For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great!

For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great! Seeif registering the scripting DLLs as mentioned in the articlehelps:Gadgets in the Windows Sidebar are not displayed correctlyRamesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience]

Thankyou so much this was a great help :)

You're welcome :)Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience]

i'm having that same problem

Hi, I have the exact same problem and I did exactly what the post says but still doesn't work for me. Is there anything I should do? Thanks for the help. Freedon

I'm not sure I have a "Sidebar". My gadgets are free floating just like all of my shortcuts and other icon's on my desktop. My Network and Battery Status gadgets don't work, but, my Wikipedia and other gadgets do. I also have had the problem that started at the same time whereby when I put my pc to sleep (I rarely ever power it down) and I wake it back up and I enter my password it doesn't recognize it. I have to switch users and re-enter my profile to log in. I CCleaner by Piriform and I only use the reg-cleaner sparingly when my pc becomes bogged. I'm almost certain that these problems are because of the registry, but, I can't find registry help so I can be certain. The last problem I had was solved by correcting the reg. Where can I find material (preferably online/self help) about how the reg works and how to troubleshoot it? Thank you for your help. DragonBayCaffeShoot first! Then, later, wonder why you didn't ask questions first! (dink!)

I've tried this, and about a hundred other things, and I am still having the exact same problem. I've removed the feature and tried to reinstall it. I've tried to delete all traces of it. I have registered and re-registered .dlls up the wazoo. I've deleted .ini files. I haven't messed with UAC b/c the UAC has been off since about 10 minutes after installing Windows 7. This problem seemed spontaneous (which is NEVER the case with a computer).

Did you recently install an Adobe update? I accepted one tonight and, all of a sudden, my gadgets broke. I didn't dink with UAC, I tried re-registering DLLs, etc. Here's what worked for me. Look in the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again... :-)

DNsteve FTW!!! This plagued me for weeks! Thank you for the tip!

DNsteve, thanks.

DNsteve Thanks man this really helped!!!

Thanks DNsteve.. It helped a lot :)

sorry for bad news, but didn't work for me, i still have stupid black clock, and other gadgets broken. dunno what to do.

Did you recently install an Adobe update? I accepted one tonight and, all of a sudden, my gadgets broke. I didn't dink with UAC, I tried re-registering DLLs, etc. Here's what worked for me. Look in the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again... :-) Thankful! Excellent, specific solution to this problem. Head and shoulders above all other proposals on the Web (. Reg. Cmd. Dll ....) Success, success!!!

Thanks a lot pal. You are god send. Resolved this problem now, have tried several methods but none work less yours. Thanks again.

WOW! I have been working ALL WEEKEND and finalyl your solution worked. My gadgets are working perfectly again and I cannot thank you enough! My weekend is ruined but you just made it all better. Thanks Again!

Hi.. I tried both the steps but both dint fix the problems!! Is there any other solution for it ???

can u pls temme wat u did exactly so i can try in my sys !!!

Finally , I booted in safe mode; ran malwarebytes; got 4 infected files; Removed and re booted Hurraaayyy !!! FIXED..!!

My same problem goes away when I delete that subkey, but the subkey and problem comes back on a reboot. Any suggestions?

been reading fixes for the same problem as you guys.. nothing worked, even the one that worked for most.. so i remembered something i did when i was reading one of the posts here regarding ccleaner.. i opened it, and noticed that there were a lot of startup programs, mostly from adobe, that i unticked so that my boot would be faster.. i tried ticking everything again and viola! my gadgets are back! can also be done by using regedit and sacrificing a few seconds of boot time and just tick everything again.. dunno which one causes it though.. but it's definitely adobe.

Dear DNsteve, Thank u very much. problem solved.

I also have the same black square clock etc problems. I also have tried every solution mentioned here and elsewhere on the net ( registry fix, xml etc etc) I can find and it hasn't changed a thing!!. I tried MS Phone support and am told I only get 3 months warranty on Win7 Pro (even a $2 packet of biscuits has a longer "Good Till" date than does Win7) so they will not help unless I pay them to fix their product. The only way that I tried that did get the gadgets working properlywas to create a new user. However, this means I lose my current user name and I can't seem to find any easy way to keep all of my settings etc etc by so that everything would be the way it is inc. my user name. Anyone know how ?? Its seems obvious from all the forums that MS is well aware of the problem but again does not have a real answer that will fix the fault for everyone and not just the some who it does work for. (Most MS responses do not mention creating a new user seems to fix it.) Those of us who do bother to try and get help are only the tip of the iceberg - there are many others whose computer savvy is so tiny they just give up or don't even realise they are having problems. IS there anyone in MS who can come up wityh a real answer for every one on this problem. ??

