Using Gadget Pack on Windows 11

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T06:24:45-0400

Hello to all. I have used "Gadget Pack" since back in the days of Windows 7. I had it installed on Windows 10 successfully and when I updated to Windows 11 I was able to reinstall it, no problems whatsoever. About two weeks ago I noticed that the gadgets stopped automatically starting with Windows. To get the gadgets to work I would have to right click on the desktop, click "gadgets" and they gadgets (and the gadget pick window) would start. I wondered if it was a Windows update which removed the autostart so I did a system restore to the a time when I knew the gadgets did start automatically.
Not much difference so I uninstalled the pack (using the official uninstaller) and reinstalled it. Same problem. It's frustrating the heck out of me! I have tried contacting the developer and I cannot find a forum dedicated to the GadgetPack program (previously called "8GadgetPack."). Do any of you wizards know a way of fixing this? I have tried putting the "sidebar.exe" into the startup folder...nope, no luck. I have enabled autostart in Task Manager...no luck. Any ideas?

Dwarfr66 · 2025-04-01T06:30:18-0400

https://gadgetpack.net/dl_380/GadgetPackSetup.msi

I use it all the time.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T06:33:12-0400

Dwarfr66 said:
https://gadgetpack.net/dl_380/GadgetPackSetup.msi

I use it all the time.

Hi Dwarf. I think perhaps I did not explain things properly. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the program multiple times from the official source. It still will not start automatically on the desktop when I start Win 11. It USED to do so but for some reason in the last two weeks that stopped and I have to start it manually each time which is a royal pain. Any ideas?

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T06:55:45-0400

P.S. to my last reply. I have just tried to reinstall the pack but the darn thing will not start automatically. I have the latest Win 11 update. I am using Avast Premium and Malwarebytes. I wonder if they may be blocking the pack but I can't see how. I am totally flummoxed. I hope someone can help.

OAT · 2025-04-01T07:11:56-0400

Check those two paths, one of them should have a shortcut of the program:
If not, add the shortcut.

Code:

%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

You can get there by using WinKey + R, paste path & enter.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:12:30-0400

Okay, just went into the guts of Malwarebytes and Avast. They don't seem to be blocking the gadget pack. I don't know what else to try. I hope someone can point to what to do. I have tried emailing developer (did so a couple of times now) and still no luck.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:13:48-0400

OAT said:
Check those two paths, one of them should have a shortcut of the program:

Code:

%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Sorry... I am "okay" with computers but where do I check this? In RegEdit or via CMD?

OAT · 2025-04-01T07:15:42-0400

Stroppy said:
where do I check this?

Refresh the page as I updated my post with instructions.

Dwarfr66 · 2025-04-01T07:21:53-0400

The ONLY time I have had it stop working is when the monthly updates happen, the restart icon is there to use after a reboot.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:24:09-0400

OAT said:
Refresh the page as I updated my post with instructions.

Okay, thanks so much. I have just checked and the second path showed no reference to the "windows sidebar.exe". I have just pasted the .exe into that startup folder and am about to test it. Here goes!

OAT · 2025-04-01T07:25:32-0400

Stroppy said:
I have just pasted the .exe into that startup folder and am about to test it. Here goes!

Not the .exe I hope, a shortcut to it please.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:27:09-0400

OAT said:
Not the .exe I hope, a shortcut to it please.

Oh... I mucked up. I will do so now and retry. Standby...

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:37:37-0400

OAT said:
Not the .exe I hope, a shortcut to it please.

No luck using the second path command with the shortcut to "Windows sidebar.exe" pasted in. I will now apply it to the first path link you provided and try again.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:42:57-0400

OAT said:
Not the .exe I hope, a shortcut to it please.

Nope... No luck placing the shortcut into both paths as you indicated. I just don't get it. The gadgets work fine on my other windows 11 PC.

OAT · 2025-04-01T07:43:44-0400

Stroppy said:
No luck using the second path command with the shortcut to "Windows sidebar.exe" pasted in. I will now apply it to the first path link you provided and try again.

The first path is preferable as it is for the current user whilst the second one is machine wide.
Let's just hope that your A/V software is not blocking the program.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:48:45-0400

OAT said:
The first path is preferable as it is for the current user whilst the second one is machine wide.
Let's just hope that your A/V software is not blocking the program.

I tried a two quick restarts and a full shutdown restart. No luck. I placed a permission into Malwarebytes to let the "Windows sidebar.exe" run but I don't know how to put an exception into Avast Premium. Any ideas on this? (And I greatly appreciate your help thus far, btw...)

OAT · 2025-04-01T07:48:55-0400

Dwarfr66 said:
https://gadgetpack.net/dl_380/GadgetPackSetup.msi

I use it all the time.

Having briefly tried both, I must say that prefer this:

Download Desktop Gadgets and Sidebar for Windows 11, 10 and 8.1

You can download Desktop Gadgets for Windows 11, which were available in Windows 7. Now they are adapted to work in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1

gadgetsrevived.com

I have now switched to Rainmeter.

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T07:58:41-0400

OAT said:
Having briefly tried both, I must say that prefer this:

Download Desktop Gadgets and Sidebar for Windows 11, 10 and 8.1

You can download Desktop Gadgets for Windows 11, which were available in Windows 7. Now they are adapted to work in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1

gadgetsrevived.com

I have now switched to Rainmeter.

I have tried this before but it didn't work. I will uninstall the gadgetpack and try this instead and let you know.

spapakons · 2025-04-01T08:32:24-0400

Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager. Switch to the Startup section and make sure the "Windows Desktop Gadgets" is enabled, so it automatically loads when you login to Windows. For anyone interested, the latest version 38 supports only modern 64-bit gadgets. If you want to use an old Windows Vista or Windows 7 32-bit gadget, install version 37, the last one to support both 32-bit and 64-bit gadgets. It is hard to locate the link at their site, but you can Google it and download from another site. We use 8gadgetpack to load our old gadgets from Windows 7. Dropping support for them it beats the purpose! We could use modern Windows 10/11 widgets instead.

EDIT: I found the link for version 37: https://gadgetpack.net/dl_370/8GadgetPackSetup.msi

Stroppy · 2025-04-01T08:34:53-0400

spapakons said:
Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager. Switch to the Startup section and make sure the "Windows Desktop Gadgets" is enabled, so it automatically loads when you login to Windows. For anyone interested, the latest version 38 supports only modern 64-bit gadgets. If you want to use an old Windows Vista or Windows 7 32-bit gadget, install version 37, the last one to support both 32-bit and 64-bit gadgets. It is hard to locate the link at their site, but you can Google it and download from another site. We use 8gadgetpack to load our old gadgets from Windows 7. Dropping support for them it beats the purpose! We could use modern Windows 10/11 widgets instead.

Tried that...didn't work.

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