> issue this is still, or whether more recent versions of Windows are more
>>> secure against logon window spoofing rendering the policy redundant, I'm
>>> no longer sufficiently in the know to be able to comment further.
>> 
>> I never cared for Spotlight.  More glitz and fluff on wasted effort than
>> Microsoft engaging those resources on bug fixes and truly important
>> features.
> 
> Each to his own, but, whether you care to acknowledge so or not, in many 
> people's opinion, including my own, some of the pictures are very beautiful.
> 
>> I have my Win boxes configured to require Ctrl+Alt+Del.  I've never
>> encountered the Spotlight issue, because, well, I never use it.  I'd
>> eradicate the glitz crap if there was a way.
> 
> As I have done up til now, but now I have to decide whether being able 
> to find out the location of the most beautiful Spotlight pictures easily 
>   -  there is a tedious and more involved way of using reverse image 
> search  -  is worth a slight reduction in security.  I have yet to make 
> that decision, mainly because, while I was still working I used to 
> receive copies of all the security bulletins that the firm received, but 
> having not worked for over a decade and having moved far away to a 
> remote part of the country, I am no longer able to keep abreast of the 
> latest security stories.

The choices are apparently:
(1) Require Ctrl+Alt+Del to login.  The "like what you see" element will   
    be missing from the Spotlight content.
    Presumption: Login is more secure, and Spotlight follows the same 
    security model.
(2) Do NOT require Ctrl+Alt+Del to login.  The "like what you see" 
    element will be present in Spotlight.
    Presumption: Login is insecure (absent), and Spotlight follows the 
    same [lack of] security model.
  
I've not found an option to have "Like what you see" absent if you
choose (2).  Seems this is a feature of Spotlight when login security is
lax.  When login is less secure, so is Spotlight.  The only option seems
to be not to use Spotlight, but then you lose that particular wallpaper
selector; however, there is another choice - SlideShow.

- Wallpapers: Windows spotlight displays a new image on the lock screen 
  every day
- Suggestions, fun facts, tips: recommendations on how to enhance the 
  user's productivity of Microsoft products. They're displayed in 
  different locations, such as the lock screen, the background, the 
  taskbar, or the Get Started app
- Organizational messages: messages from your organization, which can be 
  displayed in the lock screen, taskbar, the notification area, or the   
  Get Started app
  
Getting wallpapers means having to go online.  Suggestions also means
going online.  Displaying org messages is of no current concern to you.

Instead of using Spotlight, you could select Slideshow for background
images.  The MS description above says you get a new image once per day.
Slideshow lets you pick intervals of 1 minute, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1
hour, 6 hours, or 1 day.  So, you could get Slideshow to show a new
message once per day as does Spotlight.  For Slideshow, there is a
Shuffle option which presumably randomizes which images are shown from
where you browse to pick a folder for where to find image files.

Slideshow would have you storing the images on your computer instead of
letting Spotlight download them.  Spotlight downloads the .jpg image
files to a hidden "Assets" folder under your profile folder.  For me,
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Assets.
When selecting Slideshow, you get to pick the folder to look for image
files.  

For Spotlight to work (get images) means it uses the Content Delivery
Manager (Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager) which is used for
other client-server data sync, like Bing News or Weather, app
suggestions, and silent installs of advertised/promoted apps.  I think
CDM is also involved with update delivery optimization (disabled for me:
Settings -> Update & Security -> Delivery Optimization).  With
Slideshow, you are the delivery agent (you select what to put into which
folder).

I found:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager

in the registry, but haven't bothered to investigate what all its
subkeys and data items are used for.  I wasn't putzing with CDM's config
in the registry mostly because documentation on it is poor, or
inconsistent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Spotlight
  Windows Spotlight images are provided by Windows' Content Delivery 
  Manager. New ones are shown every 1–2 days. Downloaded images are 
  stored in JPEG format on the computer. If the Content Delivery Manager 
  has no new picture to display, a default image is used. This default 
  fallback image can be changed.

That article has a link to:

https://cyberblogforu.com/how-to-download-windows-spotlight-wallpapers/

which mentions the download folder for caching the image files retrieved
by Spotlight is:

%localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_<ID>\LocalState\Assets

The ID mentioned in the article is the same one used on my Win10 setup.
However, when you go there with File Explorer, you'll find several
rather randomly long-named files with no extension.  I followed the
instructions to copy the non-extensioned files to elsewhere (D:\Temp, in
my case), and used "ren *.* *.jpg" to give them all the JPG extension.
I then looked at the renamed files, and, yep, they're image files.  No
idea why Microsoft chose to omit the extension to hide they are images.

I read about some users removing the CDM component from Windows, but
it's used for a lot of content delivery mechanisms, so I would not
suggest removing it.  I didn't look into its removal, because I'm not
doing it nor that interested, especially since I don't use Spotlight,
delivery optimization is disabled.  Another reason not to use Spotlight
is it can show ads for recommended apps, as Paul mentioned.  Under
Settings -> Personalization, Lock screen, I disabled the the "Get fun
facts, tricks, and more on your lock screen" option.  Several other
anti-ad settings mentioned at:

https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/how_to_disable_all_advertising_and_sponsored_apps_in_windows_10.html

None of these were new to me.  I had disabled most [known] advertising
in Windows 10.  Soon after its install, I tweak the shit out of it,
including eliminating as much of Microsoft's advertising in Windows 10.

Apparently you have to wait 1 to 2 days before Spotlight get another
image download using CDM.  With Slideshow, it would change the
background image at the rate you select (from 1 minute to 1 day), and
shows the images in the folder you specify, so you have to get the
images.  I suppose you could grab them from the CDM assets folder, but
you could get them from anywhere.

https://windows10spotlight.com/

That has an archive of Spotlight images.  Seems they are at 1920x1080 or
1920x1920.  I suspect scaling is used if your monitor uses a different
screen size.  Of course, you can search on images you can download from
elsewhere to save locally in a folder of your choosing.  Then use
Slideshow to show those images.
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