Log in screen has reverted to the default one

Tombar · Jun 10, 2023

Hello, I've happily been using Win 11 for 6 months now and have my Lock screen set to a photo and the Login screen set to the same. In the last week, the Login screen has revertd to the basic default blue screen, while the Lock screen is behaving as it should. I've had this several times on making changes, but only on the first login after the changes. The option to use the Lock screen as the logon screen is selected - see screenshot.
Any ideas

James · Jun 11, 2023

Hi there.

I've never seen anything like this so I will not say that this is guaranteed to work; but if you change lock screen status to None, does this change anything?

Other thing that could work is clearing all cache.
Type in all of these commands one by one (in command prompt, opened as administrator):

Batch:

net stop wuauserv

net stop bits

net stop cryptsvc

rd /s /q c:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution

rd /s /q %temp%

rd /s /q c:\Windows\temp

net start wuauserv

net start bits

net start cryptsvc

ren %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings\roaming.lock roaming.lock.bak

ren %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewy\Settings\settings.dat settings.dat.bak

And then, once you have done this open powershell as admin (search powershell, right click, run as administrator, and enter the below command:

Powershell:

$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest

And finally, restart your computer, and see if it works.

I hope that this method will work but can not guarantee it will..

Tombar · Jun 11, 2023

Hi James, Thanks for the reply - I've never seen it before either. It shows the wrong login screen if I use Shut Down or Restart but not on Sign out. SFC and DISM find no errors. Also behaves normally if I use my administrator account or set up a new account, so presumably the profile is damaged
Have spent the last 2 hours on the PC and phone with a very patient and bemused MS Support person who has given me some things to try - he's got me downloading the iso file and install it. I'll keep you updated and will try your fix if it's still needed, but thanks for the reply

James · Jun 11, 2023

Tombar said:
Hi James, Thanks for the reply - I've never seen it before either. It shows the wrong login screen if I use Shut Down or Restart but not on Sign out. SFC and DISM find no errors. Also behaves normally if I use my administrator account or set up a new account, so presumably the profile is damaged
Have spent the last 2 hours on the PC and phone with a very patient and bemused MS Support person who has given me some things to try - he's got me downloading the iso file and install it. I'll keep you updated and will try your fix if it's still needed, but thanks for the reply

Hmm - you will lose your data through this. You may want to try a repair install first:

Repair install - keeps everything

Tombar · Jun 11, 2023

Hi James, Both options gave me the option to keep files etc. I ran this and ended up with no change. One difference I HAVE noticed is that the option for using the lockscreen as the logon screen is toggled on on both the accounts where this works (Adminstrator and the new identity) and my normal account, but the first two are on blue background and a grey background on my normal account. Sorry that my screenshot is on the PC, not this IPad. What I mean that the part of the toggle on the left when set to on is a different colour.
Should I try your remedy next? (The MS Support man is away till Wednesday)

James · Jun 11, 2023

Tombar said:
Hi James, Both options gave me the option to keep files etc. I ran this and ended up with no change. One difference I HAVE noticed is that the option for using the lockscreen as the logon screen is toggled on on both the accounts where this works (Adminstrator and the new identity) but not my normal account, is on blue background on the ones that work and a grey background on my normal account.
Should I try your remedy next? (The MS Support man is away till Wednesday)

Have a go at clearing the cache, there is no harm in trying.

Tombar · Jun 12, 2023

Hi James, It refused to do either of the ren commands with lots of red lines. I took a screenshot, but have unfortunately lost it, as I tried to do a System restore, but they didn't work and have had to restore a back up from the 11th, but before i took the screenshot

James · Jun 12, 2023

Tombar said:
Hi James, It refused to do either of the ren commands with lots of red lines. I took a screenshot, but have unfortunately lost it, as I tried to do a System restore, but they didn't work and have had to restore a back up from the 11th, but before i took the screenshot

Hi there! Sorry to hear this hasn’t worked for you. Did you open command prompt as administrator? Also, try putting the file paths in “*” ellipsis (so from %userprofile% -> roaming.lock and settings.dat)

Tombar · Jun 15, 2023

Hi James, The MS man has just suggested the same cache clearing as you. I tried it again and seems it was my mistake before - I used Powershell instead of the command prompt and it doesn’t like that!
I went through the same method as yours - only difference was that some temp files were in use - I ignored this and carried on, including the bit in Powershell, but still have the problem - lockscreen not used as login screen and the toggle showing this is on is grey when it should be blue.
Are there no Registry keys that hold these settings?

As an aside, where can I learn about differences between command prompt, Powershell and Terminal?