Vista Windows Sidebar - Reinstate on Windows 7

OK, that is easy.

1. Go to COMPUTER in Vista.
2. double click on C partition
3. go to PROGRAM FILES
4. there go to WINDOWS SIDEBAR folder
5. now copy that to a place where you can access it from your Win7 system. That could be an external disk, a USB stick, an SD card or a shared folder (I don't know what your setup is). For copying it, you can use Copy/Paste or Copy to Folder... ( Add Copy To / Move To on Windows 7 or Vista Right-Click Menu - the How-To Geek )

Now you take the same path to your Win7 Program Files (Computer > double click on C > Program files) and again double click on Program Files.

1. Rename the Windows Sidebar folder in there Windows Sidebar (2). You first have to take ownership as described.
2. Then Copy the Vista Sidebar folder from the device (or whatever) where you have saved it and Paste it into the Win7 Program files folder. You can also put the "device" folder and the Win7 Program Files folder side by side and drag it over.

Now you should have 2 folders in your Program Files: Windows Sidebar (2) and Windows Sidebar. Now follow the rest of the instructions.

whs said:

OK, that is easy.

1. Go to COMPUTER in Vista.
2. double click on C partition
3. go to PROGRAM FILES
4. there go to WINDOWS SIDEBAR folder
5. now copy that to a place where you can access it from your Win7 system. That could be an external disk, a USB stick, an SD card or a shared folder (I don't know what your setup is). For copying it, you can use Copy/Paste or Copy to Folder... ( Add Copy To / Move To on Windows 7 or Vista Right-Click Menu - the How-To Geek )

Now you take the same path to your Win7 Program Files (Computer > double click on C > Program files) and again double click on Program Files.

1. Rename the Windows Sidebar folder in there Windows Sidebar (2). You first have to take ownership as described.
2. Then Copy the Vista Sidebar folder from the device (or whatever) where you have saved it and Paste it into the Win7 Program files folder. You can also put the "device" folder and the Win7 Program Files folder side by side and drag it over.

Now you should have 2 folders in your Program Files: Windows Sidebar (2) and Windows Sidebar. Now follow the rest of the instructions.

Thank you so much for your patience. I have one more stupid question to ask.... Does this assume that I am running both Vista and Windows 7? I originally had Vista, then did the Windows 7 upgrade. So I'm still not 100% sure of where the "Vista" part of my computer is vs. the Windows 7 part, if that makes any sense. Everything else seems straightforward. Thanks again!

There is no need to run Vista. But you have to have access to a Vista system in order to "steal" the Vista sidebar folder - and that is pretty big (7MB). If you have Vista on another computer or from a friend, you can copy the folder to a USB stick or an SD card and "import" it from there into Win7.

Ok! I finally get it! Will try and do in the morning and post back how it goes. Thanks!

OK, I'll look for your success posting tomorrow. It should be no problem. And the sidebar works really well in Win7. My best gadget there is the Application Launcher. It is not easy to find on the web, but if you like to install it, you can download it from my Skydrive.

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??

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

Thank you so much! It worked! One wierd thing....the weather and the calendar icons both have a funky pink border....any ideas why/how to fix?

I am glad you got it working. Piece of cake - was'nt it?

I have "weather bug" and that is normal - no border. And calendar I don't use. Being retired, I don't need it - LOL. If it bothers you, look for another gadget doing the same. Especially for those two you have a vast selection. Sometimes it also helps if you jut pull them out of the sidebar and stick them back in. Or if you click on the little wrench on the side and then say "cancel".