Download gadgets for windows 7. How to install gadgets on Windows XP

With the release of new versions of Windows OS, many functions of the “seven” were undeservedly forgotten by users. Among these forgotten features are desktop gadgets.

Gadgets are special mini-applications for the desktop in Windows 7. Their compactness allows you to place a large number of functions directly on the main computer screen. They are used for quick access to certain functions, monitoring system status, improving the appearance of the main screen, etc.

Adding gadgets is available even to novice users; installing and configuring them is not difficult. Below we will take a closer look at the features of launching and personalizing these program elements for a specific user.

First of all, the convenience of this tool is that it is virtually always at the user’s fingertips. You can open and install all the gadgets available in the system as follows:

To see all the elements available for adding, you just need to right-click the context menu on an empty area of the desktop. Here, among all the items, select “Gadgets”.
To install any gadget, right-click on it and select “Add”.

On a note! The system will open a window for a set of gadgets currently installed on the computer. You can find and download new ones here using the corresponding function below.
The selected gadget will appear on your desktop in the place you clicked on first.
In the future, you can drag it to any area of the screen.
You can also open the gadget collection by finding it in the list of programs in the main Start menu.
You can remove a gadget from your desktop by simply clicking the “cross” in the upper right corner of the element itself.

On a note! In order to completely remove an unwanted gadget from your computer, without the possibility of re-locating it on the desktop, you need to reopen the gadget collection and right-click and select “Delete”.

How to download additional gadgets

You can download and add new gadgets in addition to the pre-installed ones from various sources - or using the official gadget store from Microsoft.

In order to download an item from the official gadget store from Microsoft, you need to:

In the future, the algorithm is as follows:

Read also useful and interesting information in two simple ways in the article -

Settings and other manipulations with gadgets

Each gadget has its own set of settings for personalizing display or setting functions, which can be opened by clicking the “Options” icon (image of a wrench) under the close button of the gadget.

However, there are also general basic settings for its position and display directly on the desktop. You can call this setup menu by right-clicking on a gadget already installed on your desktop.

Here you can:

An example of setting up special parameters for a gadget that shows the status and performance of the system.

Disable all gadgets on your computer

In some situations, gadgets can pose a danger to a computer, since they have vulnerabilities when connecting to the Internet and working in other types of networks.

If the user has concerns about the quality of protection of his device, the use of gadgets should be stopped, and the elements themselves should be completely deactivated to eliminate threats.

In order to completely disable the use of any gadgets on your computer, you must:

Call, using the combination “Win (OS icon) + R”, the “Run” line, and write “gpedit.msc” in it.
A special Group Policy editing window will open. Here we open the “Administrative Templates” category, in it – “Windows Components”. Among all the standard software components, select “Desktop Gadgets”.
A mini-window for setting up various features and gadget access will open. Double-click on the “Disable desktop gadgets” option.
The system will launch another window in which you can activate this option by selecting “Enable” and clicking “OK”. After this, installation and use of desktop gadgets will be impossible.

Recovering deleted gadgets

In other cases, it may be necessary to restore an accidentally or intentionally deleted gadget.

You can restore a lost gadget in this way:

Video - How to install, remove or disable gadgets in Windows 7

28.12.2009 03:49

Gadgets (mini-applications) are small programs that display a variety of information on the Windows 7 desktop.

How gadgets work in Windows 7

A gadget, like a web page, consists of graphics and files written in HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Therefore, to display gadgets, it is necessary that at least one browser is installed on the system. To use pre-installed (standard) Windows 7 gadgets, you must have the Internet Explorer browser. Some gadgets (for example, Weather) require an Internet connection, while other gadgets can work offline (for example, Clock).

The installation file of the widget is a regular zip archive with the extension .gadget. For a gadget to be displayed on the desktop, it must be installed and running.

To install the widget, double-click on the gadget's installation package. The widget will then be added to your gadget collection, from where you can add it to your desktop.

The desktop gadgets collection is a panel that displays all installed gadgets. This panel is powered by the application sidebar.exe located in the folder %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar.

To open the Desktop Gadget Collection, right-click on the desktop and select from the context menu that appears Gadgets.

Adding gadgets to your desktop

2. Double-click one of the suggested gadgets.

Gadget menu

When you hover your mouse over a gadget, a small menu appears to the right of it.

Depending on the features of the gadget, this menu may contain buttons Close(removes the gadget from the Windows desktop), Options(displays additional settings), Size, Moving.

Removing a gadget

1. To remove a gadget from the collection, right-click on the desktop and select Gadgets.

2. Right-click on the widget you want to remove and select Delete.

After this, the widget will no longer be available in the Gadget Collection.

Recovering deleted gadgets

To restore all standard Windows 7 gadgets:

1. Open the Control Panel, set the view to “Category”.

2. Click .

3. In the section Desktop gadgets click Recovering desktop gadgets installed by Windows.

To restore a deleted third-party widget, simply install it again.

