Vista Windows Sidebar - Reinstate on Windows 7

Hi,
You guys can also try this gadget 7 Sidebar. You can install it like any other gadget and it creates a sidebar like the one in vista (even with some new features).
No need to change any systemfiles

Ciao

Thank you! The 7 Sidebar Gadet is exactly what I wanted/needed. I can still install gadets easily, no disabling UAC, none of that. I *could have* do the other method, but I no longer even have my windows vista disks, nor an old install to copy files from. Thanks for letting us know of this alternative.

lotherius said:

Thank you! The 7 Sidebar Gadet is exactly what I wanted/needed. I can still install gadets easily, no disabling UAC, none of that. I *could have* do the other method, but I no longer even have my windows vista disks, nor an old install to copy files from. Thanks for letting us know of this alternative.

I had uploaded a copy of my Vista sidebar folder to Skydrive. If you want to use it, you can download it from here.

Helmut4242 said:

Hi,
You guys can also try this gadget 7 Sidebar. You can install it like any other gadget and it creates a sidebar like the one in vista (even with some new features).
No need to change any systemfiles

Ciao

Helmut4242 big thanks for your sweet little tool - it simply made my day!!
It does exactly (!) what i want and what i have 'missed' in Win 7 - your sidebar brings back the border / dock also for apllications like firefox :). So if i am maximizing my browser it will 'dock' to the left border of the sidebar, just like in Vista. I love it - it is so cool. I don't like the Win 7 default one, because i can't devide my desktop exactly. Yours is excellent! Thanks bud!

Helmut4242 said:

Hi,
You guys can also try this gadget 7 Sidebar. You can install it like any other gadget and it creates a sidebar like the one in vista (even with some new features).
No need to change any systemfiles

Ciao

What a fantastic, elegant solution!

Having just completed the upgrade of my laptop from Vista to Win7 yesterday (what a pain, but that's another story) I was dismayed to find that the only thing I liked about Vista had been crippled in the new OS.

I found this thread via a Google search and was about to perform the recommended changes to get my old sidebar back (I still have another donor computer running Vista). Fortunately for me, I decided to read the entire thread first and at the top of the last page I found this solution!

I really like the additional features, like my browser window leaving the sidebar uncovered and the ability to use the sidebar as a window manager. This is what the Windows 7 sidebar should have been instead of the crippled version of the Vista sidebar they gave us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this here!
Moderators, you should make this another option on the first post of this thread.
One question though... why isn't this gadget available through the Windows gadget gallery?

The thing I can't figure out is why this works on my laptop, but when I try it on my desktop, it ends up saying that "Settings.ini is being used by another process". I have tried looking for the handle in process explorer but it doesn't show anything. Also, although it does work on my laptop, if I try to add any new gadgets, I have to revert to the Windows 7 sidebar to add them, then I can switch back to the Vista version of the sidebar.

eegorr said:

Helmut4242 said:

Hi,
You guys can also try this gadget 7 Sidebar. You can install it like any other gadget and it creates a sidebar like the one in vista (even with some new features).
No need to change any systemfiles

Ciao

What a fantastic, elegant solution!
...
One question though... why isn't this gadget available through the Windows gadget gallery?

I signed up just to praise this sidebar as well. It's sooo good, just like eegor said, it's what the Vista sidebar should have been.

I'd also wondered why it wasn't listed in the gadget gallery. I know that the creator of this gadget must live in Germany or Austria, because some of the outgoing links on that site land on german sites.

He also has a "Clipboarder" gadget that manages your clipboard items in the most elegant manner. I highly recommend trying it out too. This guy is a very talented programmer.

whs said:

DAS001 said:

I think I know what to do, but I need to get the Vista sidebar. Is there a place on the web that might have it??

I uploaded my Vista sidebar folder for you (see link below). Just download it and unzip the .zip folder and you find the folder that you need to drag into the Win7 Program files. Make sure you first renamed the one that is in your Win7 program files folder now.

Windows Sidebar.zip - Windows Live

MANY MANY thanks for that Folder.. I have been at wit's end to get that sidebar back on my W7OS . There is a Sidebar gadget available also, but it consumes significant amounts of CPU constantly, slowing down my system and battery life,

The Original Vista Sidebar is perfect.. thanks..