Windows Sidebar is a vertical bar that is displayed on the side of the desktop and contains mini programs called gadgets, which offer information at a glance and provide easy access to frequently used tools. The Windows Sidebar can keep information and tools readily available for you to use whenever you need them. For example you can have news headlines or current weather displayed so you know what’s going on in real time.
Windows comes with a small collection of gadgets but you can download many more gadgets online to do just about anything. To add gadgets from your Sidebar simply click on the plus sign on the add gadget button to open the gadget gallery.
You will see a list of gadgets you have installed on your computer. To add a gadget to the Sidebar simply right click the gadget and select add or drag it into the Sidebar.
To remove a gadget right click the gadget and pick Close Gadget. You can also drag gadgets from the Sidebar onto your desktop.
To download more gadgets from Microsoft click here. Be careful about installing third party gadgets on your computer because there is always a chance that it can cause a security breach of your system.
To see the Sidebar options, right click on the Sidebar and select Properties.
From here you can set options such as having the Sidebar start with Windows and which side of the screen you want to have it displayed on.
To access the Windows Sidebar go to Start, All Programs, Accessories and click on Windows Sidebar.
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Disabling Vista’s User Account Control (UAC)
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