Red cross in e-mail messages, also windows gadgets stoped working

Hi guys!

My friend has a strange problem. Couple of days ago he started a computer and after a number of updates and installs he noticed that the e-mail messages in Outlook 2007 stopped showing pictures. Instead of pictures there were just red crosses. Also he noticed that Windows gadgets stopped working properly. You can see both of the problems in the attached pictures.

I have tried many things ... from your Fix for windows gadgets to other things mentioned for Red cross in Outlook 2007. It seems like nothing helps. There is still an option to do a System restore but that is my last option.

Does anyone have an idea?

Any answer is much appreciated!

Thank you!

Thanks Shawn for your quick reply.

I already tried the above mentioned Fix but it is not working for me. I tried with the .bat file and manually but nothing helped. I think the problem is somewhere else ...

usually it's just the email program's own filtering system to prevent spams so it will block pics from unknown sender. but if you know it's safe to show, there should be an option in the program tools to enable showing the pics or marking the sender as trusted then showing the entire mail.
for the gadgets, when i encounter this i always uninstall the gadget and only use the ones i really need.

Perhaps you could look into this: Windows 7 gadgets not displaying properly. Black squares or don't appear at all with blue exclamation marks next to it.

Hey guys!

Thanks for all your replies. I've tried fixing gadgets alone and then the e-mail but nothing helped. Not even reinstalling gadgets. Also the e-mail filter system wasn't it.

I decided to do a system restore to a day before updating and all the problems disappeared. Then I installed Windows updates step by step and everything is working fine now. I still don't know where the problem was but I am glad that everything is working.

Thanks for all your help. Someone can mark this topic as solved. :)

glad everything's ok.