Lost many gadgets - want to retrieve them

[Nisko]

Something happened to my desktop. My Icons got moved around and I lost my Gadgets. Of course I have a backup and I had a lot of Gadgets that I'd hate to reinstall. There are time zones and weather for many countries. Any idea how to retrieve them? Thanks......

 

[richc46]

The first thing that I would try is System Restore.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

 

[Lasy B]

Quickest response would be can you do a System Restore to before this occurred?

With regards the Desktop icons moving about, for future reference I can recommend Jamie O'Connell's
Desktop Icon Save and Restore to manage the layout you've chosen on your desktop.

After installation, three new items are available in the desktop context menu (right-click menu): Save Desktop… , Restore Desktop and Custom Save and Restore…

This is working fine on my 64 bit System.

 

[Nisko]

Can't use System Restore. Too many other things would change. I have a backup - if only I knew what to restore. There must be a way.

 

[richc46]

System Restore does not change personal documents, picutres etc. Just Windows.

 

[Nisko]

I have installed a number of programs that I don't want to lose. I have a backup and there has to be a way to use that backup to restore my Gadgets. Thanks........

 

[Brink]

Hello Nisko,

It depends on what type of backup you have.

System image backup:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/24771-system-image-extract-files-using-disk-management.html

File Backup:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/648-restore-backup-user-system-files.html


You would copy the entire gadget folder from the backup back into the same location below.


For 64-bit Windows 7
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets

and

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\Shared Gadgets


For 32-bit Windows 7
C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets

and

C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Shared Gadgets




Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Nisko]

Thanks - but one thing isn't clear: I have a complete incremental backup of my entire system - by file. Do I use the procedure you described?

Also, in the Gadgets folder, Gadgets are listed which I don't use. What do I do with them?

I looked in my file backup and there ARE Gadgets which I don't use (but used to use). What tells Windows 7 which Gadgets to use and where to put them on the Desktop? Thanks.

 

[Dixon Butz]

I have done this many times.
All you have to do is
kill sidebar.exe in taskmanager
Go to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar
Delete Settings.ini
Restore the Settings.ini from your back to that sidebar folder.
Restart sidebar.exe from program files
All your settings and positions should be restored.

 

[Brink]

Thanks - but one thing isn't clear: I have a complete incremental backup of my entire system - by file. Do I use the procedure you described?

Also, in the Gadgets folder, Gadgets are listed which I don't use. What do I do with them?

I looked in my file backup and there ARE Gadgets which I don't use (but used to use). What tells Windows 7 which Gadgets to use and where to put them on the Desktop? Thanks.

Copying the entire gadget folder folder from your backup, as in the screenshot above, back into your new installation is the same as installing them. Afterwards, you would just need to add the gadget to the desktop just as before.

If you have the gadget installation file, you might as well just reinstall it though instead of digging through backups to copy it back. It would be easier.

 

[Nisko]

and I don't have to replace the Gadget apps in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\Shared Gadgets and :\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets as described in one of the Posts above???

 

[Brink]

Only if you do not have the gadget installation file and wanted to copy (reinstall) the gadget folder from one of those locations in your backup to that same location in your new installation to restore it.

 

[Nisko]

Hooray!!! That was the missing piece of the puzzle I needed to get my many Gadgets back. Thanks so much. And thanks to the other people who responded also. Every bit helps!!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Nisko. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted.