I went to MS site to check upgrade just for the heck of it and all gadgets are gone. Tried reinstall and not only did I have to be admin, which I am, I was told to go and beg "trusted installer" for permission .
System restore to the rescue. They are all back.
Art.
Microsoft has discontinued support for desktop gadgets due to security vulnerabilities and recommends that they not be used. These vulnerabilities will not be fixed.
Gadgets have been discontinued - Microsoft Windows
It seems strange that Avast should still be using a gadget. At least I found one when I Right-Clicked on my Desktop and selected Gadgets.
Perhaps it is being addressed as i write but it seems paradoxical for an antivirus to run via software that introduces vulnerabilities.
Perhaps I don't really understand?
thanks,
baumgrenze
It is not that the gadgets themselves introduce vulnerabilities although that is certainly possible. The way in which vulnerabilities can be introduced is virtually endless. The issue is that the system infrastructure that supports gadgets is unsafe. When this was designed security was rather less a problem than it is today. It is very possible that the security issues could not be fixed without breaking functionality that gadgets rely on. Apps in Windows 8 by design run only with limited privileges and thus the possibility for them doing harm is very limited.Perhaps it is being addressed as i write but it seems paradoxical for an antivirus to run via software that introduces vulnerabilities.
I should have been more explicit. I have no expectation that Microsoft will make changes to Gadgets. I was addressing the embarrassing position Avast now occupies. Has anyone heard what they intend to do?
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