Turn Gadgets on or off

By default, gadgets are enabled in Windows 7. You can disable the installation, viewing, and adding of gadgets to the desktop by using Windows Features in Control Panel and by using the Local Group Policy Editor (Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise only).

Turn gadgets on or off using Control Panel

1. Open Control Panel (Large Icons View) > Programs and Features.

2. From the left menu, select Turn Windows features on or off.

3. To turn off the Gadgets feature, uncheck the Windows gadget platform. To enable Gadgets, select this checkbox.

4. Restart your computer.

Enable or disable gadgets using the Local Group Policy Editor

1. Open the Start menu, type in the search bar and press Enter.

2. Perform the required action:

To disable the Gadgets feature for your account, in the left menu of the Local Group Policy Editor, open Local Computer Policy > User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Desktop Gadgets .

To disable the gadgets feature for all users on the computer, in the left menu of the Local Group Policy Editor, open Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Desktop Gadgets, on the right side of the Local Group Policy Editor window, double-click the option Disable desktop gadgets.

3. Select Turn on and press OK.

If this setting is enabled, desktop gadgets will be disabled. If this option is disabled or not specified, desktop widgets will be enabled.

4. Restart your computer.

Creating your own gadgets for Windows

If you're familiar with programming languages like HTML and JavaScript, as well as CSS, you might want to check out Donavan West's Windows Gadgets tutorial. The manual has been translated into Russian. Although this guide is focused on creating gadgets for Windows Vista, it covers the general principles of creating widgets that are necessary to understand the process.

1. Gadgets in Windows 7 can be freely moved with the left mouse button within the desktop. To move widgets closer to each other, press and hold the Shift key while moving the gadget.

2. To always display the gadget on top of all open windows, right-click on it and select from the context menu that appears On top of other windows.

3. To hide all active gadgets, right-click on the Windows 7 desktop, select View and uncheck Show desktop gadgets. To make gadgets appear again, check this box.

4. To move all active gadgets to the front, press the Windows key + G key combination.

5. To adjust the transparency of a gadget, right-click on it and set the opacity level.

Pre-installed Windows 7 gadgets

Windows 7 comes with nine pre-installed gadgets (mini-applications):

Windows Media Center

This gadget is a convenient, customizable Windows Media Center launcher.

Currency

When connected to the Internet, the Currency gadget displays the value of the user's selected currencies, according to MSN Money providers. In total, the gadget can display from 2 to 4 currencies. This widget requires an Internet connection to work.

To add currency, click + in the lower right corner of the gadget. To remove currency, hover your mouse over it and click the red cross in the upper right corner.

To change currency, click its name and select the desired currency in the list that appears.

Puzzle

Gadget "Puzzle" is a mosaic game. An Internet connection is not required for the gadget to work.

To view the picture you need to collect, click the “?” at the top of the widget.

To automatically assemble or shuffle the mosaic, click the arrow icon in the upper right corner of the gadget.

The timer can be paused by clicking on the clock in the upper left corner of the gadget.

To change the picture, right-click the widget and select Options.

Web channel news headlines

This gadget allows you to view news headlines from web channels (RSS feeds) without launching a browser (however, an Internet connection is required). The gadget displays news only from those sites whose RSS feeds are added to the Internet Explorer browser. To view or change the list of RSS feeds, open Internet Explorer > Favorites > Channels Tab.

Any RSS feed you add to Internet Explorer will become available for display in the Feed News Headlines gadget. For example, you can add our web feed to always know when a new article appears on our site. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Launch Internet Explorer browser.

2. Enter the address of our RSS feed in the address bar: http://www.site/feed/ and press Enter.

3. Click Subscribe to this channel.

CPU indicator

The CPU Indicator gadget displays the load on RAM (right) and processor (left) in real time. It has no additional settings. An Internet connection is not required for the widget to work.

Calendar

Options and use the “…” button to specify the desired folder.

Here you can adjust the speed of changing the picture and select one of the transition effects from one image to another.

By default, images follow each other in the order in which they are sorted in the folder. The sequence of changing images in the gadget can be changed to random by checking the “Images in random order” checkbox.

The Clock gadget can display the time in any time zone known to the Windows operating system. To make the Clock gadget display a time other than the default time selected in OS settings, right-click the widget and select Options. On the gadget settings page, select the desired time zone and click OK.

To display the time in multiple time zones on your desktop (like in Mission Control), launch the Clock gadget the required number of times and configure the desired time zone in each.

Also on the settings page, you can choose the appearance of the “Clock” gadget and even assign a name to the clock that will be displayed on the watch face.

Download gadgets for Windows 7

There are many sites on the Internet that offer gadget downloads. Since Windows 7 is a new operating system, as of this writing, many of the gadgets available for download are written for Windows Vista. Most of them work quite well under Windows 7, but their functionality may change. At the same time, gadgets written for Windows 7 may be incompatible with Vista.

When downloading gadgets from third-party developers, you should pay attention to the bit depth and availability. Gadgets created for 32-bit Windows 7 may not work in 64-bit Windows 7. Gadgets without a digital signature may not install or work correctly in Windows 7. In addition, unscrupulous publishers distribute viruses and other malware under the guise of gadgets. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you download gadgets only from trusted sites.

