KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I have done a bit of research and found that Microsoft discontinued service to these desktop gadgets quite a while ago, due to security vulnerabilities. When the other gadgets I had stopped working, I found these gadgets in the link below and installed the currency meter, weather gadget and network meter. All of them worked great and were really handy. I would reference them everytime at start up. http://addgadgets.com/ The currency meter and weather gadget have recently stopped working, but the network meter is still working. I have done all of the trouble shooting advice on the webpage and have uninstalled and reinstalled, more than once. They are still not working. I didn't realise how much I use these gadgets until they stopped. I know I can get currency exchanges from websites such as www.xe.com and it's a good website, but it was handy to just have the gadget update when connected to the internet and the figures were there on the desktop. Do any members have any advice how to fix these gadgets or any other similar gadgets that can be used, or anything else that does a similar job. I emailed the administrators of the gadget webpage but didn't hear back from them. Maybe the problem is at their end. I've been using desktop gadgets for years without any virus problems so I am not that worried about the security vulnerabilities with these gadgets. Link to post Share on other sites
kkerry 2,347 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Where has my exchange gadget gone Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Where has my exchange gadget gone Thanks for your reply. I did see that thread. I had the same gadget that the OP in that thread had. It stopped working for me as well. When it stopped, I went to the currency meter from the addgadget website. Now, that has stopped working as well. I'll check out some of the other options in that thread but was hoping to fix this problem once and for all, if that's possible, rather than keep testing and changing gadgets. Link to post Share on other sites
kkerry 2,347 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I looked at a few options and couldn't find a replacement I liked. I especially miss the currency gadget. Now I simply use the XE website on my desktop. XE also have a very good Android smartphone app. Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 I looked at a few options and couldn't find a replacement I liked. I especially miss the currency gadget. Now I simply use the XE website on my desktop. XE also have a very good Android smartphone app. When the old gadget shut down, I didn't have a problem with the currency meter by addgadget, but there was little other options available. Now it's shut down, there doesn't seem to be anything similar to replace it. I have the XE Android App on my phone. It's a brilliant app. Does anyone know why there isn't a big variety of Windows 7 gadgets? There are a lot of Windows 7 machines around, and they will be around for a while to come. Link to post Share on other sites
slipperylobster 6,443 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Rainmeter is free and full of gadgets. Just download it and install a skin. Fun eye candy, but I don't use it anymore. I write small programs with "Autoit". It speaks the exchange rate, newest headline and time whenever I press a hotkey. Can do it at intervals too. Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Rainmeter is free and full of gadgets. Just download it and install a skin. Fun eye candy, but I don't use it anymore. I write small programs with "Autoit". It speaks the exchange rate, newest headline and time whenever I press a hotkey. Can do it at intervals too. I had a look at their website. http://rainmeter.net/ I don't see any information about a currency exchange gadget. Do they have one? Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Just wanted to bump this thread up. Are there no other third party gadgets available, either free, or you can buy? Apps are hugely popular on phones. I'm sure there is a demand for gadgets that work the same way on Windows 7 desktops. Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony5 5,228 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I looked at a few options and couldn't find a replacement I liked. I especially miss the currency gadget. Now I simply use the XE website on my desktop. XE also have a very good Android smartphone app. When the old gadget shut down, I didn't have a problem with the currency meter by addgadget, but there was little other options available. Now it's shut down, there doesn't seem to be anything similar to replace it. I have the XE Android App on my phone. It's a brilliant app. Does anyone know why there isn't a big variety of Windows 7 gadgets? There are a lot of Windows 7 machines around, and they will be around for a while to come. I also switched to currency meter when the Windows exchange gadget stopped working, and I found it an improvement over the Windows gadget, but indeed it has stopped working. I also notice that when you try to download it again, the AVG version link on the site doesn't respond when you click on it. I think it must be something on their side. Link to post Share on other sites
kkerry 2,347 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Here's why you can no longer use gadgets Microsoft urging customers to disable Windows gadgets Link to post Share on other sites
lascetic 0 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Just wanted to bump this thread up. Are there no other third party gadgets available, either free, or you can buy? Apps are hugely popular on phones. I'm sure there is a demand for gadgets that work the same way on Windows 7 desktops. I have posted some links to free substitutions, but my post was curiously deleted, which seems to happen a lot in this forum. If it is alright with the administrators I could re-post it, but they would have to confirm first that it is alright. Otherwise, anyone interested can PM me. Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Just wanted to bump this thread up. Are there no other third party gadgets available, either free, or you can buy? Apps are hugely popular on phones. I'm sure there is a demand for gadgets that work the same way on Windows 7 desktops. I have posted some links to free substitutions, but my post was curiously deleted, which seems to happen a lot in this forum. If it is alright with the administrators I could re-post it, but they would have to confirm first that it is alright. Otherwise, anyone interested can PM me. I have no idea why your post would have been deleted. Please post again. I also sent you a PM. Link to post Share on other sites
KhunHeineken 413 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Here's why you can no longer use gadgets Microsoft urging customers to disable Windows gadgets I read your link. All I can say is I have been using them for years, with a decent paid version of antivirus, and have never had a problem. It makes me a little suspicious that Microsoft discontinued them to push people from Windows 7 to Windows 8, which is full of tiles,widgets, gadgets etc, as are smartphones. There's probably a demand out there and it's surprising you can't buy them in a similar way you can buy an app for your phone. I know Windows 7 will not be around forever, but it will be around for several years to come. Link to post Share on other sites
NanLaew 22,727 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I had a fair few of addgadget's 'gadgets' on my laptop but over the years, they have all slowly gone bad, deaf or just don't work at all. Re-installations invariably fail. Apart from the fact that the worlds leading software doesn't support them any more, I think they started failing over subsequent upgrades to third-party video drivers, graphics and what have you. Addgadgets never, ever respond to questions as they probably know they are flogging a dead horse already. There's better things for a Bangalore coding shop to come up with. Although they could be described as 'handy' they never really were an invaulable tool for work or play, just some flashy desktop eye candy IMHO. RIP Link to post Share on other sites
smedly 34,668 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) Desktop Ticker - is an RSS application you can use instead which shows streaming news and exchange rates (using yahoo finance GBPTHB=X) you can add as many as you like and stream them across the top of your screen as for weather - this one is still live http://win7gadgets.com/weather/the_weather_channel_vista_sidebar_gadget.html glad I could help sorry was being lazy here is the link http://www.battware.co.uk/ Edited March 27, 2015 by smedly Link to post Share on other sites
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