spotlight-now.py

A reproducible ritual for keeping your Windows lock screen fresh with the latest Spotlight images.
Fetches new images hourly, archives them, and updates the lock screen using the Personalization and PersonalizationCSP registry keys. Includes deduplication (via hashing) and fair rotation (least‑used image selection tracked in image_cache.json).

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Quick Start (no Python required)

1. Download the latest release zip from Releases
2. Extract and run install.bat (requires admin elevation)
3. Enjoy daily Spotlight lock screen refreshes 🎉

Uninstall

If you’d like to remove SpotlightNow completely:

• Run uninstall.bat (requires admin elevation)
• This will remove the scheduled tasks and revert registry settings back to defaults

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Requirements

• Windows 10/11 (Pro/Enterprise recommended, but works standalone)
• Python 3.8+
• Administrator rights (to write registry keys under HKLM)
• Directory: C:\ProgramData\SpotlightNow
• All images and cache files are stored here
• Ensure this folder is readable by SYSTEM and Users

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Python (developer mode)

If you prefer to run SpotlightNow directly from source instead of using the packaged release:

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/chazix/spotlight-now.git
cd spotlight-now

2. Install dependencies (Python 3.9+ recommended):

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run SpotlightNow commands:

# Download the latest Spotlight images (no elevation required)
python spotlight-now.py download

# Update the lock screen image (on first run requires admin for writing HKLM policies)
python spotlight-now.py update-lockscreen

# Remove registry policies and scheduled tasks (requires admin)
python spotlight-now.py uninstall

4. Output locations:

• Images are saved to: spotlight_images/*.jpg
• Metadata/cache is saved to: image_cache.json

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Build from Source (PyInstaller)

If you prefer not to use the prebuilt executable, you can generate your own binary directly from the source.

1. Install PyInstaller into your Python environment (included in requirements.txt):

pip install pyinstaller

2. From the project root, run:

pyinstaller --clean --noconsole --onefile spotlight-now.py

3. The resulting executable will be placed in the dist/ directory.

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False Positives (Antivirus / VirusTotal)

SpotlightNow executables built with PyInstaller may be flagged by some antivirus engines or show a poor score on VirusTotal. This is a known false positive pattern that affects many PyInstaller applications.

Why this happens:

• PyInstaller bundles Python code into a self‑extracting EXE. The unpacking behavior resembles how some malware hides payloads.
• SpotlightNow modifies a small set of Windows registry keys and scheduled tasks to control the lock screen. Heuristic scanners often flag any unsigned binary that touches HKLM or HKCU keys.
• Most detections are labeled as “Generic Trojan” or “Heur.ML”, which are machine‑learning guesses, not signatures of real malware.

How to verify safety:

• Review the source code — everything is published and auditable.
• Build your own binary using the documented PyInstaller command:

pyinstaller --clean --noconsole --onefile spotlight-now.py

• Check the SHA256 checksum of the release binary against the one published in the release notes.
• Optionally upload your build to: VirusTotal to confirm results.

SpotlightNow is transparent, reversible, and documented. The flagged behavior is expected given the registry and task modifications, but the code is clean and open for inspection.

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Usage

usage: spotlight-now.py [-h] {download,update-lockscreen,uninstall} ...

Downloads Windows Spotlight images. Updates lockscreen images with random least used images.

positional arguments:
  {download,update-lockscreen,uninstall}
    download            Download the latest Windows Spotlight images.
    update-lockscreen   Update the Windows lockscreen with a random least used image.
    uninstall           Uninstall the lockscreen image policy set by this script.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

How It Works

• Download: Fetches the latest Spotlight feed (configurable via config.json), saves images to C:\ProgramData\SpotlightNow, and hashes them to avoid duplicates.
  • Scheduled task runs once every hour to attempt fetching a new image.
• Cache: Tracks usage in image_cache.json so random selection favors the least‑used images.
• Registry:
  • Writes all three PersonalizationCSP values under:
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImagePath
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImageUrl
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImageStatus
  • Writes Policy\Personalization value:
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization\LockScreenImage
  • Writes Policy\CloudContent value:
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent\DisableWindowsSpotlightOnLockScreen
  • On uninstall, removes those same five machine‑level values:
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImagePath
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImageUrl
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PersonalizationCSP\LockScreenImageStatus
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization\LockScreenImage
    • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CloudContent\DisableWindowsSpotlightOnLockScreen
  • On uninstall, resets ContentDeliveryManager values to 1 under:
    • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager\RotatingLockScreenEnabled
    • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager\RotatingLockScreenOverlayEnabled
    • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager\SubscribedContent-338387Enabled
• Update: Applies a new lock screen image from the cache.
  • Scheduled task runs at logon to refresh the lock screen from a randomly selected least used image.
• Filesystem:
  • On uninstall, deletes the application data directory:
    • C:\ProgramData\SpotlightNow

Backstory

This project was born out of a detour through Windows' opaque personalization stack. What should have been a simple "new image every day" turned into a deep dive into registry keys, CSP values, and refresh rituals. The result: a simple, reproducible tool that makes Spotlight behave — now