Solved Recovering Windows Vista Sidebar

[meche94]

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

 

[Asky]

I guess this should help
Vista X64 Sidebar

 

[meche94]

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."

 

[JaxMacFL]

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.

 

[Brink]

Hi Meche94,

Since you already tried the other methods, try the method suggested by JaxMacFl to see if it will help.

How to Turn Windows Sidebar On or Off in Vista

Shawn

 

[meche94]

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

 

[JaxMacFL]

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

 

[meche94]

No, this is actually my computer... I bought it in January '07. Do I need to make this changes logged in under Safe Mode?

 

[Brink]

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

 

[meche94]

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

 

[Brink]

Henri, did it fix your problem?

 

[meche94]

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.

 

[Brink]

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.

Henri,

Did you check these again to see if you could manually start Windows Sidebar again?

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

Shawn

 

[meche94]

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.

 

[Brink]

Ok Henri,

It seems like we tried all the simple steps. Try running a sfc /scannow command to see if it can find and fix the problem. You may need to manually start Windows Sidebar afterwards.

How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker


If that does not work, then try a Repair install. This will allow you to repair your Vista installation without losing your files, settings, and programs.

How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista

Shawn

 

[meche94]

Shawn,

I just got your message and am running the scannow utility at this moment

Henri

 

[meche94]

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?

 

[meche94]

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

 

[Brink]

Meche94,

I'm glad you found a solution for this. Thank you for sharing it with us. This tutorial is dedicated to you.

How to Fix Windows Sidebar not Starting in Vista

Shawn

 

[PMurph]

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