Earlier this week Microsoft released Windows 8.1 Update publicly through the Windows Update site and many Windows 8.1 users downloaded it to enjoy the further tweaks to Windows 8.1.

One thing that is added to the Start Screen is a pair of icons right next to your username in the upper right hand corner of the screen. One icon is for quick access to power options to shut down, restart or put your device to sleep. The other icon is a magnifying glass that gives you once click access to search your Windows 8.1 Update based system.

Many users on Surface, Surface 2 and smaller ARM based tablets noticed that the power icon was not being placed on their Start Screen after the update was applied.

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So a discussion followed on Twitter about adding this to those tablets and discussion of a possible registry entry surfaced, pun intended, and it was about that time that a post popped up in my Twitter feed from IntoWindows.com – How To Remove Shutdown Button From Start Screen In Windows 8.1 Update.

After reading that post, I shared it on Twitter and we figured out that by changing the instructions on that removal post to turn on this registry entry on those ARM based devices instead of turning it off that it should appear.

Tero Alhonen (@teroalhonen), one of the members of our initial discussion group, confirmed that it would work and bring the power icon to the Start Screen on Surface, Surface 2 and also the Nokia Lumia 2520.

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So there are two ways to add this to your own Surface, Surface 2, Nokia Lumia 2520 and possibly other ARM based tablets.

The first version if manually however, you must feel comfortable editing the registry for your system.

The second option is to download a prepared registry file that will add the setting to your device that you can download from WindowsObserver.com.

If you want to edit the entry yourself then you need to enter the following in the Registry Editor (regedt32.exe):

    • [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\]
    • Add a new key called “Launcher” and then add a 32bit DWORD called “Launcher_ShowPowerButtonOnStartScreen”
    • Double click the new DWORD and place a 1 in the dialog box vice 0 to turn the entry on.
    • Exit Registry Editor and restart your device to see the power icon back on the Start Screen.

To turn it off just go to the same registry entry and double click the DWORD and replace the 1 with a 0 and restart.

Now, if you want the easiest path to adding the power icon to your Start Screen then just download the registry file below, extract it to your device and then click on it to merge the setting into your registry.

Pay attention to the warnings but you should be OK.

If you decide to turn it off then you can just use the registry file download below for removing the power icon from the Start Screen. Just extract it on your device and then click on it to merge the change to your registry.

Each of those steps do require a restart afterwards.

Download the registry files below:

Thanks to @teroalhonen, @FinsUpDNC and @thurrott for the Twitter brainstorm about this and IntoWindows for the point in the right direction.