DNsteve DNsteve thank U soooooo much

Worked like a charm! You just neglected to mention restarting after making the change :) But thank you very much for helping me fix this annoying issue!!

Hi Everyone, Just as the Guys said before !! Adobe is problem cause. Just go to START & RUN type MSCONFIG and look in START programs then Untick anything to do with ADOBE and hey PRESTO on restart everthing is A! OK, Once again thanks to the Guys for pointing in right direction.

Thanks for this - worked perfectly - very, very much appreciated DNsteve

Steve, update your fix to include a reboot. Works.

thanks man!!

I search and search the web without the good answer. Thanks DNsteve. Right on the spot.

For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great!

It really Worked dude! Thanks!

Worked for me thanks - what made you think of looking there ??

This was great solutions..... but if some, not worked. DONT FORGET TO STOP GADGET.EXE FIRST. Go To Task Manager and pick Process. and Stop Sidebar.exe. and than use that solutions............

But where is the answer of this question.....i am asking this because i am alsao suffering with this problem.Please help me in solving this problem.Please send the answer of this quetion on my email address that is harshbhardwaj072@gmail.com

DNsteve.. thanks you it really bothered me, but your comment really helped, the gadgets all working now thanks again

DNSteve-Well, It worked at first. But after I did a complete shut down and restarted later, the same problem is back, the file deleted in the registry is back. The gadgets are messed up again. Fustrating indeed! UPDATE: I used system restore to restore my system to an earlier point before the problem started and that cleared it up finally. No problem with the gadgets now.

OMG, DNsteve! This did the trick. Spent four hours trying to figure out what happened to my gadgets, and this did it. I had a malware infection, and I bet that's what added that pseudo security zone to the registry. I don't know what possessed you to check that particular key, but kudos to you.

I couldnt find that pseudo-graphic subkey please help! Thanks

Start Regedit.exe and goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones From the File menu, click Export, and save the branch to a .REG file. Compress the .REG file, upload to the web and provide use the link: Use SkyDrive to upload collected files and post screen shot/picture.: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproui/thread/4fc10639-02db-4665-993a-08d865088d65 Ramesh Srinivasan | The Winhelponline Blog Microsoft MVP, Windows Desktop Experience

For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great! I am facing same problem :-((

For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great! See if registering the scripting DLLs as mentioned in the article helps: Gadgets in the Windows Sidebar are not displayed correctly Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience] couldnt find ? please help

Did your fix - all is working again. Thanks a lot.

Did you recently install an Adobe update? I accepted one tonight and, all of a sudden, my gadgets broke. I didn't dink with UAC, I tried re-registering DLLs, etc. Here's what worked for me. Look in the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again... :-) How do you get to the 'registry?

we have the same problem sir ... mie is also like that .. it just appeared like that ... for now i still exactly dont know what to do ..

After I delete the key, the problem still doesn't go away, and my logitech setpoint says it can't access the internet. I uninstall logitech setpoint and try to reinstall it. The windows security windows says these files can't be opened. Anyone can help? Thanks.

Excellent answer. Just to add something, you have to restart after doing this and everything will be fixed. Thanks DNsteve!

Thanks Alooot DNsteve

Sir, I am having the same problem. so plz help me. For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great!

Sir, I am having the same problem. so plz help me. For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great! I just fixed my; Here what I had done from 1)press windows key and R the same time; 2) type msconfig 3) click on Startup and click on Enable all. computer need to restart, after that, it worked for my desktop.

Look in the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again... :-) After removing the gadgets and registering the dll from other post, this was the only fix. Thanks.

Did you recently install an Adobe update? I accepted one tonight and, all of a sudden, my gadgets broke. I didn't dink with UAC, I tried re-registering DLLs, etc. Here's what worked for me. Look in the registry at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again... :-) The Best answer... Thanks so much!

hi i am using windows 7 where can i find it? HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\

i did it but it did not work

I worked for days, weeks, on this problem, caused me headaches! I could not find any answer on the Microsoft site and finally came on this forum site. I have also tried all suggested solutions, nothing worked. Untill I cam accross this solution! I could not believe my eyes it works again! Thank you so much.PietWelie

I had this problem for a while, it annoyed the shit out of me. I gave up trying to fix it, but I just recently came across a solution by accident... It seems as though the problem was caused by some sort of spyware program or virus, so get some an anti spyware program (I used malwarebytes) and have it do a quick scan, remove all the viruses it finds and restart. When your computer restarts the gadgets should be working again. For anyone else experiencing this problem, try it. I guarantee it will work. BTW, these were viruses which McAfee Total Protection couldn't pick up, so something like Malwarebytes or Microsoft Security Essentials is required even if you already have a virus protection program. Hope this helps

You're the best, DNsteve!

