How to regain access to your ZuneHD apps

[jkj1962]

OK, once you open the Zune software and it says, "Features have been updated, reopen it to see the new features" (they mean the features that were REMOVED), and you re-open it, you will not be able to see your already-downloaded ZuneHD apps to reinstall them should you ever need to. Funny that, MS didn't take them off the server, they blocked access to them completely in the software. But not to worry (at least until they kill this fix).

Open "regedit" (if you don't know what this is or how to use it, stop reading now and ask a friend that does, I won't be responsible if you mess something up) navigate to:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Zune\FeaturesOverride\


and create a new DWORD value named, "Games", then give it a value of "1". When you reopen the Zune software, your ZuneHD apps are back. And, they seem to be on the server still, so if you haven't downloaded them yet, do it now before they disappear.

And, if you look in the key above that named "Features", you'll figure out how to regain some of the other features. They string values are the notations for what country those features are allowed in. They simply created a new string value named "Games" and set it for an empty string.

Note: This isn't my brilliance, it's the same way that you restore access to the WP7 MarketPlace that was discovered months ago.

[steinburger1109]

Are they still accessible from the device directly?

[jkj1962]

As I type this, they do seem to be, but there's no telling how long that will be the case. I downloaded all of them so that if nothing else they'll be "backed up" in case I have to reinstall one of them at some point and they're removed. It's possible they'll leave them on the server for awhile, but with MS you never know.

The way they're messing around with the Zune software makes me wonder if they're prepping a desktop app for XBox and WP7 only, and will abandon the Zune software completely, despite their saying that the Zune name will continue.

[JSP62]

Nice post jk! I downloaded many apps myself...not all..but most!

Thanks.

[EngrPaul]

I could not find the key cited here.

The correct registry location is here:

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=54046

To activate features, simply create a new Key at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Zune named "FeaturesOverride", then create DWORD (32-bit) values inside the key with the following names, setting their value to “1” to turn them on:-

...
Games
...

[jkj1962]

You are correct, that pesky "Windows" didn't belong in there. Edited OP.

[EngrPaul]

Thanks for sharing the solution, I appreciate help like this.

I was a little frustrated yesterday when I posted. :blush:

[German]

EASIER WAY
I found that by going into RegEdit and just editing the value of the appropriate folder to your region worked fine for me. It was much easier, and even though it was my first time using RegEdit (or even hearing about it), i had no problems. all you do is edit the value to your countries 2-letter abbreviation, and it should work fine.

[jkj1962]

I'm not sure how that's "easier", and I suspect that another "update" could nuke that "fix", whereas the Features Override key so far seems to survive such updates. I used the Features Override key to fix the WP7 apps, and I still had them after the update that removed the games.