Windows Photo Gallery 2012; can I change the slideshow interface?

[rfws2001]

Hello community. This is a fairly minor problem, but I hope you will be able to help me with it anyway.

I have just custom-built a PC and now use Windows 7 Home Premium. Previously I used Vista. I missed the old Windows Photo Gallery from Vista, and decided to download Windows Live Essentials. I downloaded it on my laptop first (Windows 7 Enterprise, on loan to me from my university) and the slideshow was exactly as I wanted it: there is a bar which fades up at the bottom of the screen with a 'cogwheel' symbol which has the speed setting, front and back buttons and a Themes drop-down as well.

So I went through the same download process on my PC. Only now, when I open the Windows Photo Gallery slideshow, there is an entirely different interface. It has a pause button at the bottom, front and back buttons at the side of the screen, the Themes bit at the top, and automatically opens on the Pan and Zoom theme. I don't want this interface, I want the nice one from Vista!

They are exactly the same version of Windows Photo Gallery 2012, Build 16.4.3505.912, downloaded from Microsoft's website within minutes of each other. It's so random. I don't understand how they can have totally different interfaces, and I'd like to know how I can switch. Googling it didn't help me much, but it led me here. I don't use the slideshow that often, but this bugged me enough to set up an account and ask you gentlefolk. Have I missed something stupidly obvious?

 

[Neutron16]

What is your Windows Experience Index on both computers for Graphics and Gaming Graphics, overall?
How to check Windows Experience Index

What is DirectX version on both computers?
To check DirectX press start orb, type dxdiag
In DirectX Diagnostic Tool on the tab System find your DirectX version.

 

[rfws2001]

My laptop (with the interface I want) has Graphics 4.5, Gaming Graphics 5.2, and the DirectX version is 11.

My PC has Graphics 4.9, Gaming Graphics 6.4, the DirectX Version is 11.

 

[Neutron16]

Okay. Eliminated one hypothesis, several more to go.

Windows Photo Gallery 2012 is distributed as a part of Windows Essentials via web-installer.
For a different computer it might download different sub-packages.

Sub-packages are downloaded to a folder.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache
It is hidden and system.
Copy full name of this folder from the line above, press start orb and paste it, then press enter.

In that folder, you will see bunch of other folders and there are going to be two files cache.ini, and another file named approximately like this wlc112D.tmp

Please copy this file to your Desktop, rename it to donor or recipient, and upload here.
Do the same on the other machine.

These files have configuration in them and we could compare whether they have downloaded the same sub-packages or not.

Also, are you familiar with Windows Registry? Do you know how to export hives and keys? That is alright, if you don't. I can create a step-by-step instructions.

 

[rfws2001]

It seems this is a complex problem. Thanks for your time, Neutron.

When I search for the location you specified on my laptop, no items matched my search. I got as far as C/Program Files/Common Files/Microsoft Shared/Windows Live by searching manually, but I can't see a cache in that folder. There are 8 files .dll or .DLL and two .exe files plus a .png, and that's all. I have "show hidden files and folders" enabled.

On my PC the location was also not found. I have done a bit of searching and ended up in the Windows Live folder, and again there is no cache. I have looked in other likely-looking folders on my C drive and not found one.

I seached "cache" and "cache.ini" in the start orb searchbar, and found caches for Adobe and Google Chrome. There were no items returned in the search for "wlc112D.tmp".

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with Windows Registry.

 

[boohbah]

i have to say the second slideshow set up is how i see it also. fwd and back arrows either side of the screen , the pause button bottom center, and themes dropdown.
be interesting to see how this thread pans out

 

[Neutron16]

You won't be able to find it using windows search, nor you will be able to navigate there directly, because option to hide system files turned on by default (different story, not related to regular hidden files). The fact that you do not see it, does not mean that it doesn't exist
That is okay.

Please copy the following line (select it, right click - Copy):
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache

Please open "Computer". Click in the middle of an address bar, the word computer will get highlighted. Right click it- Paste. Now press Enter.

Only if explorer will return error, do the same with this folder
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Windows Live\.cache

 

[rfws2001]

Okay, the second of those methods got me to the folder with the cache.ini and .tmp files.

Do you want me to copy and paste the contents of the caches from the laptop and the PC into a message here so you can compare them?

EDIT: I ask because I tried to upload them as attachments to my reply, and an error message "Invalid File" appeared.

 

[Neutron16]

Please put those files in Zip archive (right click on a file - Send to - Compressed (zipped) folder).
Zip archive attachment are allowed on this forum.

 

[rfws2001]

Here are the laptop cache and the PC cache.

 

[Neutron16]

Could you please do the same for tmp files too?

 

[rfws2001]

There was only one temp file in my laptop's folder. There were 6 in my PC. I have attached them all in a zip. The laptop one is clearly marked.

The upload doesn't seem to be working, I don't know why. Wait, I'll keep trying.

 

[rfws2001]

Has this worked?

 

[Neutron16]

Turns out there are minor differences like language pack en-gb vs default and some patches for your PC version (KB2120976, KB2300535).

Well, lets investigate my last hypothesis: registry settings.
I have made two files: one for your laptop and one for desktop.
I want you to run them accordingly - laptop.bat on laptop and pc.bat on pc.

Each of them will create a folder C:\SF2013
PM me those files, if you do not want to expose them in public.

If you ever encounter an error running these scripts, please start them as administrator.
But for me it works as a standard user.

 

[rfws2001]

I don't appear to be able to send private messages. Is the information contained in these files sensitive? Would it compromise my computer's security?

 

[Brink]

Hello rfws,

You should now be able to send PMs and VMs.

 

[Neutron16]

Thank you, Brink!

Among sensitive info these files will have full paths to your pictures and videos folders like C:\Users\YOUR_USER\Pictures
Other than that it has only Photo Gallery settings. You can look for yourself - open those reg files in notepad.
(Folders will be shown in hex format (several lines of numbers)).

 

[rfws2001]

Thanks for doing that Brink.

Neutron16, I've had a look at the files in Notepad, and I don't really understand what I'm looking at, but it can't do any harm to send them to you, so I've sent them as private messages. I couldn't see any way of attaching files to private messages, so I just copied and pasted! There does seem to be some difference between the two files.

 

[Neutron16]

I have checked out your files. It turns out sub-keys for slideshow settings and viewer settings are different.

Here is the script. Run it on donor computer. It will dump those settings into two files: slide_show.reg and viewer.reg

You need to copy them to target computer and run them there.
UAC window will popup, click yes, then another window - click yes, then - OK. Running them like this will import settings into registry.

Before importing I would close all Windows Essentials programs and after importing I would restart computer just in case.

 

[rfws2001]

Okay, I've done that and restarted. Unfortunately it hasn't made a difference to the way the slide show works. Thanks for all your help though.