Solved Recovering Windows Vista Sidebar

meche94

Member
Dear Forum,

I really like the windows Sidebar in Vista Premium, but something has happened and I can't see or get it to load right now.

Any guidance on how to recover from this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Sincere thanks,
meche94
 

My Computer

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 @ 2.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9650M GT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus N80VN-X1 Laptop
    Screen Resolution
    1280 X 800
    Hard Drives
    1 X 250GB 5200 RPM
    Internet Speed
    11 MBPS
    Other Info
    XBOX 360 Controller | Vista X64 | Simpledrive 500GB
I have unsuccessfully attempted two methods to restore Windows Sidebar... the one given from the forum and the following from HP Chat Support:

"
You need to perform the belows steps in safemode of windows, So I suggest you to perform the steps offline after compleating our chat session, I will also send you a copy of this chat transcript to your email for your further reference.

Yes ma'am

Here are the steps:

1. Press and hold the notebook PC power button until the notebook shuts down.

2. Press the notebook PC power button to restart the computer.

3. When you see the Compaq logo before the operating system loads onto your PC, repeatedly press F8 to enter the Advanced Boot Options.

4. Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select Safe Mode and then press Enter .
Windows files will load.

5. After the Windows files have finished loading, log into Windows and then click Start .

6. Type C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar in the Search field and then press Enter .

7. Right-click the Settings file and then select Delete . Click Yes to confirm deletion.

8. Restart your notebook.

9. Windows Vista will load the original gadgets that came installed on the notebook."
 

My Computer

You probably have but just encase; Have you tried Windows Start Button > All Programs > Accessories > click on 'Windows Sidebar'. If that loads then right click on Windows Sidebar icon on the task bar. Select 'Properties' and make sure the 'Start Sidebar when Windows starts' box is checked.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    i7 940 @ 4GHz (193 x 21) w/CNPS9900LED
    Motherboard
    Asus P6T Deluxe (BIOS 1604)
    Memory
    6GB (3x2GB) Corsair DDR3-1600 @ 8-8-8-21-1N
    Graphics Card(s)
    Tri-Fire 4870x2 + 4870 1GB
    Sound Card
    Azun Prelude 7.1 + Inspire T6200 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 3008WFP
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    300GB WD VelicoRaptor
    PSU
    SilverStone DA 1200
    Case
    CM HAF 932
    Cooling
    3x230mm 1x140mm 1x120mm
    Keyboard
    G15 Gaming KB
    Mouse
    MX Revolution

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
JaxMacFL and Brink,

Thanks guys, but unfortunately, neither of your suggestions worked; Brink, I actually went to a thread I believe you posted on how to modify the system registry to get Windows Sidebar functional again, but to no avail.

Any additional guidance to resolve this is greatly appreciated; I've since discovered that Protected Mode is off when in IE 7 and I've made several attempts to turn it on with no success either.

meche94
North Carolina
 

My Computer

It appears that you have no rights or privileges, maybe ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    i7 940 @ 4GHz (193 x 21) w/CNPS9900LED
    Motherboard
    Asus P6T Deluxe (BIOS 1604)
    Memory
    6GB (3x2GB) Corsair DDR3-1600 @ 8-8-8-21-1N
    Graphics Card(s)
    Tri-Fire 4870x2 + 4870 1GB
    Sound Card
    Azun Prelude 7.1 + Inspire T6200 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 3008WFP
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    300GB WD VelicoRaptor
    PSU
    SilverStone DA 1200
    Case
    CM HAF 932
    Cooling
    3x230mm 1x140mm 1x120mm
    Keyboard
    G15 Gaming KB
    Mouse
    MX Revolution
JaxMacFL and Brink,

Thanks guys, but unfortunately, neither of your suggestions worked; Brink, I actually went to a thread I believe you posted on how to modify the system registry to get Windows Sidebar functional again, but to no avail.

Any additional guidance to resolve this is greatly appreciated; I've since discovered that Protected Mode is off when in IE 7 and I've made several attempts to turn it on with no success either.

meche94
North Carolina

Meche94,

Since you already tried:

How to Enable or Disable Windows Sidebar in Vista
and
How to Turn Windows Sidebar On or Off in Vista

Was there a gadget that you installed right before this happened?

If there was, you might try uninstalling it (deleting it) as a test.
1. Open C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets and C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Shared Gadgets.
NOTE: If you have 64 bit Vista, then look in the C:\Program Files (x86) folders to.
2. Find the folder for the suspected bad gadget, then right click on it and click Delete.
3. Confirm the prompts to delete.

The default ones that come with Vista are: Calendar, Clock, Contacts, CPU, Currency, Notes, PicturePuzzle, RSSFeeds, SlideShow, Stocks, and Weather. These should be fine.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Shawn,

Thank you for continuing to help me with this; as you suggested I went to afforementioned Gadget files location. There were two files I downloaded which did not install so I removed them from the Gadgets folder. There weren't any files at all in the Shared Gadgets folder.

Regards,
Henri
 

My Computer

Henri, did it fix your problem?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Unfortunately, no. I deleted those files then shut the computer down completely; after restarting and logging in, I waited several minutes to see if the side bar would appear but it hasn't happened.
 

My Computer

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Shawn,

I didn't think about that, but I just attempted to run Sidebar from both the Start Menu\Program Files method as well as from C:\Computer\Local Disk C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe with no success.
 

My Computer

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Shawn, the scannow utility ran but still no luck; I reattempted to run the sidebar.exe

I have a Compaq Presario V6210US; the recovery files are on one of my disk partitions. How do I run it from the computer?
 

My Computer

I got it! I was able to also reach tech HP tech support and this is what the solution was which I'd like to share for the benefit of others...

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator".

2. Type these commands one by one:

a. Regsvr32 atl.dll and press Enter.

b. Regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\sbdrop.dll" [enter]

c. Regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\wlsrvc.dll" [enter]

3. Enable the Sidebar from the Control Panel using Start\Computer\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe

Thank you again Shawn!
Henri
 

My Computer

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Thank you so much for this thread. I was going insane trying to get the sidebar back. Tried system restore, different things from other forums. Nothing worked until I came here.

Thanks, P Murph
 

My Computer

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