Get Back Desktop Widgets in Windows 8 Using 8GadgetPack

Upgraded from Windows Vista or Windows 7 to Windows 8 and missing your desktop widgets or the sidebar? Microsoft removed these because of security issues, as the developers of the widgets can access your files, can show you any type of content anytime and might even alter their own functionality. Moreover Microsoft now wants to focus more on live tiles and hence they no longer host the Gadgets gallery on their website.

Installing Desktop Widgets and Sidebar in windows 8

There are many applications that lets you install desktop Widgets in Windows 8, but the best of all is the 8GadgetPack. You can also manually copy some files to your system and add some registry entries to get widgets back, but why take the pain when someone already had.

Installing 8GadgetPack

8GadgetPack is an application with a very easy installer like most of the Windows programs. At the time of writing this article the installer had no adware and did not install any third-party app or toolbar on my system. It works with both the 64 and 32 bit versions of Windows 8.

The pack pre-installs more than 45 gadgets in your system containing all the gadgets that come pre-installed on Windows Vista and Windows 7 and many others too. Once you install the pack you will have the same interface as you get in Windows 7. You can drag and drop the widgets, place them anywhere on the desktop and even change the look and width of the sidebar. If you don’t like the sidebar then you can right-click on it and close it. But remember to place the widgets out of the sidebar before closing it, in case you need them. With this pack you also get the option to add the gadgets from the right-click context menu. The program comes with many settings for the sidebar that can be customized according to your needs.

What 8GadgetPack Does

The Windows 8 Developer Preview had the desktop gadgets, but they were removed in final release. 8GadgetPack re-adds all those files back and sets up the registry entries for the Gadgets to work.

Link: 8GadgetPack

Short Note on Vulnerabilities in Widgets

Widgets work exactly the same way as other desktop programs. They can run any arbitrary code in your system and can even take complete control of your system if you are logged in as an administrator. They can change their behaviour anytime and can display any type of content. You must not install Gadgets from any untrusted supplier or give up using the gadgets completely.

VERDICT

The desktop widgets are cool in the sense they can be seen and used on the desktop. You can not interact with live tiles until and unless you open the Start Menu. Live tiles can not show you CPU usage because they have limitations, but Gadgets don’t. But Gadgets posses security risks because they can control your entire system. So if you love widgets, go for it, but make sure you don’t use and install widgets from untrusted supplier and remember you are on your own.

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