How to disable Microsoft Gadgets

Make sure your desktop Gadgets are safe and secure by following these simple steps.

Windows Gadgets

Visit the Microsoft Support site for advice on staying safe online

If you’re running Windows Vista or Windows 7 at home and use desktop gadgets, there’s some bad news. Microsoft has discovered a security hole, which means running a desktop gadget might allow someone to take control of your PC, and the official advice to Windows customers is to turn them off.

If you’re not sure what desktop gadgets are, they’re the little applications that sit on your desktop and are used for realtime information displays.

Commonly, you’ll see desktop gadgets that act as clocks, calendars, CPU monitors, weather reports and live stock information. You can set them up by right clicking anywhere on the desktop and choosing the ‘Gadgets’ option.

Microsoft also recommends turning off the Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista for the same reasons.

Don’t panic, the chances are that even if you are running gadgets your PC is safe. But simply choosing not to display them on the desktop isn’t enough to protect your PC completely. For that you’ll need to go to the Microsoft website – support.microsoft.com – and click on the icon for Fix It > Disable Windows Sidebar and Gadgets.

If you find you miss your gadgets and are confident that yours are safe, you can turn them on again using another link on the same page.

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