How can I add gadgets to the sidebar?What is UAC ?

EQ2000 said: How can I add gadgets to the sidebar?What is UAC ?1.) There is no "sidebar" in Windows 7. Vista had a bar that hung on the right-most (by default) side of the screen. With Windows 7, they've eliminated the bar itself. Gadgets sit directly on the desktop. 2.) To add a gadget to the desktop, you simply right click on a bare patch and click on Gadgets on the menu. This should bring up the gadget menu. From there, simply find the gadget you want, drag it to the desktop. The caveat to this - UAC can NOT be disabled. You ask, "What is UAC?" That's User Account Control - that's the somewhat annoying feature of Vista and Win 7 that's meant to alert you when something that has the potential to really hose your system happens. Things like opening up a strange file you downloaded from the Internet. Or when you install software. It's that prompt that darkens your screen, pops up a box that asks you "Do you want to allow this program access to your system?" The idea here is UAC is there to stop malicious software from installing itself in a drive-by mode of operation. It is NOT advisable to disable UAC entirely. Especially if you have a habit of visiting sites that are frequently compromised.3.) If you can't find a gadget that does what you want, or want something more exciting, you can click on the "Get More Gadgets online" link at the bottom right of the Gadget box and you'll be taken to the Windows Marketplace, gadgets division. From there you can browse through the collection or search for things more specifically.

@Wolfie2k6This is not entirely true; refer to the link egads provided above. If you shut off the sidebar.exe you'll notice that your gadgets are gone. The only thing is, that it doesn't show the way Vista did/does.RegardsRem

EQ2000 said: How can I add gadgets to the sidebar?What is UAC ?While there is still a sidebar process running in Win7 (you can see it on the processes list in Task Manager), it is not visually present anymore like it was in Vista. Gadgets can now be placed everywhere on the desktop, but you can still snap them in on the right screen border. To add a gadget, right-click on the desktop and select "Gadgets" for the list of installed Gadgets to appear. To use a gadget that is no installed yet, download it (e.g. from the MS Live site), then click on the downloaded .gadget file to install it. After installation, it will also be found in the Gadgets list. The User Account Control is meant to keep programs from changing sensible data. After being very annoying in Vista, it has now been finetuned in Win7. I'd strongly advise against switching it off, unless you have 3rd party sowtware installed that can protect your computer from sensible data being changed by malicious programs. One such program, which is able to run on Win7, would be the Kaspersky 8 beta - which is also a recommended solution by MS. If you do have such an program installed and want to switch it off, you'll find that your Gadgets will stop to work. This is a known bug and can easily fixed by adding an registry key: Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe)Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\SettingsCreate a new DWORD Value called AllowElevatedProcessSet the value of the new DWORD to 1Close the registry editor. Your gadgets should work now. No reboot or anything necessary. Added by Forum Moderator: Warning: While this solution solves the issue or problem, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. For more information about modifying the registry, see Microsoft support article 256986.

Zeus76 said: @Wolfie2k6This is not entirely true; refer to the link egads provided above. If you shut off the sidebar.exe you'll notice that your gadgets are gone. The only thing is, that it doesn't show the way Vista did/does.RegardsRem@ Zeus76I only said they got rid of the bar - You're no longer stuck with keeping your gadgets on it. You can stick them anywhere on the desktop.

@ egads: Hmm.. You're right. Learn something new every day - but you still need the butt ugly sidebar open for those gadgets to work.

If they don't put it back you could always just steal the Windows Vista Sidebar program folder from a Vista installation. I just ripped out the Notes gadget but found that resizable stickies far exceed thedetrimentof it running as it's own application -complete witha taskbar button.You can steal the entire folder, if you want. It would be best for Microsoft to return the sidebar functionality though.

egads said: What is butt-ugly to some is beeeeauuuuty-ful to others!But seriously. I find thatlocking SideBar always-on-topconsumes just the right amount ofmy so-called wide-screen displays. It effectively reduces the desktop to the historic dimensions of a CRT. Just right. Furthermore, it allows my gadgets to be conveniently viewedat a glance. So of course, I like it alot. And I miss it in Win7. Why'd they take it out? Why won't they put it back? As an option. :(I'm sure that's just great IF you've got a wide screen... But many of us don't. And no, rushing out to buy a wide screen monitor is NOT an option. As for the physical bar... Can't really answer that for sure. I'm not Microsoft. But it's not that big a deal.

You can get the Vista-style sidebar by stealing the Program Files\Windows Sidebar folder from a Vista installation, as I stated in my post above.If that post was sarcastic, I missed it, sorry.

@ egads: And ya know, you're more than welcome to do so. Simple truth is, in spite of what the ABM (Anything BUT Microsoft) crowd would have you believe, there aren't any roving gangs of thugs wandering the aisles of Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA and other electronics shops "making youse an upgrade offer you can't refuse..."If Vista really floats your provebial boat, then hey, all I can say - you're a rare one, for sure. Considering the bad press, the tons of FUD that was put forth, most people never even got to give it a chance. It never was even 1/3rd as bad as some would have had you believe. I was on the beta for that one as well. But... I like 7 better. But hey, that's just me.

In Win7, the gadgets actually snap to any border edge(well, for me, top, and sides). Just move the gadget over or to the top, and at the edge it 'snaps' into place. This has been tried on the top of the main monitor, and top and sides of my second monitor.

OK I screwed up! I accidentally uninstalled the slide show gadget and want to reload it. Where can I find it to reload?