Thnx man stuck up few days. thought some malware, just abt 2 install a new av. but it worked fine. thnks once again.

OORWULLIE 1959 than you, it worked fine for me, damn Adobe

Solution to this problem: 100% WORK these is entry (by my registry) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ L - these entry delete !!! 0 1 2 3 4

Thanks man its working. m really thanks full to u. u have done a great job..

this didnt work out for me! could u suggest other solutions?

Could u suggest other solutions? none of the ones on this page worked for me!

Ace, worked a treat! Thank You!

Hi bro i have tried all the above but could not fix it plsssssssssssss give me a solution

You are amazing DNsteve. It was worked in my lapi. Thank you so much......!

i'm having that same problem pls Help me. what i can do..... email- pinku.mpl@live.com

i'm having that same problem pls Help me. what i can do..... email- pinku.mpl@live.com

Thanks DNsteve. It worked perfect for me. :-)

you're great! ;) thanks

its working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank u so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hello DNsteve I have same problem with Windows 7 with CPU meter, GPU meter and other custom gadgets, I look into the register as you mention: "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\ Do you see a little pseudo-graphic subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? If so, delete it. Now try your gadgets again" but there is not any subkey between \Zones and subkey 0? there is \Zero and sublevels: 0, 1, 2 and so on P.S. I'm using Vista like sidebar, but at the first all gadgets worked fine. please help thanks!!!

pls. ans. me

"lara556677" wrote in message news:8ff9e833-eb03-478d-886d-0a7760c169f6... pls. ans. me You haven't asked a question yet? -- Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

please!!! enyone can answer me ?

I just fixed it on my pc running windows 7. Use the registry tool option in CCleaner and click on the scan for issues button then select scan all issues or fix selected issue(if u know what u don't want to fix), select yes when it asks you for a backup creation and there you go see the magic unfold when you select the gadgets. This should do it. It worked for me hope it works for everybody else.

On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:58:11 +0000, theresolver1259 wrote: I just fixed it on my pc running windows 7.  Use the registry tool option in CCleaner and click on the scan for issues button then select scan all issues or fix selected issue(if u know what u don't want to fix), select yes when it asks you for a backup creation and there you go see the magic unfold when you select the gadgets. This should do it. It worked for me hope it works for everybody else. I strongly recommend against running the registry cleaning function of CCleaner, or any other registry cleaner. Registry cleaning programs are all snake oil. Cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you. The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may have. Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html and http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and also http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/02/registry-junk-a-windows-fact-of-life.aspx Let me point out that neither I nor anyone else who warns against the use of registry cleaners has ever said that they always cause problems. If they always caused problems, they would disappear from the market almost immediately. Many people have used a registry cleaner and never had a problem with it. Rather, the problem with a registry cleaner is that it carries with it the substantial risk of having a problem. And since there is no benefit to using a registry cleaner, running that risk is a very bad bargain. Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

"theresolver1259" wrote in message news:0acc5a2b-53af-4dde-a281-3457dee9b0eb... I just fixed it on my pc running windows 7. Use the registry tool option in CCleaner and click on the scan for issues button then select scan all issues or fix selected issue(if u know what u don't want to fix), select yes when it asks you for a backup creation and there you go see the magic unfold when you select the gadgets. This should do it. It worked for me hope it works for everybody else. This is getting very close to being SPAM. Once is good - twice is just about OK - the third time you post the same thing in a thread, you can expect people to complain!. So - what was that again? <eg> -- Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

Thanks so much, worked for me too

"Noel D paton" with due respect to you let me put forward my side of the story. This is my first time here, so it took me a while to figure out that I've posted my reply thrice. So it has got nothing to do with spam. If it were spam nobody would have replied. Thanks to the beautiful "User Interface" that Microsoft provides no wonder it took me time to figure it out and let me tell I'm not a spammer.

If it is so then why doesn't Microsoft come out with a potential solution? The problems are quite annoying. No solution that Microsoft gave in it's official thing worked so what you expect the users to do? Let them live with the fact and adjust. Is this the price we pay for buying genuine software. The "Fix It" solution you offered never worked. We don't fancy third-party software it's only because we don't have a potential solution for the problem we can hardly do anything but resort to third-party alternatives. Thank you.

