Solved Windows Sidebar Completely Gone

[diemeow23]

Hi there I'm new here, and after scanning through the list this is where I figured to be the best place to ask. Please help I am very desperate

Earlier today a made the mistake of clicking an Sidebar app that would help my mini Browser do flash but the name was too short cause I minimized me Window and i didn't see that it was for 64bit, mine I think is Windows Ultimate32bit So I clicked it and poof all the Sidebar related things were apparently gone, even in the Control Panel/Appearance and Personalization.

It just shows the same Icons indicating that they are only shortcuts and aren't able to locate the original files anymore, when I click Sidebar.exe I am able to see my gadgets again but when I right click my desktop for Gadgets it goes

"explorer.exe can't find application" so I feel I can't restore anything anymore the the last choices I can think of is either getting a new OS or finding an installer for Windows Sidebar please help

 

[Bink]

I had this problem with Windows Vista and I know what you're going through and it is a nightmare. but don't panic I'm not sure why your sidebar has decided to stop working. I would also guess that if you looked in services you would probably find it's not in there either. This was a common problem with Windows Vista where it decided to stop working for no reason as well. Microsoft was supposed to resolve this matter with Service Pack 1 but they didn't. Although I do recall this being resolved with service pack 2.

Okay please follow the instructions as listed below to the letter and pay attention to detail and try to concentrate. if you're a complete novice to Command Prompt commands than don't worry because I shall guide you through every single step.

Step One: Command Prompt

1. Open Command Prompt first by clicking on Start>All Programs>Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and then select run as Administrator. Now that we have Command Prompt open we shall move onto the next stage.

Step Two: Command Prompt Commands

1. Make sure you type these commands in one at a time and then press enter after each one. Most importantly make sure that you restart your computer once you have finish and then hopefully your Sidebar will be back up and running again.

Pay attention to detail, make sure that you type in all the commands as listed below paying particular attention to commands with "" and %\ as these are very important. Any error messages you occur are because you have typed the wrong command or you have missed something out of the command.

Regsvr32 atl.dll [Press Enter]

You will now get a popup window which states that DLLRegisterServer in atl.dll succeeded. Click on OK to close

Regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\sbdrop.dll" [Press Enter]

You will now get a second popup window which state that DLLRegisterServer in C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sbdrop.dll succeeded. Click on OK to close

Regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\wlsrvc.dll" [Press Enter]

You will now get a third popup window which states that DLLRegisterServer in C:\ProgramFiles\Windows Sidebar\wlsrvc.dll succeeded. Click on OK to close

What have I just done, well basically we have run what is called Windows Sidebar Repair - Reinstall which should reinstate Windows 7 Sidebar. I hope this works for you and you get your Windows Sidebar up and running again. If you get a large window with an error message then you have typed something incorrectly into Command Prompt. These commands are correct so there shouldn't be any error message at all.

REMEMBER TO RESTART YOUR COMPUTER

Simon

 

[diemeow23]

Hi there thanks for replying, I tried it and it all worked and said okay or succeeded

But still even after restarting I still can't edit my gadgets, add more and I feel if I close one I wouldn't be able to get it back, the explorer.exe can't seem to find the files anymore.

 

[Airbot]

Have you tried turning the gadget platform off and then back on in Programs and Features? Might also see if it's possible if restoring default gadgets does anything.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8114-gadgets-turn-off.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10215-gadgets-restore-default-gadgets.html

 

[diemeow23]

OMG! Thank you so much! Looks like the combination of the two fixed it! Looks like my system just needed an excuse to look for the original files again. Again thank you so much

 

[Airbot]

You're welcome.

 

[Bink]

OMG! Thank you so much! Looks like the combination of the two fixed it! Looks like my system just needed an excuse to look for the original files again. Again thank you so much

That was going to be my next question if the first one failed but I was beaten to the post. Awesome glad to see your back up and running again.