Gadget issue in Win 7 Ulimate 64 bit

[p23185]

This is a very frustrating topic that I have read on dozens of forum postings.

I use two Win Gadgets (clock and weather) and two personal ones (CPU and Network meter). The appear whenever they feel like it after a boot up - e.g. boot up this morning they were all there. Bootup this even trying two times and they are not there. When they refuse to show up I go to control panel and click on "desktop gadgets" and nothing happens. Then I go to start ball and type in windows gadgets and three options come up "Restore desktop gadgets installed with Windows", "Add gadgets to the desktop", and "Get more gadgets". The first two do not work, but the third one takes you to this site Gadgets have been discontinued - Microsoft Windows which contains the following note

Gadgets have been discontinued


Gadgets are no longer available on our website because the Windows Sidebar platform in Windows 7 and Windows Vista has serious vulnerabilities. Microsoft has retired the feature in newer releases of Windows. Gadgets could be exploited to harm your computer, access your computer's files, show you objectionable content, or change their behavior at any time. An attacker could even use a gadget to take complete control of your PC. If you're concerned about the safety of gadgets you’ve downloaded, find out more about gadgets and steps you can take to protect your PC.

Does anyone know when this occurred. A couple of days ago I was troubleshooting this cranky issue and never found anything about gadgets no longer being offered. Does this mean somehow MS has gone into my Win 7 Ultimate and disabled them?

 

[whs]

Nah, In Windows 7 your gadgets should still work - mine work and I can even install new ones. Have a look into this folder: C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets - they should all be there. If nothing else, put them into the startup folder and they should start at boot.

 

[pbcopter]

The gadgets have not been globally disabled.

Have you installed Internet Explorer 11?

If so, and you have also set the display text size to other than 100%, problems with gadgets will occur.

 

[whs]

If so, and you have also set the display text size to other than 100%, problems with gadgets will occur.

I don't think that is a problem. Mine is set to 150% and the gadgets show perfectly.

 

[Ranger4]

Yes, Gadgets have been discontinued & the security bulletin concerning this was updated on 3 July 2013, according to the information you posted that I read through.
It does seem that disabling Gadgets is the safest policy.
No, MS has not gone into your computer & disabled them, they don't enter anyone's computer. But as you mention Gadgets are unstable so your problems are likely related to that.

 

[A Guy]

Two easy things to try. Turn the Windows Gadget Platform off, reboot, then re enable (not every time, just once to see if this fixes the problem

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5023-windows-features-turn-off.html

Delete the sidebar Settings.ini (it will be recreated automatically). Navigate to

C:\users\(User name)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Settings.ini

Delete it and reboot.

A Guy

 

[pbcopter]

If so, and you have also set the display text size to other than 100%, problems with gadgets will occur.

I don't think that is a problem. Mine is set to 150% and the gadgets show perfectly.

You may not have a problem with this but many, including myself, have.
Try 125%

My Windows 7 weather gadget on my desktop has changed color - Microsoft Community

 

[p23185]

I have tried everything suggested on this site, putting s shortcut into the app\roaming\start folder, putting my IE11 back to 100%, deleting the .ini file and rebooting and allowing the OS to rebuild it, GADGETS HAS A MIND OF IT'S OWN, and it doesn't appear to matter if it is a stock Win gadget or a person gadget downloaded off the internet. My gadgets loaded just fine this morning but when I returned tonight and booted up they are all missing.

They worked just find on a Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit that I just gave to my son-in-law. Different Asus Mobo but same operating system, same IE 11, different make of SSD as C drive, but all that shouldn't make any difference. All the Win updates are in place. Some things MS just doesn't seem to master very well. There should be some simple solution like changing a piece of code in some location, but apparently no one has been able to find it yet, and now MS has discontinued gadgets so I guess they will not expend any effort on finding the bug.

 

[A Guy]

The IE11 fix has to do with size, might be worthwhile

http://www.sevenforums.com/gadgets/...-gadgets-what-alternatives-4.html#post2595906

If you know exactly when this started, a system restore point may work, but if it's been a while, probably no help for you. A Guy

 

[p23185]

The IE11 fix has to do with size, might be worthwhile

http://www.sevenforums.com/gadgets/...-gadgets-what-alternatives-4.html#post2595906

If you know exactly when this started, a system restore point may work, but if it's been a while, probably no help for you. A Guy

I have my fingers crossed but I rolled back to IE10 (and have had it set at 125%) and have had three good bootups in a row with gadgets appearing each time.

 

[p23185]

The IE11 fix has to do with size, might be worthwhile

http://www.sevenforums.com/gadgets/...-gadgets-what-alternatives-4.html#post2595906

If you know exactly when this started, a system restore point may work, but if it's been a while, probably no help for you. A Guy

I have my fingers crossed but I rolled back to IE10 (and have had it set at 125%) and have had three good bootups in a row with gadgets appearing each time.

OK I have had 3 more days of solid gadgets showing on every bootup. So for me, it worked to roll back to IE10 and then it makes no difference if I am at 100%, 110% or 125% zoom on the view size.

 

[A Guy]

Good, I am not planning on updating to IE11 unless I see less issues here. Never any odd effects from IE10 for me. A Guy