THANKX MAN :) it worked for me too :) by deleting zone key my gadgets r back .......... thankx again

safi06 hello you delete 'zone' key or any subkey of 'zone' ? thanks

Where's that? How do I access it? I can't find it.

thank u very much man idont know waht 2 say thank u alot DNsteve u helped me

KUDUS !! I spent a few hours on this & really came to a dead end. Thank you so much for this usefull & quick solution. Tal

This did the job!! WINNER!

For some reason the gadgets in windows 7 are not working properly. I can open the gadget gallery and select a gadget, but it doesn't show the entire thing. For example i select the clock, and all it shows is a black square with the red ticking hand frozen. Another example is the CPU meter. All it shows when i click on it is a little white square where the meter should be. I can still close the gadgets by way of the close button on each gadget though (the calendar doesn't appear at all). UAC is turned on and i have rebooted the pc, same thing still happening. (It is Enterprise edition if that makes any difference). If anyone could help that would be great!

thanks . 4 ur answer but still my cpu meter is not working anyone can help.

If you go to C:Users/[your user name]/AppData/Local/Microsoft then delete the folder Windows sidebar it will reset the SIdebar settings. The folder will come back with default settings, however everything that didn't work will now work, you will just need to reload you gadgets. Worked a treat for me after trying a number of other options.

I just tried this, but I don't have the AppData folder. Now what? This would be much easier if it was taken care of automatically with a system update. Attention Windows Developers: We're not all computer programmers... THIS SHOULD BE EASIER.

Thank you very much. it works perfectly and my windows 7 gadget had returned to work perfectly.

i could not get my calendar to show the date - it just showed a blank orange sheet. i tried all the solutions i could find on this subject, but none of them worked. after reading the post from "dench" i ran "msconfig" to see the programs that run at startup. there was an entry i did not recognize so i unchecked it and restarted my computer. my calendar now works. i ran "msconfig" again to see exactly which program i unchecked, but could not find it. i recommend unchecking any program you don't recognize (DO NOT UNCHECK ANY MICROSOFT ENTRIES!.) THIS MIGHT WORK FOR YOU

I've exactl same problem you have. I was doing a test drive on my sister's THREE-DAY old Toshiba Portege notebook and tried to install her selected gadgets. One is the calendar with the color orange cover. I did what I figured was safe but apparently the attempts didn't work. Just about to call it quits when as a last resort I found this forum and here I am. What'appalls me is this quirk has been ongoing for years. Please, whose solution(s) work? I read about NSteve's, others and yours which I might give a try.

I had the same problem as above & the simple solution I had was to start Task Manager, by right-clicking the Task Bar, then open the Processes tab and look for sidebar.exe, and click End Process. Then right-click your desktop and select Gadgets. After that, mine has been working fine, which was odd considering it didn't fix itself during a restart.

This was great solutions..... but if some, not worked. DONT FORGET TO STOP GADGET.EXE FIRST. Go To Task Manager and pick Process. and Stop Sidebar.exe. and than use that solutions............ Thanks, It worked for me...

go to windows in C drive and find regedit there in that there is HKEY INSTEAD OF HCKU .

WAS TROUBLING ME FOR A YEAR!!! I kept screaming and jumping when your advice worked, no keyboard-written thanQ is enough!

Here is the fix that worked for me. 1. Use task manager to terminate sidebar.exe first. 2. navigate to \app data\local\microsoft\windows sidebar for the user whose gadgets don't work (C:\users\username\app data.....) 3. delete settings.ini 4. restart sidebar (right click on desktop and select gadgets) 5. reload your preferred gadjets Discovered this because everything else would not work other than creating a new user account Ron Spitzer

Have you come across the problem where some of the Gadgets that you added to the Sidebar/Desktop are not displayed correctly? For example, the clock gadget may be displayed as a black square containing only the "seconds" hand. Other gadgets may show up as white rectangles with an information (i) icon and a plus sign. The settings button next to the gadget does not work, but the x to close does. Here are some screenshots: The above-mentioned behavior is caused due to the following reasons: A subkey with foreign/ASCII character exists under the "Zones" registry key.XML registration is missing in the system. Use these steps to fix the problem: Fix for Case 1 1. Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press {ENTER} 2. Navigate to the following branch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings \ Zones 3. Under the Zones key, delete the subkey shown with an ASCII character: 4. Exit the Registry Editor. 5. Logoff and login back to your user account. Fix for Case 2 1. Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To open an elevated (admin) Command Prompt, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. 2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press ENTER: regsvr32 msxml3.dll 3. Similarly, run these commands: regsvr32 scrrun.dll regsvr32 jscript.dll You should see the DllRegisterServer in <filename> succeeded message for each command executed. 4. Logoff and login back to your user account and see if the Gadgets display correctly.