Windows 7 components

For newer versions of Windows, small programs have become available that can display any information directly on the computer desktop. Such a program is called a “gadget”, sometimes the word “widget” is used. They originated in Windows Vista, but were so loved by users that they eventually migrated to XP. With their help, you can significantly simplify the use of your PC. For example, place a convenient clock or display the latest news anywhere on the desktop.

However, in the official system build it is impossible to use gadgets without additional programs. Therefore, special applications have been invented that allow them to be installed from newer systems.

How to launch them

In order for gadgets to work on Windows XP, you will need to download special programs. They are necessary to install the so-called sidebar into the system. There are various applications, but only two are worth considering.

WinSidebar

The Windows Sidebar application is a gadget panel ported from Windows 7. To use this program, you must download and install it, following the instructions of the installer. After launch, you may need to install additional software in the form of Net.Framework 2.0 or higher.

The application may not create a shortcut on the Desktop, so you need to find where it was installed (usually you can find the folder with it in Program Files) and run the sidebar.exe file. And after that, a panel will immediately appear on the side of the Desktop, on which the gadgets available in the program will be located. They can be taken out of the side panel and positioned as desired.

The basic program has its own set of widgets ported from Windows 7. To install new gadgets, you will have to do several manipulations:

Download any widget you like for Windows 7 (almost all of them are compatible with WinSidebar). As a rule, an archive is downloaded, which will contain several files - auxiliary files and the gadget itself (has the *.gadget extension).
The file with the *.gadget extension must be archived in *.zip. To do this, right-click on the file and select “Compressed ZIP folder” from the “Send” drop-down menu.

The resulting “GadgetName” folder needs to be renamed to “GadgetName.Gadget”.
After this, you need to go to the Windows Sidebar location, find the Gadgets folder there and copy the resulting ZIP file there.
After this, the widget is available for use in WinSidebar.

Unfortunately, this application also has its downsides. Gadgets installed in Windows XP using it cannot be scaled. They will have a strictly fixed size. Another drawback is that not all new widgets can be installed this way. They simply won't work.

xWidget

A more modern alternative to Windows Sidebar, free of its shortcomings. It is actively being developed to this day, capable of supporting all versions of Windows starting from XP.

It is downloaded and installed similarly to its predecessor. The only thing is to be careful and not miss the offer to install third-party software. You need to give up this - it does not bring any benefit, but it can slow down the computer.

As soon as the program is installed, three random gadgets available in it by default will be displayed on the Desktop. The differences with Windows Sidebar are immediately noticeable:

Availability of settings. You can change the exact positioning on the screen by coordinates, transparency and clickability of gadgets.
Scaling. Strictly graduated, but it is there. A total of ten variations are available - from 10 to 100% of the original size.
Widget editor. A nice bonus that will allow you to customize gadgets for yourself or even create completely new ones.

You need to download gadgets for use with this program from the website xwidget.com. They are installed as follows:

Unpack the downloaded archive. From it you need to extract and run the file of the gadget itself.
Then in the tray (the place where application icons are located on the Taskbar, next to the clock), you need to find the xWidget icon and right-click on it.
Click on “Manage Widgets”, then on the “All” tab.

Find the downloaded gadget and double-click on it. After this, the widget is installed in Windows XP and you can safely use it.

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Gadgets (Widgets) are one of the most controversial features in a windowed OS. Some users install them and don’t even imagine how they can fully use their PC without their help. Others don’t even know what it is, and cope quite successfully. Are there gadgets for Windows 10, what are they and how to install them? We will discuss the answer to these questions in detail later in the article.

Why did widgets disappear from Windows 10?

With the arrival of first 8 and then the tenth version, this issue was resolved because Microsoft decided to completely remove the function from the system for some reasons:

As unnecessary. A big emphasis in the new systems has been on live tiles, which, in some ways, work the same way as widgets. They display useful information, update in real time, and look more relevant;
For security reasons. Here the developers, rather, said without any particular reason. Because it is hard to imagine that such a small component of the system as a widget can greatly influence security, and parts of its code can be used by attackers. Although this may have affected performance. You can check this by returning the functionality and .

Now gadgets for Windows 10 cannot be found on the official website.

However, there are no more widgets and the reasons are given. Most users simply agreed and started using tiles, but there are also those who do not want to deprive themselves of such a convenient opportunity and wondered how to install gadgets on Windows 10. For their sake, third-party developers have tried, creating software that copies the functionality of widgets as closely as possible and tells you how to install gadgets on your desktop in Windows 10.

How to install gadgets on the Windows 10 desktop using programs

8GadgetPack

Media center;
Movie Maker;
.NetFramework;
DirectX 9 versions and much more.

It is likely that, by rummaging around on the Internet, you can find other lesser-known solutions, but is this necessary, given that the ones described above allow you to return the functionality that was in 7 and even more.