gadgets has stopped working (tough one)

Deanos said:

Download a small program called CCleaner (CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download).
Install it and run it.

While in there, do the normal clean up (Make sure you select everything, except for the last item, "wipe free space" I think...) and then do the registry clean up...

Then go to Tools, then Startup.
Disable the entry for the gadget startup.

"Sidebar C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun"
Right click on it and select disable...

Reboot your PC and then try and add them one by one again...

Let me know what happens...

I do not recommend using the reg cleaner unless you are very familiar with the registry and know what you are doing. Win 7 manages the registry much more efficiently and differently than does XP. The old XP wisdom does not apply to Win 7.

Cleaning keys that obviously refer to uninstalled programs is safe; but it will have no impact on the speed of the registry.

He didn't offer the reg clean as a way to speed anything up - he offered it as a method to help get rid of the startup entry for the sidebar.exe program that runs to show the desktop gadgets.

However, I do agree with you that they have little effect in speeding up Windows 7 based computers.

@matman - In general, I have found that registry cleaners can easily do more harm than good if you do not know what you are doing.

Since this is not your thread originally, please go back and start from the beginning and tell us some more info.

Also, did you *specifically* do the part mentioned in this post?

mysticalice said:

Here was the solution, in case someone searches for it:

Go to the the userdata, appdata\local\microsoft\windows sidebar\gadgets\ and removed the camera application.
restarted gadgets and they worked just fine

That should allow you to remove any gadgets that you installed that sound like may be the cause of your problems....